Yom HaShoah

This evening marks the beginning of an important series of Israeli holidays which are to come in the next few weeks. Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) starts at sundown tonight, and continues until sundown tomorrow night. Less than a week later comes Yom HaZikaron (Memorial Day) and Yom HaAtzma'ut (Israel Independence Day). The first two are somber holidays, so much so that a siren rings out through the entire country, stopping all activities to elicit Israelis to stand silently and remember the ones who have fallen for the sake of the Jewish people.
To start Yom HaShoah, the International school organized a second-generation Holocaust survivor to come and speak to us. As I listened, I decided that it was one of the most influential things I had done thus far in Israel. Oranit seemed to be in her upper 50s, and had the most soothing voice I had ever heard. She spoke so matter-of-factly about her parent's experiences during the Holocaust that it was hard to imagine how they actually lived through it. It would be a failed attempt for me to even try to recreate anything that she said, but I will mention some points that stuck out in my mind.
She started off by telling us that her parents considered themselves 'graduates' of the Holocaust, not survivors, and that there is no one who truly survives such an experience. Both parents were lucky enough to escape the lives of concentration camps, but, since they were young children when the war started, their disturbed childhood persisted as they became adults. Oranit described her mother as a 'fixer' - she could not handle what was going on in her mind, so she set off to fix the problems of others instead. This lifestyle landed her in mental hospitals many times, but she later became a painter, and used beautiful landscapes and still life to suppress her memories of losing her father and fleeing from the Nazis.
Oranit's parent's marriage only lasted for five years, which she believes was typical of those who lived through the Holocaust. Her father was violent, and built a wall between himself and everyone else around him. Because of this, Oranit felt that she grew up with very little nurturing and love, and says she is only just beginning to learn about herself. Throughout her speaking, she encouraged people to ask questions, so I decided to ask about her feelings towards Yom HaShoah, knowing that the Holocaust is a part of her daily life. Of course, she replied that this is a question she hoped no one would ask... oops. Anyway, she went on to explain that thinking about the Holocaust is like looking at a picture book - usually, it is important to keep the book closed, and on a shelf, and not to plaster the pictures all over our walls and live with the pain of them. However, we also need to open the album and take a look at the pictures every so often.
I know that tomorrow and next week will bring a very different perspective to being in Israel, so I will post more once it happens...

Lots of love,
Elyse