U.S. Jew produces $100,000 YouTube clip on the HolocaustVIDEO / The five-minute clip, ‘Rainbow in the Night’, aims to combat Holocaust denial and increase awareness of the atrocity among American teenagers

Rainbow in the Night, a short YouTube clip, is a brief but exceptionally powerful video created specifically for today's fast paced generation. Using stunning cinematography, a haunting score, hard hitting lyrics and vocals that will touch the deepest recesses of the soul, this historical work offers a glimpse into World War II Krakow as seen through the eyes of a survivor. Beginning with footage of a 1939 original oil painting of a synagogue being ravaged by the Nazis, shown at a private event in the survivor's home, Rainbow in the Night is an exquisitely emotional journey, as the survivor recalls first the warmth of his childhood home, then the shock and disbelief as people are forced to leave their homes for the Krakow ghetto, taken to an extermination camp and after enduring unspeakable cruelty, finally liberated. Set against a backdrop of utter despair and hopelessness, the survivor relives the inexplicable power that enabled him to persevere, the rainbow in the figurative night that promised better days to come. Culminating triumphantly with our hope for the future, the faces of hundreds of modern day Jewish children, Rainbow in the Night is both a euphoric tribute to the indomitable human spirit that enabled the Jewish people to survive against all odds and also a call to arms, to rekindle the spark of Jewish pride and unity among Jews worldwide, as we continue to rebuild the generations that were destroyed by the
Nazis.

To download the song, please visit:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/rainbow-in-night-feat.-yanky/id498260454
http://www.mostlymusic.com/rainbow-in-the-night.html

850,000 mass Jewish grave discovered at Treblinca death camp.

A British forensic archaeologist has unearthed fresh evidence to prove the existence of mass graves at the Nazi death camp Treblinka - scuppering the claims of Holocaust deniers who say it was merely a transit camp.

Some 800,000 Jews were killed at the site, in north east Poland, during the Second World War but a lack of physical evidence in the area has been exploited by Holocaust deniers.
Forensic archaeologist Caroline Sturdy Colls has now undertaken the first co-ordinated scientific attempt to locate the graves.

As Jewish religious law forbids disturbing burial sites, she and her team from the University of Birmingham have used 'ground-penetrating radar'.

Her work at the site, where the Nazis tried to destroy all traces of industrial-scale killing, is being followed in forthcoming Radio 4 documentary The Hidden Graves Of The Holocaust.

Sturdy Colls said: 'All the history books state that Treblinka was destroyed by the Nazis but the survey has demonstrated that simply isn’t the case. 'I’ve identified a number of buried pits using geophysical techniques. These are considerable in size, and very deep, one in particular is 26 by 17 metres.'

The programme’s presenter says that the pits contain the burnt remains of thousands of bodies.

The forensic archaeologist, who has now presented her findings to the authorities responsible for the memorial at Treblinka, added: 'I really hope this is the first stage in a long-term programme to seek out those hidden graves of the Holocaust.'

Survivor Kalman Taigman remembers his arrival at the camp’s railway station, packed into a cattle wagon. 'I was with my mother. We were about 100 people in a wagon. They opened the doors, firing guns and hitting us, and sent us into a yard. I ran with my mother and tried to calm her. 'They told me to leave my mother but I didn’t do it quickly and I was hit on the head. When I got up, she was gone. She went with all the rest of the women to the gas chamber.'

850,000 mass Jewish grave discovered at Treblinca death camp http://ow.ly/8AvPO

The Sketchbook from Auschwitz.

A unique work preserved in the collections of the Auschwitz Memorial has been published by the Museum in its entirety for the first time. It is the only set of drawings made in the camp depicting the extermination of Jews deported by German Nazis to Auschwitz. The unknown author documented in his drawings also murdering of prisoners who were sick or had been worked to exhaustion.

The 22 pages were stuffed inside a bottle concealed in the foundations of one of the barracks of the Birkenau camp, not far from the place where gas chambers and crematoria IV and V were located. A former prisoner Józef Odi, who was then acting as a watchman on the grounds of the Memorial, found it at the site in 1947.

The drawings which depict the extermination are mixed with different drawings presenting Auschwitz as a concentration camp. The two functions, the extermination center and the concentration camp, appear in the Sketchbook simultaneously, as it happened in the reality. Yet, the topic of extermination was singled out by the author himself. This shows that he was aware of the unprecedented nature of the events he witnessed.

The Sketchbook from Auschwitz. German Nazis performing the selection among the deported Jews"You can clearly see that the author was determined in presenting the largest number of details. Badges of functionary prisoners, number plates of the trucks, train cars on the ramp as well as block numbers are carefully depicted. The author of the Sketchbook hoped that someone would find his work so that it would became a witness of extermination", says Agnieszka Sieradzka, art historian from the Museum's Collections Department and the author of the study.

