Zigmond Alder was born in 1936 in Belgium. He was gassed in Auschwitz at 7 years old.
Judith Schwed was born in 1932 in Hungary. She was gassed in Auschwitz at 12 years old.
Jacob Unger was born in 1871 in Poland. He was gassed at Sobibor at 72 years old.
These are just three names from a list of millions of victims of the Holocaust.
They were considered inferior. They were a problem that had to be solved.
Slowly stripped of their rights, citizenship and belongings, their segregation and forced assimilation were only the first steps toward creating a greater Germany free from Jews. In the end, annihilation was deemed the only final solution.
Channah Mazansky-Zaidel became a victim at the age of 33 as she and her family were forced to dig their own mass grave. Stripped of their belongings—even the clothes on their back—they were gunned down in masses in the forests of Lithuania.
The horrors of the Holocaust cannot be forgotten. Millions of lives were lost—lives who had families, histories, and homes. They had names and faces. They were mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, friends, and neighbors.
They were people just like you and me.
My Olive Tree sponsors olive trees as a gift of hope, love, and restoration for Israel and the Jewish people.
We plant to remember the past when people like Zigmond Alder, Judith Schwed and Jacob Unger did not have a voice, or a Jewish homeland. We plant for the future of the Jewish nation.
Of all the tree planting projects that we have been blessed to facilitate, this is the one that is most meaningful for my family and me.
You see, in Jewish culture remembrance is deeply rooted in the soul of every Jew, because we know what it means for our people to be forgotten. We understand that if true history is not remembered, a false narrative will cause forgetfulness.
Even today there are those who deny the Holocaust ever happened. They deny the life and death of mothers like Channah and daughters like Judith. They deny their memory; their existence; their legacy.
One of my personal promises to the Lord is “never again—not on my watch—will there be a Holocaust because we did not have the courage to take a stand and be a voice.”
Friends, you too share my heart. You long to be a voice of remembrance.
We recently returned from Israel where we celebrated a special Shabbat dinner with over 400 Holocaust survivors. I am sad to see them growing older and fewer with every visit. It is our hope at My Olive Tree to give them a lasting legacy in a special part of the King’s Valley by honoring those who were murdered during the Holocaust.
Your special gift of $177 will plant a tree in the name of a Holocaust victim, and provide a warm winter blanket to a Holocaust survivor as a gift from you and your family. This gift is a physical offering that speaks louder than words, saying: “you are not forgotten and you will be remembered.”
This gift of a tree in the coveted area of the King’s Valley leaves a legacy for those who cannot leave one for themselves, but longed to see the prosperity and protection of a Jewish homeland.
In Jewish culture, we plant a vineyard for our children, and we plant an olive tree for our grandchildren. Sponsoring a tree in honor of a victim of the Holocaust is one of the highest honors—for them to be remembered in the City of our God, Jerusalem!
Most of these Jewish victims attended a Passover where they would have declared, “Next year in Jerusalem!” YOU can make this their ‘Next year in Jerusalem.’ This is the next year for Isak Saleschutz, Anna Pfeffer, and Josef Gani.
Friends, we began this special program in April with the names of 227 victims, but still have 54 victims left to sponsor. I would love to have all 54 remaining names memorialized through additional sponsorships as soon as possible. This would allow us to expand our list and touch the lives of so many more hundreds, and even thousands of Holocaust Survivors living in Israel today.
Will you help them leave a legacy in the land of their fathers, and in the City of our God?