Remembering the Shoah.

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day. Or, in Hebrew, Yom HaShoah.

Today is set aside to remember the Shoah (Catastrophe) that was inflicted on Jews during the the Second World War. At least six million people died.


Dutch Jews are marched to the Amersfoot internment camp
under heavy guard, 1942
[Photo: Rijksinstituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie]

In 1941, in the summer, all of a sudden we heard bombs and the airplanes flying overhead, and after a few days the Germans marched in very much like the Russians did a few years ago, and again, I mean there was no bloodshed as far as I can recall. They came in with tanks. They came in--the soldiers looked much, they were much, uh, better dressed--and they came in and people again greeted them with flowers, and they were very welcome in our town. A lot of people were very happy that the Germans came in, and that the Russians were leaving. If there were fights, they were outside of the town so really, there was very little fighting in Horochow. But 1941, early summer, was when the world became completely topsy-turvy for the Jews. When the Germans came in, from the very beginning, they concentrated and they let it be known that the Jews are the ones that they are going to try to murder, all of us. What they did, I don't recall if it was the first or second day after they come into, came into Horochow, they went around with a list and they looked for people by name. These were people who were leaders, the Jewish leaders, and my beloved father was among them. They came into the house, they burst in, and they asked for him, and my father saw them, he tried to get out the back way. They caught him, and they led him away. He never even said goodbye. I'll never forget that look in his eyes. [Charlene Schiff, Horochow, Poland]

Young mother and her two children sit among Jews from Lubny who have been assembled for mass execution on October 16, 1941
[Photo: Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv]
Extensive information on the Holocaust is available at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. More information can be found at Yad Vashem: The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority.

Although it's designed for educators, the massive resources (including articles, bibliographies, photos, and more) available at the Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust are of interest to anyone.