Of
all years, this year is an important time to offer a special commemoration of
the Holocaust. Eyewitnesses are few and
far between now. Jewish communities that
gather for Yom Hazikaron Lashoah V’laG’vurah,
A Day of Remembrance for the Holocaust and Heroism, keep memories alive of
Jews and members of other groups
murdered by the Nazis. However, more
and more, stories of heroism are being highlighted as examples of what the
human spirit is capable of accomplishing, even against insurmountable odds.
PBS
presented such a tale in its program on Wednesday night on NOVA – Holocaust
Escape Tunnel. The portrayal of
vibrant Jewish life in the town of Vilnius, or Vilna, with its 76,000 Jews,
could have concluded with the death of most of those Jews in actions by the SS
in Ponar Forest outside Vilnius. The
program, however, focused, first, on the search for remnants of the Great
Synagogue of Vilna, which stood for just over 300 years until its destruction
by the Nazis. The discovery of the
mikveh, the ritual bath, that was in the basement of the synagogue was
heartwarming as a reflection of the commitment to Judaism that pervaded that
community.
And then, the program’s focus shifted
to the stories told by survivors of a purported escape from Ponar Forest after working
against their will for the Nazis. They
were forced by the Nazis to dig up the bodies of Jews and other community
members who had been murdered and buried in large pits outside Vilna. And then, they were ordered to burn the bodies. The
Ponar workers, 86 of them, attended to their horrendous task, but eventually engaged
in another project in secret. Using only
spoons, they spent 76 days digging a tunnel that began at the center of their
work to a spot 100 feet away inside the forest that might offer these men a
chance to escape.
On April 15, 1944, the last night of Passover,
the workers determined that they needed to make their move. They know that, after completing their forced
labor, they would be the last victims of the Nazis in Ponar Forest. Of the 86 who made their way through the
escape tunnel, 11 survived.
Using modern technology, a group of experts
were able to conduct surveys that looked into the ground and identified the
continuing existence of the escape tunnel, still remaining after all these
years. The program on PBS concluded with
interviews with family members of the survivors, who were shocked and gratified
that the story they had heard for so long had been corroborated by
science. While the episode ended sadly for some, there
was a sense of triumph for those who escaped through the tunnel and survived
the war and made sure to tell their incredible story.
Last month, during the Central Conference
of American Rabbis convention in Atlanta, Holocaust scholar and author Deborah
Lipstadt spoke to us. She has gained a
great deal of attention because of the excellent film “Denial,” which recounted
her victory in the libel case brought against her by Holocaust denier David
Irving.
She spoke to us about the persistence of
anti-Semitism both on the left and the right, and the extreme overuse of
analogies to the Holocaust that all too frequently use terms like “Nazi” and
“he/she is just like Hitler.” She
asserted that those comparisons take away from what the Holocaust was: the
systematic extermination of Jews, primarly, along with the murder of other
people as well. Dr. Lipstadt declared that something can be
terrible, such as the tragedies happening in our world today, without being a
Holocaust. Her words of caution were
well-spoken.
However, she also said that Jews should not
be Jewish only because of anti-Semitism.
“Don’t turn Jews into an object,” she explained. “Make Jews the subject
– talk about what Jews do, not what others do to Jews.”
Around the world, communities will be
commemorating Holocaust Remembrance Day, Yom Hashoah,, which begins at sundown this
Sunday night, April 23, and concludes on Monday evening. Some will be holding commemorations on Sunday
afternoon to facilitate better participation.
As we host the Jewish Food and Folk
Festival in the hours before Yom Hashoah begins, may it be our signal to the
community and to our immediate world that we are a subject, not an object; that
we are a community that sustains what it means to continue to live Jewish
values, that we will practice teachings that direct us to decry stereotyping,
prejudice and hatred, to show warmth and heartfelt hospitality to those who
come into our presence, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Beyond music, dance, pastrami sandwiches,
knishes, bobka and rugelach, we have so much to offer to each other, to our
community and to the world. And in
sustaining not only our culture but the principles of Judaism as well, we will,
with our small but mighty numbers, remind the world of the significance of remembrance,
resistance and resolve. And to everyone
in and around Las Cruces, I would say: may we always join together to live out
our best values and noblest aspirations in a context of understanding and peace. 
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