Israeli survivors remember Holocaust amid virus quarantine
Source: AP
By ARON HELLER
JERUSALEM (AP) — With the global coronavirus pandemic ravaging the elderly, Israel’s aging population of Holocaust survivors finds itself on the country’s annual Holocaust Remembrance Day this year much like they were during World War II — alone and in fear of the unknown.
Some survivors say the current isolation and sense of danger has triggered difficult memories linked with their wartime experiences. Others bristle at any comparison to their plight during World War II – when the Nazis systematically murdered 6 million Jews.
“One has nothing to do with the other. This could never compare to the five years I went through in the Holocaust,” said Dov Landau, 92, who survived Auschwitz and several other death camps, but lost his entire family. “We can now eat and drink, listen to music and still breathe the fresh air. This is a temporary disease that will pass.”
Holocaust Remembrance Day is one of the most solemn dates on the Israeli calendar. Survivors typically attend remembrance ceremonies, share stories with teenagers and participate in memorial marches at former concentration camps in Europe.
Holocaust survivors Manya Herman, left, and Eliezer Rabinovich wear masks and gloves as they keep a distance while attending an annual Holocaust memorial ceremony held outside this year because of the coronavirus, in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, Israel, Tuesday, April 21, 2020. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Read more: https://apnews.com/7211c1443a92db4581723f85fde8ace7
