News Digest — 1/27/22
On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Israel Is Home To 165,800 Holocaust Survivors
There are around 165,800 Holocaust survivors living in Israel, according to a Holocaust Survivors’ Rights Authority report published on Wednesday (26th) for the occasion of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The survivors’ average age is 85. About 31,000 of them, or 19%, are over 90 and around 950 survivors are over a century old.
The report further states that about 60% of survivors are women and their average age is 85.4 – slightly higher than their male counterparts.
Over the past year, 15,324 survivors have passed away, a rate of 42 a day.
About 64% of Holocaust survivors living in Israel today are of European descent and 34%, or 59,000, have migrated from the former Soviet Union. About 19,000 (12%) immigrated from Romania, 8,900 (5.5%) from Poland, 4.500 (2.7%) from Bulgaria, 2,400 (1.5%) from Hungary and about 2,300 of them were born in Germany.
Others hail from Morocco and Algeria (30,600), Iraq (18,000) and Tunisia and Libya (11,000).
About 5% of survivors immigrated to Israel before its official establishment in 1948, while 11% immigrated to the Jewish state by the end of 1948.
Some 80,500 survivors, or about 48%, arrived in Israel by the end of the 1950s, and more than 35% immigrated to Israel after 1989, mostly from the Soviet Union countries after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
There are currently 11,300 Holocaust survivors living in Haifa, making it the city with the largest survivor population in the country – followed closely by Jerusalem with 10,300 survivors.
“The average age of Holocaust survivors is 85. These are the last years we have to serve them, to allow them to grow old with dignity, to document their stories as much as possible.” said Social Equality and Pensioners Minister Meirav Cohen.
“We have recently taken a series of steps to exercise their rights…aimed at reducing and eradicating poverty among Holocaust survivors. I want them to know that my generation sees them as nothing less than heroes.”
Avremi Torem, the Director at the Holocaust Survivors’ Rights Authority, said: “The authority, as an arm of the State of Israel, has a national and moral duty to ensure the welfare of all Holocaust survivors.”
“In recent years we have made considerable efforts to reach out to every survivor, to examine what difficulties they are facing and to adapt ourselves to give them what they deserve.”
“In the coming year, the authority will continue to …eliminate barriers and expand the basket of social services. It’s our duty as a state to act and ensure that every survivor lives with dignity.”
(afp.com; ynetnews.com)
Holocaust-Era ‘Shema Yisrael’ Pendants Uncovered In Sobibor Extermination Camp
Three pendants bearing the Hebrew prayer Shema Yisrael (“Hear O Israel”) have been excavated at the Sobibor extermination camp in Poland, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Thursday (27th).
Excavations at Sobibor – where approximately 250,000 Jews were killed durng the Holocaust – have been underway for decades now. On the second side of the pendants is a depiction of Moses and the Tablets. The team was led by Yoram Haimi from IAA, Wojciech Mazurek from Poland and Ivar Schute from Holland, who were assisted by local residents.
“Little is known about the stories behind the pendants, which is heartbreaking,” said Haimi.
One of the pendants was discovered in the remains of a building where Jews undressed before being led to the gas chambers.
“The personal and human aspect of the discovery of these pendants is chilling,” said Eli Eskozido, Director of the IAA.
“It has been possible to identify a kind of tradition of fashion among the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe with pendants that were inscribed with “Shema Yisrael” on one side and a depiction of Moses and the Tablets of the Law on the opposite side,” he said.
Killing Jews ‘Is Our Right,’ Says Brutal Murderer
The Palestinian terrorist who brutally murdered Israeli mother of six Esther Horgan in December 2020 challenged her family’s calls for him to be harshly punished in an Israeli military court on Wednesday (26th). He characterized the slaying as an act of resistance that he was entitled to carry out.
During the sentence hearing, Horgan’s family said they would like to see Muhammad Kabha given a life sentence for the killing and an order to pay compensatory damages. Odelia Horgan, the victim’s daughter, spoke out about how the murder had affected the family.
