Israel Speaks
March of the Living is an event gathering Jews and non-Jews -
from different countries to Auschwitz where they march -
to the concentration camp and hear the testimony of a Holocaust survivor.
After this they fly to Israel to celebrate Israel's Independence Day.
According to the executive manager dr. Rosenman it is not enough -
to just read about the Holocaust.
Dr. Susanna Kokkonen works at the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem.
She is the head of the museum's Christian Friends department.
The March of the Living and other Holocaust memorial events are, -
in her opinion, significant in many ways.
First of all, there is a great significance for the young people.
When they see the places they cannot doubt that it actually happened.
The shock of this historic event becomes more real to them -
after that visit.
On the other hand, it's very important that the remaining Holocaust survivors -
see that their legacy and the values which they learned -
after the Holocaust move on to the next generation -
not only in Israel, but around the world.
People from all over the world take part in the march.
The annual Holocaust memorial service which took place in April -
and commemorating the memory of the Holocaust victims -
is profound and touches all classes of society.
It is seen in education institutions and universities.
Of course, Yad Vashem is one of the rare institutions in Israel -
the importance of whose work almost everyone can see.
It is in no way connected with today's politics, but goes beyond that.
The Holocaust victims unite people.
Nevertheless, this society is very forward-looking -
and tries to teach the lessons of the past.
There is a lot of research that say that wars and other traumas move -
to the third generation.
There is also a lot of research about Holocaust victims, their children -
and grandchildren.
There are many personal differences in how people deal with these issues.
Some Holocaust survivors write about their experiences and they educate.
Others don't want to go back to the past.
Consequently, people have dealt with it in different ways.
The Christian world has seen the Holocaust as part of Jewish history.
The people who were behind the Holocaust and the bystanders -
whose silence contributed to the atrocities that took place there, -
were all Christians.
Then Holocaust should not be studied as part of Jewish, but part of -
Christian history.
During the Holocaust Europe was a very Christian and traditional continent.
People had Christian values, but why didn't they they act -
and why were they silent allowing these atrocities to take place?
This is a question that should be studied by Christians not by Jews.
If we don't study these things, we cannot learn from them.
That is the first step.
We should also think about how anti-Semitism looks like today.
Has it changed and how can we help in preventing it?
I lead the Yad Vashem Christian Friends.
I invite people to join it, because educating about these things -
in the Christian circles is very important.
People can see when similar things happen in other parts of the world.
If you think about what people have learned, there have been genocides -
after the Holocaust, although the Holocaust was a unique event for many reasons.
Many may have heard the opinion that says the Jews are doing the same -
to the Palestinians that was done to them during World War II.
Susanna Kokkonen thinks this view stems from ignorance.
It shows that a person who says that does not know anything about -
the Middle East politics, because the Holocaust is in no way -
comparable to anything that's going on today.
I understand that this comparison is related to the Palestinians.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a national and country-related conflict -
which the international community has tried to mediate several times.
When you start talking about things emotionally exaggerating them -
you only blur what's really happening here and it influences -
the expectations of the peace negotiations, if the conflict -
is turned into something that it's not.
There are two distinct parties who have worked in different ways.
This is very alarming, because today there is a lot of denying of the Holocaust.
Denying the Holocaust is not always denying directly that it happened, -
but it's sometimes exaggerating and putting the Holocaust -
to a different context.
You need to be really careful with this, because the Holocaust was -
a genocide in Europe where people were persecuted because of their -
religious or racial background. They could not affect what happened.
Today it is about a conflict between two nations in an area where they both live.
Israel Speaks
Welcome to the Bible teaching series "Israel in God's plan."
Our topic for today is the develop- ment of the young state of Israel -
in the post-Holocaust world. Gershon Nerel is here with me.
Therefore say to the Israelites, Thus says the Lord GOD, -
"It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name,
which you have profaned among the nations where you went.
I will show the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among -
the nations. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD," -
declares the Lord GOD, "when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.
For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands -
and bring you into your own land." Ez. 36:22-25
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.
I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees -
and be careful to keep my laws. Ez. 36:26-27
Translation: Sonja Mattayev