May 2, 2019: KKL-JNF and World B’nai B’rith held a ceremony in Martyrs’ Forest to honor the heroism of the Committee for the Protection of Jews in Belgium. Thanks to its efforts, over half of Belgium’s Jews survived the Holocaust.
Six million trees stand in Martyrs Forest in the Jerusalem Mountains to commemorate the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust. The forest was planted by KKL-JNF and World B’nai B’rith in the 1950s. It was one of the first sites in Israel established to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust.
Every year, Martyrs Forest is the site of KKL-JNF’s and World B’nai Brith’s central Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Day ceremony, honoring the heroism of Jews who rescued other Jews. It is the only ceremony in Israel that commemorates Jewish rescuers.
This year, the ceremony was dedicated to the members of the Committee for the Protection of Jews in Belgium.
“Perpetuating the memory of the Holocaust is the task of the Jewish people,” KKL-JNF World Chairman Daniel Atar said at the ceremony. “The commemoration of people who fought to rescue Jews during the darkest period of history is both meaningful and also important. Only a strong and prosperous Jewish state will ensure that atrocities like these will never repeat themselves.”
The ceremony took place at the foot of the Scrolls of Fire memorial, which expresses the saga of exile, the Holocaust and the rebirth of the Jewish people. The sculptor Natan Rappaport, himself a Holocaust survivor, created a bronze memorial eight meters high. One of the two cylinders of the giant scroll depicts the story of the Holocaust, while the other tells the story of the rebirth.
“Anyone who does not learn from history is doomed to repeat it,” said Dr. Haim Katz, World B’nai Brith Chairman. “It is impressive to hear how defenseless people, without weapons and without a state to support them, rose up to save other Jews. We must honor what they did and also learn from it.”
The Committee for the Protection of Jews in Belgium was established in 1942. It worked undercover to save as many Jews as possible, especially children. The committee brought together 300 Jews from various ideological backgrounds. They forged documents, obtained food and encouraged Jews to hide from the Nazis. Thanks to their work, 38,000 out of 66,000 Belgian Jews survived the Holocaust.
The parents of Mosh Michel Werber were active on the committee. He himself was hidden in the house of a Christian family. After the war, he immigrated to Israel, established a family, and raised three children and five grandchildren. “Even today, at age 80, it’s important for me to tell my story to the younger generation,” he said.
Werber and other Holocaust survivors gave over their testimonies to groups of students and soldiers participating in the ceremony.
Eliezer Lev Tziyon spoke about his time in the French Resistance: “Our aim was not to kill, but rather to save lives,” he said.
Eighty-one year-old Esther Devorah Rize-Mosul from Jerusalem told a group of soldiers how she survived the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
Eighty-eight year-old Haim Roet, also from Jerusalem, hid during the war in the home of a Christian
family in Holland.
“The personal meetings with the people giving testimony is the best way to connect students to the Holocaust,” said Adi Ben Shahar, a teacher from a school in Ramle who came to the ceremony with a group of his students.
Elisha Mizrahi from KKL-JNF’s Public Relations Department led the ceremony. Also participating were Israel Border Police who under their commander, Deputy Commissioner Ram Kahu: “The legacy of my people is that each and every one of us do whatever is within their capacity to strengthen the state of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people,” he said.
H.E. Olivier Belle, the Belgian ambassador to Israel, said, “Everyone always talks about those who fought Nazism, but many have forgotten that Jews also fought this evil.”
Also participating in the ceremony was a group of teenagers competing in the International Bible Quiz, held every year on Yom HaAtzmaut (Israel Independence Day). Contender Adar Geller, one of the contenders, sang the El Maleh Rahamim prayer from the podium.
KKL-JNF Education and Community Division Director Sar Shalom Jerbi read the Yizkor prayer. Marcel Sterngold, whose father was active in the Committee for the Protection of Jews in Antwerp, said kaddish in memory of the victims.
Unfortunately, many of the members of the Belgian Committee for the Protection of Jews are no longer among us. Their children, grandchildren and family members came to the stage to receive a Jewish Rescuers’ Citation on their behalf.
About 200,000 Holocaust survivors live in Israel today. Most of them are over 80 years old, and each year, too many of them pass away. This is an additional reason why it is so important to convey the memory to the next generation.
“As a fourth-generation Holocaust survivor, this day gave me a special sense of belonging to the Jewish people,” said 18 year-old Daniel Weiss, a student at a pre-military academy. “I will soon be enlisting for the army, and today, I understand better than ever that my job will be to protect the state of Israel and the Jewish people.”