Sunday, January 26, 2014
The International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust was observed in Managua, as part of the program Educating to Remember - The Holocaust: Paradigm of Genocide, promoted by the Global Embassy of Activists for Peace. This program delves into strategies to prevent genocide, in addition to the importance of an education centered on values and principles that encourage society to carry out actions in defense of human rights.
Arthur Vaughan, Honorary Consul of the State of Israel, quoted a reference made in the Mishnah about forgiveness: “Only he who has suffered, against whom a crime has been committed, is entitled to forgive, if he so desires. He alone can exercise that right.”
In his emotional participation, Abraham Strobel, son of a Holocaust survivor expressed: “... My mother, who was from a family of eight people… only five returned from the Holocaust. My grandmother, who was in the Holocaust, was taken to the ovens one month after she arrived at Auschwitz. It is an honor for me to see that Nicaragua will never forget that this genocide against the Jews was carried out in Nazi Germany. "
Dr. Jose Antonio Mejia, representative of the Global Embassy of Activists for Peace in Nicaragua, urged those present to create opportunities to educate about peace, focusing on fundamental principles such as respect for life and love for our neighbors: "...It is important to note that just as Hitler used education as a tool to implant hatred, we can also educate for peace. And what is the best setting to achieve this goal? It is the academic environment; it is in universities where we can spread to our neighbors a message of love and brotherhood."
After the above participations, six candles were lit in memory of the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust. The former President of the Jewish Community in Nicaragua, Gerald Smith, the religious leader of the Jewish Community in Nicaragua, Dr. Akiva Simcha, Abraham Strobel, a direct descendent of Holocaust survivors, and leaders of different Christian communities participated in the event, after which a photographic exhibition was held, depicting the crimes perpetrated against the Jewish people by Nazi Germany.