Skopje, 18 April 2023 (MIA) - The Skopje Holocaust Memorial Center marked on Tuesday the 80-year-anniversary of Holocaust Remembrance Day – Yom HaShoah, dedicated to the heroism of the prisoners of the Warsaw ghetto that rebelled against the Nazi terror, creating an uprising on April 19, 1943. An art exhibition with works created by elementary school children was also held for the 11^th time to honor this day.

The Israeli Knesset determined this day in 1951 as the National Holocaust Remembrance Day, and ever since then, Yom HaShoah has been observed in Israel and every other country with a Jewish community.

Pepo Levi, president of the Jewish community in North Macedonia, said that the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto chose how they wanted to die. 56 thousand Jews were direct victims of the uprising, and since the Warsaw ghetto was established on October 12, 1940, around 400 thousand innocent Jews ended up in the death camps.

"Two rebel groups of around 700 fighters led by 24-year-old Mordechai Anielewicz fought against Nazi Germany in the heart of occupied Europe. The SS soldiers killed over 7,000 residents of the ghetto during the uprising, deported around 7,000 to Treblinka, and around 42,000 survivors ended up in Majdanek and Lyublynka. The Warsaw ghetto fighters committed collective suicide. On May 16, 1943, Nazi general Strop, personally named by Heinrich Himmler, declared the Warsaw ghetto uprising as over, celebrating his bloody victory by destroying the great synagogue in Warsaw... Israel grieves today. It honors the innocent 6 million Jews. North Macedonia stands in solidarity, honoring the 7,144 Jews it lost to the death camp in Treblinka," Levi said.

He also pointed to today’s military conflicts in the world, Ukraine and the Middle East, where there are thousands of innocent victims, displaced people and ruined lives of children.

Modern Europe and the world cannot allow history to be altered, which creates fertile soil to spread and develop Nazi ideas.

“Glorifying proven fascists and skewing history leads us to catastrophic conflicts. Nazism and its ideas are recognizable and must be destroyed on sight. They cannot hide behind democracy,” said Levi.

An art exhibition with works created by elementary school children, titled 7144 extinguished stars in the Holocaust was also held. The exhibit was part of a contest titled The Holocaust through the eyes of children, held by the Holocaust Fund of the Jews of Macedonia and the Holocaust Memorial Center.

103 submissions arrived at this year’s edition of the contest, and 60 were showcased at the exhibition. dk/nn/

Photo: MIA