"Rememberance and Beyond"

The United Nations declared today the first universal observance of the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust.

I write this from my first UJCL Conference in Guadalajara, Mexico. Today, I met individuals from small communities within Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean including Jamaica, Suriname, Aruba, Honduras, and Costa Rica amongst others.

Many of these communities swelled both before and after WWII first with refugees and then survivors. As a young historian, the Holocaust has colored much of my early independent research. Personally, I cannot deny that the Holocaust is a horrific nightmare that forms a large part of my Jewish consciousness. My grandmother lost six close family members in Sobibor and Auschwitz and others narrowly escaped arrest by hiding in an Amsterdam attic.

We heard this story numerous times; I asked to see pictures.

I memorized their names.

This early experience with death and destruction gave my religion a face---my search for identity a sense of purpose.
This morning in Guadalajara the keynote speaker, Dr. Daniel Fainstein, addressed the first plenary session with very powerful words for small communities in attendance. Fainstein provided attendees with a challenge maintaining the it is NOW that small Jewish communities must work to separate their purpose and identity from the Holocaust.

Communities will never forget the victims.
Communities will never stop educating Jews and non-Jews about what happened.

But it is today that we must organize, rally, and support small communities as they base their present and future growth on life and renewal. It is a powerful concept and one that inspired healthy discussion.

What would you say?

For more information on the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of Victims of the Holocaust, see: http://www.un.org/holocaustremembrance/