It has been almost 80 years since the greatest tragedy in the history of the Jewish people ended, and with each day, there are fewer Holocaust survivors, who offer eyewitness testimony to the atrocities committed during the war. How can we prevent the Holocaust from becoming a distant historical event?
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When we here about comparisons between the war in Ukraine and the Holocaust, it is a sign that we have got a problem. When Israeli composer Avihu Medina – the winner of an Israel Prize – says in an alienated manner, "The Holocaust ended almost a century ago and you still speak about it, because it hurt you," it is a sign that we have got a problem. It shows that we have failed in making the entire Israeli public understand the magnitude and significance of the event.
The connection to Holocaust remembrance is built through educating the public about historical facts and connecting them to the event emotionally. Without the necessary knowledge, every event, shocking as it may be – in Africa, Asia, and Europe – could be compared to the Holocaust. And without the emotional connection and a sense of national belonging, we will be unable to make the Holocaust relevant for the younger generation.
The education system is responsible for the intellectual element, for teaching the youth about the historical facts. As for the emotional aspect, it is the responsibility of Holocaust centers in Israel, who receive hundreds of thousands of teenagers and security forces, and provide them with an emotional experience.
These centers understand what the government has yet failed to: soon, the memory of the Holocaust will no longer be shaped by survivors, but by the younger generation.
The main question of our generation is what is the content of Holocaust remembrance that we are passing on to future generations, what is the remembrance that can instill Jewish values in them, and most importantly – how do we go about this?
The youngsters who visit the concentration camps in Poland, the Holocaust museums in Israel and other programs are a different generation. We must make the content as accessible as possible, so that it touches the heart, leaves a mark of knowledge, emotion and connection to what happened many years ago in Europe.
It is our task to instill in them the understanding that the Holocaust happened to their people, regardless of where their grandparents come from. We need to connect to the teens in their own language.
To this end, Holocaust museums turn to creative education tools, such as innovative technologies, which have made it possible for us to transport the visitors to a different reality, a different time, and bring about a sense of connection and most importantly, understanding.
All that remains is to hope that the state will also understand the immense importance of instilling our youth with the understanding of the Holocaust, and will allow there "remembrance agents" to operate in a supportive atmosphere.
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