Yom HaShoah - Holocaust Rememberance Day

Today was Yom HaShoah, a day for Jews around the world to remember the six million that were murdered by the Nazis.

At a moving ceremony in Johannesburg today, Marta Wise told of her experiences in wartime Europe as a child in Auschwitz at the hands of Dr Josef Mengele - the Angel of Death. She told how the guards would indulge in murder and other cruel activities without orders - just for fun.

Who can believe that people - an entire nation - can descend to such levels of evil!?

The ceremony opened with names of relatives of survivors resident in South Africa followed by a Hebrew poem - Everyone has a Name which is reproduced below.

Zelda

Everyone Has a Name

Everyone has a name
given to him by God
and given to him by his parents

Everyone has a name
given to him by his stature
and the way he smiles
and given to him by his clothing

Everyone has a name
given to him by the mountains
and given to him by his walls

Everyone has a name
given to him by the stars
and given to him by his neighbors

Everyone has a name
given to him by his sins
and given to him by his longing

Everyone has a name
given to him by his enemies
and given to him by his love

Everyone has a name
given to him by his feasts
and given to him by his work

Everyone has a name
given to him by the seasons
and given to him by his blindness

Everyone has a name
given to him by the sea and
given to him
by his death.

(Translated from Hebrew by Marcia Falk, quoted from "Generations of the Holocaust" by Bergmann and Jugovy)

זלדה

לכל איש יש שם

לכל איש יש שם
שנתן לו אלוהים
ונתנו לו אביו ואמו

לכל איש יש שם
שנתנו לו קומתו ואופן חיוכו
ונתן לו האריג

לכל איש יש שם
שנתנו לו ההרים
ונתנו לו כתליו

לכל איש יש שם
שנתנו לו המזלות
ונתנו לו שכניו

לכל איש יש שם
שנתנו לו חטאיו
ונתנה לו כמיהתו

לכל איש יש שם
שנתנו לו שונאיו
ונתנה לו אהבתו

לכל איש יש שם
שנתנו לו חגיו
ונתנה לו מלאכתו

לכל איש יש שם
שנתנו לו עונות השנה
ונתן לו עיוורונו

לכל איש יש שם
שנתן לו הים
ונתן לו
מותו