The Polish-English publication was provided with an introduction explaining the circumstances of creation of the Sketchbook. Each of the drawings is accompanied by a historical explanation and survivors' accounts.

The book is available at the on-line bookstore of the Auschwitz Memorial. Auschwitz-Birkenau - The Sketchbook from Auschwitz http://ow.ly/8AuZd

“That four great nations, flushed with victory and stung with injury stay the hand of vengeance and voluntarily submit their captive enemies to the judgment of the law is one of the most significant tributes that Power has ever paid to Reason.”
— Justice Robert Jackson, Chief U.S. Counsel to the International Military Tribunal, Nuremberg, Germany, November 21, 1945

Congress established the Days of Remembrance as the nation’s annual commemoration of the Holocaust and created the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum as a permanent living memorial to the victims. This year's Holocaust remembrance week is May 1–8, 2011. The theme designated by the Museum for the 2011 observance is Justice and Accountability in the Face of Genocide: What Have We Learned?

In the immediate aftermath of the massive death and destruction of World War II, revenge might have satisfied the shock and anger of the moment. But many believed that justice under the rule of law rather than vengeance would better serve humanity. In support of this principle, the Museum is marking the 65th anniversary of the verdicts at the first Nuremberg trial, a watershed moment in international justice, and the 50th anniversary of the trial of Adolf Eichmann, one of the most high-profile postwar recountings of the Nazi genocide and a landmark in public awareness of the Holocaust.

The International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg in 1945 held 22 top Nazi leaders accountable for atrocities they commanded and perpetrated. Subsequent proceedings between 1946 and 1949 prosecuted another 183 persons. This total represented only a tiny fraction of those responsible for the Holocaust, but established important precedents. Who was prosecuted was more telling than how many stood trial. No one, regardless of official position, was above the law. The argument that someone had just been following orders was no longer considered a valid defense. Not only were the shooters at mass executions and the guards at gas chambers tried, but physicians and business leaders, government officials and civil servants also were required to take responsibility for their actions—for as noted historian Raul Hilberg wrote, “The annihilation of Jewry required the implementation of systematic administrative measures in successive steps.”

After Nuremberg, a new understanding of international responsibility for human rights emerged, as the world began to fully understand the events we now call the Holocaust, spurring on a process to create a new legal vehicle that criminalized attempts to destroy any entire group of people—the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

Fifteen years after the first Nuremberg convictions, a single individual would come to personify these crimes—Adolf Eichmann. A midlevel SS officer central to the planning and implementation of the “Final Solution,” Eichmann was captured by Israeli agents while hiding in Argentina in 1960 and brought to Israel for what would become known then as the “trial of the century.”

In an event televised around the world, the Eichmann trial refocused attention on the murder of the Jews of Europe. Unlike the Nuremberg trials, which relied heavily on documentary evidence, the Eichmann trial featured eyewitness testimony by Holocaust survivors, speaking out in a way they never had before, enabling the world to put a face not only on the perpetrators, such as Eichmann, but on the millions of victims and survivors.

The Nuremberg and Eichmann trials strove for justice, but what can justice really mean in the face of a crime like genocide? While the trials were an act of public accountability owed to the victims, justice to a great extent was aspirational.

These anniversaries come at a time when some of the last living Nazis are on trial and perpetrators of recent genocides and crimes against humanity are being prosecuted. Precedents set in trials against Holocaust perpetrators have guided a new understanding of justice as a tool for seeking accountability, providing affirmation to victims, warning perpetrators, and reflecting society’s highest ideals about truth and justice. These trials are also a harsh reminder that while accountability is necessary in the aftermath of genocide, early intervention is vital to saving lives. Whether it is prevention, response, or accountability, the Holocaust teaches us that inaction can be deadly; actions, even small ones, can make all the difference for those whose lives are at risk, now and in the future.

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Remembrance

The 2011 Days of Remembrance begin this Sunday, May 1.

Why do we remember? The President's Commission on the Holocaust states: "Remembering can instill caution, fortify restraint, and protect against future evil or indifference."

Over the coming days, our US Holocaust Museum will provide many opportunities for you to participate in the Days of Remembrance, wherever you live. Together, as concerned citizens, we will commemorate the victims of the Holocaust and dedicate ourselves to creating the future their memory demands.

During the Days of Remembrance, you can:

• Attend a local commemoration in your community. You can find an event near you by searching our map.

• Share your thoughts about why remembering is important.

• Explore the theme of this year's Days of Remembrance, Justice and Accountability in the Face of Genocide: What Have We Learned?

• Watch the live webcast of the National Days of Remembrance commemoration at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda with Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer on May 17 at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Holocaust and War Victims Tracing Center.

