Christians Recall Holocaust In Worldwide Online Session

By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News

(Worthy News) – Tens of thousands of Christians joined an online ceremony marking Yom Hashoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, amid concerns that antisemitism will spread as fast as the coronavirus. While a memorial siren sounded across Israel, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) had viewers stand to honor 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust, also known as Shoah.

The ICEJ, a Jerusalem-based relief and advocacy group, said it organized Tuesday’s event online due to Israel’s social distancing rules related to the coronavirus pandemic. The program, broadcast live through social media, began with live footage from the “Harp Bridge” at the entrance to Jerusalem as the nationwide siren sounded, stopping traffic.

An estimated 40,000 Christian viewers stood in silence around the world in their homes to honor the victims of Nazi genocide against the Jews during World War Two.

The ceremony came at a time of rising anti-Jewish sentiments, said Shaya Ben-Yehuda, director of international relations of Israel’s Holocaust Museum Yad Vashem. “Coronavirus is not the only virus facing the world. There is also spread of the virus of antisemitism,” the director stressed. He urged Christians to continue to pray and fight against anti-Jewish attacks.

“Only a non-believer such as Adolf Hitler could plan to the annihilation of an entire race without the Almighty. Hitler should never be allowed to win,” Ben-Yehuda added. He urged viewers to reach out to the dwindling number of Holocaust survivors. Many of these older people face loneliness due to lockdowns imposed by governments to halt the coronavirus outbreak, he explained.

His opinions were shared by other speakers attending the online gathering such as ICEJ President Jürgen Bühler and Sari Granitza, director of Christian Friends of Yad Vashem. There was time for reflection when violinist Serguei Popov joined from Finland to play the moving theme of the film Schindler’s List about a German businessman who, with his wife, saved more than a thousand Jews from the Holocaust.

But before his performance, Popov warned: “History teaches us that remembrance leads us to deliverance. And forgetfulness leads us to destruction.”

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