“Since she’s been gone, our lives have been turned upside down,” she said. “Our world has been in shock and shaken. The pain grows every day. How could such a human being, my mother, perish from such a cruel act, and disappear from the face of the earth?”
“Esther’s murder is personal to our family, to our community, and to all of Am Yisrael (the Jewish people),” Benjamin Horgan, the victim’s husband, told the court.
He said the Palestinian Authority was largely responsible for Kabha’s actions, citing their “encouragement of terrorism.” Horgan said it was “unfortunate” that Kabha was the only person being held to account for the killing, saying that “this murder was ordered by the PA.”
“According to the killer’s confession, he was inspired to go out and avenge the death of his friend who died in an Israeli prison,” Horgan said.
He said that while the prisoner’s death had occurred naturally, it was presented to the public by the PA as an “execution [of a Palestinian by Israel], in [the style of] a blood libel, and it pushed [Kabha] to take revenge.”
He said the PA had created an atmosphere which led to murder and should consequently be held responsible.
Referencing the PA’s pay-for-slay policies, Horgan said that Israel could no longer “lend a hand” to an institution that rewards the murder of Jews with funding.
“If we do not take a stand today, we will …[in the future] need to discuss the case of another terrorist who cause another family in Israel to be bereaved,” he added, calling on Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and other senior figures in the Israeli government to hold the PA accountable for both incitement and pay-for-slay.
In December 2020, Kabha ambushed the French-born Israeli mother of six as she walked in the Reihan Forest near Tel Menashe in Samaria, overpowering her and repeatedly beating her in the head with rocks until she died.
Report: Iran, Syria Will Be Forced To React If Russia Doesn’t Restrain Israel
Lebanon’s Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Wednesday (26th) about a “turning point” in Russia’s involvement in Syria.
The report was published following joint Russian-Syrian air force patrols near the Israeli border earlier this week.
According to the news outlet, the Syrian leadership and its allies – led by Iran – expressed deep dissatisfaction with the Russians, saying they have been turning a blind eye to IDF airstrikes on Syrian targets.
Syria and its allies will “be forced to react to the airstrikes if it doesn’t restrain Israel,” they warned Russia.
According to Al-Akhbar, Russia’s recent actions in Syria may be linked to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin several days beforehand, which may imply that the two leaders had reached understandings.
However, some estimate that Russia’s presence in southern Syria is in Russia’s own interest, not in Syria’s.
Syrian sources told Al-Akhbar that Russia demanded several times that Syria hand over the Latakia Port – the country’s main and largest seaport – through long-term investment contracts, but the Assad regime refused each time.
The sources added that Russian forces entered the port following the Israeli airstrikes, adding that this could be interpreted as an attempt to gain control over the port while pretending the purpose is to protect it from Israeli attacks.
“This invites the thought that Russia deliberately ignored the airstrikes,” the sources said.
Poland Tackles ‘Indifference To Hatred’ Ahead Of Holocaust Remembrance Day
A new Polish foundation has been created that will distribute grants globally to groups that come up with novel ways to fight indifference to hatred and discrimination.
The Auschwitz Pledge Foundation was announced on Wednesday (26th), on the eve of the 77th anniversary of the liberation, by Soviet forces in 1945, of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in German-occupied Poland. January 27 is also International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The goal of the Warsaw-based group is to support innovative projects that fight indifference to hatred in societies, based on the idea that it can lead to violence and even genocide.
The foundation plans to start by issuing grants of $34,000 each to three projects and hopes to expand the program in coming years. The funds were donated by the BNP Paribas Bank.
The foundation’s general director, Jacek Kastelaniec, told The Associated Press that Auschwitz survivors have often said that one of the worst experiences they had faced was the indifference of bystanders.
“It’s what allows horrible things to happen,” he said. “Our goal is to find a way to influence attitudes.”
The site of Auschwitz is now a memorial site and museum. Poland was the site of mass executions of Polish Jews, and is where the Nazi forces carried out much of their genocide of Jews from across Europe, transporting many to Auschwitz to be murdered in gas chambers. Today the Polish state is the guardian of Auschwitz and several other German-run death camps.
(ap.com; israelhayom.com)
