Jewish women and women’s organizations around the world who are affiliated with the International Council of Jewish Women have joined the WJC campaign #WeRemember for International Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27, 2023.

The International Council of Jewish Women is an active member of the World Jewish Congress and the United Nations, as a member of the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). We not only represent the interests and concerns of Jewish women around the world concerning antisemitism, but many of our affiliates work to support Holocaust survivors in different countries. As their numbers dwindle, it is more important than ever for the next generation to bear witness and tell their stories, to reinforce the message #NeverAgain.

Bearing Witness through Music & Art

ICJW co-chair of Education Prof. Zehavit Gross wrote a song about the experiences of her late father Zvi Brenner, a Holocaust Survivor from Transnistria. Her ballad “Ashtikale Broit” describes the story of Jewish children from North Romania who died from starvation in Transnistria. The song has been recorded in many languages, and was recently translated into German and is performed by  Suzanne Marik. It is illustrated using sand animation by Ilana Yahav, which expresses the emotions of the song and sharpens the listener’s understanding through art, which opens up another dimension for us to deal with the issue of memory.

Watch a video about the production of this song, sung by maestro Dudu Fisher: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqGoYzExgdg

The new German version was organized by Prof. Reinhold Boschki, head of the Ellie Wiesel Center at  Tubingen University.  Prof. Gross is very excited that the German version of her song – “Ein Stückelchen Brot” – will be performed for the first time on International Holocaust Remembrance Day in a synagogue in Hechingen that was destroyed by the Nazis in 1938 and is now a learning center. It is also being shared with school students across Germany on YouTube: