14 March 2006
As Jewish communities around the world prepare to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day on April 25, a number of communities have begun names recovery campaigns. Synagogues, federations, schools and individuals working with Yad Vashem are launching community wide campaigns, part of an international effort to recover names of Holocaust victims who perished.
To date, half of the six million victims have been recorded in the Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names (www.yadvashem.org) where one may access their brief histories and, when available, their photographs, and submit additional names online. In the race against time to recover as many unknown names as possible, Yad Vashem is inviting communities to join the international effort before it is too late. Urging community leaders to join the historic mission of the Jewish people to memorialize every individual Jew who perished in the Holocaust through the collection of the ultimate representation of their identity: their names, the online community outreach guide outlines how to initiate local Names Recovery Campaigns. Packed with valuable resources and materials, this free guide will enable Jewish communities to plan and implement meaningful memorial programs, names collection events and related activities around Yom HaZikaron L’Shoah - Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day (this year, 25 April) and other significant dates in the Jewish calendar, such as 10th Tevet, 17th Tammuz, 9th Av, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
The guide is designed for use either by an individual or group, such as a synagogue, community center, welfare agency, survivor and next generation group, university or school. It can be used to call upon community or organization members to complete a “Page of Testimony” for each unregistered victim, or to volunteer to assist others with this urgent task.
To access the Community Outreach Guide click here.
Among the communities already involved in a Names Recovery Project:
- Toronto:
Jewish Information Service of Greater Toronto - Latner Centre for Jewish Knowledge and Heritage, an initiative of UJA Federation. - New York:
UJA Federation of Greater New York
The Workmen's Circle/Arbeter Ring
American Society for Yad Vashem, New York Office and Florida Chapter - California:
Congregation Shir Ha Ma’alot - United Kingdom:
Yad Vashem UK Foundation
