Cape Town - About four generations of Jewish communities gathered at Pinelands Jewish Cemetery No 2 to pay tribute to the six million men, women and children killed during World War 2.

Among those who attended was 101-year-old survivor Ella Blumenthal.

The 80th Yom Hashoah tribute saw attendees following a broad Jewish tradition of placing white stones on a grave to symbolise a visit, honouring the deceased and noting connections of generations.

Green Point and Sea Point Hebrew Congregation spokesperson Pini Rabbi Hecht said: “We place stones as a memorial because a Hebrew word for stone is Even/Eben that can be broken into two words, Eve and Ben, meaning father and son or parent and child. By placing stones, it notes connections of generations and carrying forth the memory of someone.”

Reflecting as a survivor, Blumenthal said: “The sight of burning buildings will forever be in my eyes as I will never erase it from my mind and the smell of burning feathers from the buildings will forever be in my nostrils.

“Before the attacks, I was living a happy life, the youngest of seven children and a naughty child, which I still am. Everyone in my life can attest to that. The attacks did not change me. I remember everything that happened to me, the joyful and sad days,” said Blumenthal.

Herzlia head student Taya Allardice shared words directed to her peers, saying Yom Hashoah was just as much about reflecting and looking back as it was about looking forward and thinking about how the victims of the Holocaust would never be forgotten.

“The youth have a significant role to play in this. As time goes on, the responsibility of Holocaust remembrance and commemoration falls on our shoulders. We must carry the torch of remembrance and ensure that the stories of the Holocaust are passed down to the next generation.”

Build One SA leader Mmusi Maimane, who attended the commemoration, said: “South Africa has a lot to learn from the history of oppression of any kind. The Jewish community in South Africa is a significant part of our community, of our citizenship.

“As a country that has lived through evil against humankind which was apartheid, the Holocaust must always be a reminder that if we are not careful, we need always be choosing leaders who are honourable, who can preserve prosperity for everybody rather than a sense of another oppression,” Maimane said.

Spokesperson for Israeli ambassador Eliav Belotsercovsky, David Cohen, said: “The Holocaust is a scar on the face of humanity. A scar that should never heal. A scar that should constantly remind us as human beings how a civilised and cultured nation in the middle of Europe could be harnessed by a group of criminals motivated by racist ideology in order to exterminate a whole nation.

“Much more could have been done to save Jews. The Allies could have bombed the death camps, destroyed the terrible extermination machine or at least demolished the railway tracks that led to the camps. None of these were considered a worthy target by the Allies,” Cohen said.

siviwe.melapi@inl.co.za

Cape Argus