Yom HaShoah memories

"I ran towards my mother, to give her my coat, and I was hit in the head with the butt of a rifle. That was my first introduction to Auschwitz." This is how my grandmother explained the Holocaust to me at age 15.

It wasn't the first time I heard stories from a survivor. I can't remember a time when I didn't know about the Holocaust. It wasn't something my parents shielded us from. We had questions, our grandparents (and their friends!) had answers.

Let me back up a bit. In case you didn't know, I'm the grand-daughter of four Holocaust survivors. I wear that badge with pride - not because it makes me different but because I'm proud of the lives my grandparents created after the horrors they experienced. They came out with nothing and built families. They built lives. They rose from the ashes, like a flock of Jewish Phoenix.

I grew up understanding what the Holocaust meant and how Jews were 'special' back then but special in a bad way. We were targets. To be honest, I only heard about this from my Dad's parents. It was too painful for my Mom's parents...until I turned 15 and kind of forced my grandmother to tell me her stories. Now she's incredibly vocal about what happened to her.

Today starts Yom HaShoah - Holocaust Remembrance Day. And I was put on this earth to remind you, year-after-year, not to forget.

You see, in Judaism, you die two deaths. One physical, and the other a lot less physical. When you stop remembering people, they die a second death. Some of us are named after those who died in the Holocaust -  it's a way to keep people from dying a second death. My mom is named after her grandmother; my father is named after his grandfather. Yoav is named for one of my grandfather's uncles. My uncle is named for his uncle. All of those people were murdered in the Holocaust.

My nephew is named for my paternal grandmother and maternal grandfather - both survivors.

Someone at work told me, recently, that I take my religion very seriously. I told her that I take my religion's history very seriously because the Holocaust is the LAST time we will rely on outside help to save a people. 

The Holocaust is more than just stories about Anne Frank and Oscar Schindler. So, on Yom HaShoah, I implore you to educate yourself. Take a moment to visit one of the following sites and read about those that died, those that survived, those that tried to rescue others, those that resisted, and those that defied human nature to fight evil:
Holocaust Memorial Center
Yad VaShem
Personal Histories (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)
The Story of Hannah Senesh
American Holocaust Story