[Photo is the U.S. Holocaust Museum, Washington, D.C.]In 1951, Israel's parliament, the Knesset, established Yom ha-Sho'ah on the 27th day of the month of Nisan.
Israel became a nation on May 14, 1948, thus celebrates its statehood, on Iyyar 5.
In Israel, at 8 A.M. on Yom ha-Sho'ah, sirens scream for two minutes. The Holocaust Chronicle explains it this way: "...the sirens sound multiple warnings: Be vigilant; do not take Israel's existence for granted. Be realistic; do not assume that the Holocaust will never be forgotten, let alone that genocide is a thing of the past. Be undeceived: do no suppose that Israel's existence 'makes up' for the Holocaust. Be careful: do not imagine, at least not easily, that the state of Israel reaffirms the covenant between God and the Jewish people. Be clearheaded: do not preempt the Holocaust by making its evil instrumental, the means that somehow produced a 'greater good.'"
* 1947 - The former prime minister of Slovakia, Jozef Tiso, an ally of Hitler, is tried and executed. According to a 1956 report, Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat dies in a Soviet prison.
Throughout 1947 and following years, many trials are held for Nazi judges and officials and others allied with Nazism. Some are sentenced to death, some are imprisoned and some are acquitted. Too many escaped justice!
* September 8: British troops turn tear gas on Jewish refugees from the ship, Exodus.
* November 29 - The United Nations votes to partition Palestine to create a Jewish state. Palestinian Arabs are very much opposed.
* 1948 - Pope Pius XII suggests mercy for all Nazi war criminals condemned to death. General Lucius Clay rejects his suggestion.
* May 14 - The British mandate to rule Palestine expires. Palestine is divided into the state of Israel and the Kingdom of Jordan. Within hours, the United States grants recognition to Israel.
* May 15 - Egyptian and Jordanian forces invade Israel.
* December - The UN establishes a Genocide Convention which asks members of the UN to resist groups who seek to destroy people on racial, ethnic, religious or national grounds. The US refuses to sign, probably because of the forced segregation within the U.S.
* January 7, 1949 - A cease-fire is called in Israel and in the settlement that ensues, Israel gains 50 percent more territory.
* May 23, 1949 - The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) is established.
Down through the years, many Nazis escaped justice and fled to other countries. A number went to South America, assisted by the Vatican. For example, about 60,000 Nazis made it to Argentina, at least 1,000 of which were members of the SS. Some came to the United States. The more notorious were hunted down and many were brought to justice. Others were never found, or died in exile.
In October of 1980, a law creating the United States Holocaust Memorial Council was passed unanimously by the U.S. Congress. This council sponsors fund-raising events for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. The museum officially opened in April of 1993 in Washington, D.C.
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The treatment of surviving Jews throughout Europe was more than sad. They were put into Displaced Persons camps all over Europe where they were given medical treatment, food and shelter. Most had no homes to return to and few countries wanted them! Some did manage to return to their former homes to search out relatives. Some were killed upon arrival. The new occupants of their old homes drove them away. Some were helped by Jewish Palestinians to start the journey to Palestine to be secretly absorbed into Jewish homes and Kibbutz areas. They were smuggled onto ships destined for Palestine. The ships were stopped and turned back in many cases. In others British Naval vessels escorted them to “concentration camps” in Cyprus for indefinite internment by the British. They were not allowed entry in to Palestine. The British, working with their Arab friends, searched them out and arrested them, while the world stood by. No one wanted these survivors! Eventually many did make it to Palestine where they were absorbed into Jewish areas. When the state of Israel was created, many died fighting off the Arab nations that sought to eradicate the new Jewish State.
The world continued to deplore the Holocaust but the pious words did little to guarantee the survival of these survivors or welcome them to new homes.
The Jewish State survived and prospered but the Jewish State is still not recognized by all and is the only country in the world to be treated as somehow “outside” the normal treatment of the rest of the members of the UN, including new nations formed after the Jewish State.
Now the pious words have been forgotten and somehow the Jewish State is faulted for the lack of peace and progress in their part of the world. Little changes, but the Jewish State has survived in spite of all the hostility. Someday, hopefully it will see its capital, Jerusalem accepted but not in the near term. Someday, hopefully, it will be able to live in peace with the Arab world, but not in the near term.
I wonder how much has really changed when another six million Jews live with the possibility of a nuclear Holocaust wiping out approximately half the remaining world Jewry.
Bob Poris
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