“For evil to flourish, it only requires good men to do nothing.”—Simon Wiesenthal
On Saturday, January 27, the United Nations General Assembly observes the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau as International Holocaust Remembrance Day (IHRD), a time to remember the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and the millions of other victims of Nazi persecution. As we witnessed Hamas’ deadliest attack of Jews since the the Holocaust referred to as Israel’s 9/11” or “Israel’s Pearl Harbor, what followed was an alarming rise of antisemitism around the world globe that was simmering below the surface.
The black-and-white iconic photograph taken by a rabbi’s wife depicts a brass menorah—a traditional Jewish candelabra—during the Jewish festival of Hanukah in 1932 positioned on a windowsill directly across the street from the Nazi party’s regional headquarters building upon which a large swastika flag is seen hanging menacingly from the facade. This marked one woman’s courageous defiance against one of the world’s most violent and oppressive regimes. On the back of the snapshot, Rachel Posner, wife of rabbi Dr. Akiva Posner, and taker of the photo wrote an inscription: “The flag says ‘death to Judaism,’ the light says “Judaism will live forever.’”
Akiva Baruch Mansback, a great-grandson of rabbi Akiva and Rachel Posner, told Greenbaum Davis, the writer of the Newsweek piece in 2019, that the lighting of the menorah "reminds him of the resilience of his ancestors and the continuity of Jewish history.” In over 80 years since the Holocaust, about 245,000 Jewish survivors across 90 countries are still alive. Around 49% living in Israel, 18% in Western Europe, 16% in the United States, and 12% in countries of the former Soviet Union.
The Holocaust was the genocide of European Jews during World War ll. Between 1941-1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews primarily through mass shootings and poison gas in several extermination camps. In over 80 years since the Holocaust, about 245,000 Jewish survivors across 90 countries are still alive. Around 49% living in Israel, 18% in Western Europe, 16% in the United States, and 12% in countries of the former Soviet Union.
Postscript: German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier joined in the lighting ceremony of the Hanukkah menorah belonging to the Posners, A German Jewish family at Berlin’s Bellevue palace last December during the so-called Festival of Lights, filled him with deep gratitude and humility and above all, happiness.” (AFB, Times of Israel).