Holocaust Tracing, Family Searches and Wartime Documentation

The Holocaust and War Victims Tracing Center is a national clearinghouse for persons seeking the fates of loved ones missing since the Holocaust and its aftermath. We assist U.S. residents searching for proof of internment, forced/slave labor, or evacuation from former Soviet territories on themselves or family members. This documentation may be required for reparations.

All of our tracing services are free of charge.
We use the worldwide network of more than 180 Red Cross and Red Crescent societies and the Magen David Adom in Israel.

We also consult museums, archives, and international organizations to further facilitate tracing requests.

Cases remain open, and if new information becomes available, it is immediately shared with the inquirer.

The Holocaust and War Victims Tracing Center is located at:
Street Address:     4800 Mt. Hope Drive - Baltimore, Maryland 21215
Phone:     (410) 624-2090
Fax:     (410) 764-7664
E-mail:     hwvtc@arc-cmc.org

Facts

The American Red Cross Holocaust and War Victims Tracing Center is part of a national program for persons seeking the fates of loved ones missing since the end of WWII and the Holocaust and its aftermath. Opened Sept. 24, 1990, the Center assists U.S. residents searching for proof of internment, forced/slave labor, or evacuation from former Soviet territories on themselves or family members. This documentation may be required for reparations.

While the American Red Cross has been providing tracing for victims of WWII and the Nazi regime since 1939, impetus for the creation of the Center occurred in 1989 with the release of files on 400,000 people detained for forced labor or murdered in concentration camps, including those listed in the Auschwitz death books.

• All tracing services at the Holocaust and War Victims Tracing Center are free of charge.
• To facilitate tracing requests, the American Red Cross taps into the worldwide network of Red Cross and Red Crescent societies and the Magen David Adom in Israel or their equivalents, and consults museums, archives and international organizations and websites.
• Cases remain open, and if new information becomes available, it is immediately shared with the inquirer.
• Inquiries are initiated through Red Cross chapters. The Center has sought the fate of more than 45,000 individuals missing since the Holocaust and WWII.

Objectives of the Holocaust and War Victims Tracing Center

Location and family reunification
In a small but significant number of cases, tracing activities reveal that the person being sought has survived. Family members have been reunited with relatives they spent decades searching for.

Persons sought found alive: more than 1500

Closure
In more than 16,000 cases, clients have received confirmation of death or deportation of family members. The deaths of people sent to the extermination camps were not recorded by the Nazis. While tragic for survivors and their families, this allows closure, an important part of the mourning process.

Reparations and pensions
The Red Cross can secure documentation regarding proof of forced labor, slave labor, forced evacuation from former Soviet territories or internment in concentration camps, required for submitting restitution claims.

• International Tracing Service
• Yad Vashem
• U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
• Jewish Genealogy
• Ancestry.com
• DNA Shoah Project
• The Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors Association
• The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference)

Gerda Weissman Klein, who survived the notorious death march at the end of the war designed by Nazis to keep Jews from being rescued, recently founded Citizenship Counts, “an organization that teaches students to cherish the value of their American citizenship,” the White House said in a statement Wednesday. “Klein has spoken to audiences of all ages and faith around the world about the value of freedom and has dedicated her life to promoting tolerance and understanding among all people,” the statement said.

The Medal of Freedom is the highest U.S. civilian honor, “presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”

Among the other recipients, who will receive the medals in a ceremony early next year, are President George H. W. Bush, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, poet Maya Angelou, artist Jasper Johns, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, baseball giant Stan Musial and optometrist Tom Little, who was murdered by the Taliban while he was on a humanitarian mission in Afghanistan.

Background

Gerda Weissmann was born in 1924 in a part of Poland that was part of the German empire before WWI. She had idyllic childhood with her parents and her older brother Arthur. Then in September of 1939 the Germans invaded Poland and Gerda could not do many of the things that she liked to do.

Shortly after this her older brother Arthur got a summons to report to the nearest train station to be taken to a work camp. Except for a few letters he was never seen or heard from again.

Gerda and her parents still lived in their house, but shortly after Arthurs departure they were forced to move into their basement and the "Aryans" living in the basement were able to move into the house. They lived in the basement for about a year and a half.

During the time that the Weissmanns lived in the basement Gerda met a man that she liked named Abek. They dated for a while, but she did not want to marry him and he ended up dying in a concentration camp.

After about a year and a half the Weissmanns were forced to move from their basement to a ghetto. They made do and it helped that Abek was still able to visit every day and Gerda was closer to her friends than she had been previously.

