Australian Jews joined the world in the UN International Holocaust Memorial Day commemorations on the 27th January 2016, with a moving event in Melbourne, which included the Austrian Ambassador to Australia Dr Helmut Block and moving accounts by survivors of the Holocaust.Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the occasion of International Holocaust Memorial Day about the growth of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel UN resolutions, as an obsession which is beyond rational explanation.US President Barrack Obama spoke at the honouring of 4 persons who hid and rescued Jews, as Righteous Amongst the Nations, declaring symbolically, I too am a Jew. And warning against the growth of anti-Semitism, as a threat to all mankind.A 112 year old resident of Haifa and Holocaust survivor Yisroel Krysztal, who could be the oldest living man in the world, said in Yiddish, when asked how it feels to be so old: Its not such a great deal..Documents released by the Israeli National Archives show that Adolf Eichmann, the architect of the Holocaust, wrote to the then Israeli President asking for clemency from the death sentence, because he continued to believe that he was just a minor official following orders.Dave Sharma the Australian Ambassador to Israel signed a petition campaigning for a better deal for Holocaust survivors in Israel, stating that considering that half of Australias Jews are descendants of survivors, it was only right to do so for survivors in Israel.The celebrated Australian writer and journalist Geraldine Brooks, who converted to Judaism in 1984, and whose recent books cover Jewish themes, was amongst many worthy Jewish Australians honoured in the Australia Day honours awards.
Share
