Tel-Chai Nation

Because of the Coronavirus crisis still limiting social interactions and such, that's why this year's Holocaust Memorial service at Yad Vashem had to be done with survivors speaking from their homes by video:

Two years ago, Holocaust survivor, author, and former professor Livia Bitton-Jackson addressed a group of people in her granddaughter’s Jerusalem living room for the first time as part of the Zikaron BaSalon program in honor of Israel’s Yom Hashoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day.

“It was wonderful,” Bitton-Jackson said. “It was a very heartwarming experience for me.”

The initiative aims for a more interactive Holocaust commemoration and is an alternative to larger — and by necessity more passive — ceremonies. Zikaron BaSalon (in English, “commemoration in the living room”) brings people together in homes, workplaces, and other more intimate environments to speak with survivors.

However, with strict guidelines in place to maintain social isolation during the coronavirus pandemic, as Israel ushers in Yom Hashoah on the evening of April 20, Bitton-Jackson will be confined to her small apartment in the Neve Shalem senior living community in Jerusalem’s Arnona neighborhood. But she’s expecting a bigger audience for her presentation than ever.

“This year, we are doing it on Zoom,” Bitton-Jackson told The Times of Israel. “I will give my talk on Zoom, and whoever I’m connected with will hear me.”

As more than a third of the global population is estimated to be under some form of lockdown, Bitton-Jackson and fellow survivors participating in Zikaron BaSalon aren’t the only ones forced to pivot to tell their stories this Holocaust Remembrance Day. Institutions across Israel, Europe, and the United States have taken activities and ceremonies online in an attempt to maintain – and perhaps even increase – participation.

It's already taken place this evening as I write this, and here's one important history account recommended for listening and reading, and of course it's a shame that because a whole health crisis broke out, so the ability to conduct these vital ceremonies properly has been undermined, but a good thing the people involved were able to do so nevertheless. Let's wish them well and be glad they're still around to tell their experiences.

Labels: anti-semitism, communications, conferences, Europe, germany, Israel, terrorism, United States