During the time that they were in the ghetto Gerda and Mr. Weissmann worked. Mr. Weissmann worked digging ditches and Gerda worked in a clothing mill. After several months of this Mr. Weissmann was moved "to be closer to his work". After this he was never seen again. Several days after Mr. Weissmann's departure it was Mrs. Weissmann and Gerda's turn to leave. The day they left the ghetto Gerda and Mrs. Weissmann were forced to march to a field where the Nazi in charge asked them and everybody else how old they were. The older ones including Mrs. Weissmann were taken in a truck to be gassed. The younger ones were taken to a concentration camp.

In the concentration camp Gerda went to she worked a loom to make parachutes for the Luftwaffe. After several months the concentration camp was liquidated and she and her friends were taken to another camp that also made parachutes for the Luftwaffe, but it was vastly different.

At first at the next camp Gerda did the same thing she did at the previous camp, she watched the looms. One day not long after arriving a man came up to her and asked her if she was hungry. She did not know what to say. As it turned out he wanted her to sleep with him and then he would feed her. She said no, to which he told her that he would make her life a living hell. After that she was always picked for the flax detail during the day and coal detail during the night.

At the next camp Gerda started out working the looms, but then she and another friend where asked to go around a weigh the boxes containing the parachute material. After several weeks of this some newcomers joined the camp. They had been on a death march that occurred near the end of the war and Gerda and her friends were joining it.

The death march started in Germany in January of 1945 and ended in April of 1945 in Czecholsovokia. Of the 4000 or so girls that began the march only about 125 were liberated by the Americans.

One of the American liberators was a German born Jew named Kurt Klein. After he and his team liberated the woman he would stop at the hospital the Gerda was in to check up on her. Soon they fell in love. They were married in around 1946-47 and moved to Western New York and started a family.

Shortly after her arrival in the United States Gerda began to write her memories of the war in a book called All But My Life. Gerda and Kurt Klein spent many years in Western New York before moving to Arizonia. After moving Gerda updated her book All But My Life to include some details about her older life and what she found out about the death of her family. She and Kurt have also written a book containing the letters that they wrote to each other while they were dating.

Gerda Weissmann Klein and Kary Antholis accept the Short Documentary Oscar in 1995.

November 21, 2010. Today’s blog is dedicated to Gerda Weissmann Klein, and my youngest sister of 6 children in my family, Kate Dresch-Hagen. This is a follow-up to a blog that I did on September 23, 2009.  As I said back then, my sister Kate lives on an amazingly beautiful farm in the town of Cyrus, Minnesota, where Kate and her husband Dave, enjoy the beauty and splendor of this little house-on-the prairie.  Kate’s compassion for the life’s of the victims of the Holocaust is unsurpassed.  My little sister had recently gone to an Anne Frank exhibit in the town of Alexandria, Minnesota, and had met Gerta Weissman Klein, in which Gerta personally signed her book for Kate.  So it is today, that I want to share this story with my little sister, and all of you.    And, I  think it is quite a coincidence having just completed another compelling story on Carroll Pratt’s life on my previous blog, that both these amazing individuals, Gerda Weissmann Klein and Carroll Pratt, achieved an “Oscar Award.”

Alice Dancing Under The Gallows

Alice Herz-Sommer "I never hate. Hatred only brings hatred."

Alice Herz-Sommer is 106 years old and she is the world’s oldest Holocaust survivor. A concert pianist and lifelong musician, she lives everyday to the fullest, imparting her optimism and wisdom on all those around her.

"Alice Dancing Under The Gallows" is a new documentary short that will take you on an emotional and inspirational journey reliving the life of this amazing woman. Follow her story on facebook

This video is the song with pictures of the holocaust and words from the song

On a recent trip to Europe, a family of three generations, (a Holocaust survivor, his daughter and his grandchildren) dance to Gloria Gaynor's pop song - 'I Will Survive' at concentration camps and memorials throughout Europe.

This dance is a tribute to the tenacity of the human spirit and a celebration of life. It is an affirmation that man can triumph over the darkest of circumstance. A testament that the human will to survive is what helps us move on and strive to find beauty and peace in life.

My intention is to present a fresh perspective to younger generations who have often become numbed and desensitized to the horrors of the Holocaust. I hope this will allow historical memory to live on, so that the lessons of the past will be forever remembered, and that people will wake--up to the atrocities that are still happening throughout the world today.
Both my mother & father, as well as being my inspiration, have also been my support throughout this project. At times, when I have felt challenged by its appropriateness, they have reminded me that 'they came from the ashes, now they dance'.

Towards the end of the clip there is old video footage of the parents and their friends (all Holocaust survivors), together with the filmer, as a young girl. They are all dancing freely in a forest outside Melbourne in the early 60's.

This footage illustrates how both dancing, and their  parents' attitude to life, have been woven into their  own life. "Growing up, I was always present while my parents danced. As an adult, it seemed a natural process to merge the two influences that have shaped my life - that of my parents' story and that of dance - hence the project, Dancing Auschwitz."