Page 52 - Holyland Magazine - 2019 Edition

Yad Vashem‫׳‬s Memorial to the Deportees Cattle Car
Petr’s creations are among the tens of
thousands of artifacts and artwork from the
Holocaust-era housed at Yad Vashem, the
World Holocaust Remembrance Center.
Since its creation by the Israeli parliament
in 1953, just eight years after the Holocaust
was brought to an end, and just five years
after the establishment of the State of Israel, preparation for his ill-fated flight aboard the
Yad Vashem has served as the world’s
ultimate source for Holocaust remembrance,
documentation, research and education.
Even in its perilous, nascent condition,
the State’s founders saw commemoration
of the murder of the Jews of Europe and
North Africa as a critical component to its
identity. In addition, Yad Vashem was given
the unprecedented honor of recognizing,
on behalf of the State of Israel, those
courageous non-Jews who risked their
lives to save Jews from the Nazis and their
collaborators.
As part of Yad Vashem’s vast range of
activities, this mission to keep the memory
and the universal warnings of the Holocaust
alive led to the establishment of the Christian anniversary of the very same day that now
Friends of Yad Vashem (CFYV) in 2006, in
cooperation with the International Christian
Embassy in Jerusalem. Active all over the
world, among a variety of denominations,
Christian Friends has thousands of
supporters with whom it builds bridges
between the Christian and Jewish worlds.
Christian Friends of Yad Vashem develops
and runs educational programs at Yad
Vashem, online and around the world for
Christian leaders and youth, educating them
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about the atrocities of the Holocaust and
how to fight antisemitism.
Israel’s first astronaut, Col. Ilan Ramon,
considered himself in many ways a
representative of the entire Jewish people.
As the son of Auschwitz survivors, in
space shuttle Columbia, he approached Yad
Vashem with a request to take with him an
artifact from the Holocaust on his mission
to space. Petr Ginz’s Moon Landscape
was a natural choice. Tragically, the space
shuttle disintegrated upon reentry, killing all
aboard on what would have been Petr’s 75th
birthday, adding greater resonance to the
heartbreak of potential cut off in its prime.
Fifteen years later, in 2018, American
astronaut Andrew J. Feustel prepared for
his own mission to space. Like Ramon,
Feustel contacted Yad Vashem to request
the same facsimile of Petr’s drawing, in
order to commemorate the story of Ginz
and of his colleague Ilan Ramon. And on the
linked Ginz and Ramon forever, Yad Vashem
presented Andrew with a replica of Petr
Ginz’s Moon Landscape.
“Even though Ilan Ramon and I worked
together only for a short period of time prior
to 2003, I was touched when I discovered that
Ilan took Petr Ginz’s illustration to space. I have
close family and friends in the Czech Republic
and feel honored to commemorate Petr and all
the victims of the Holocaust in this way.”
Petr Ginz with sister Chava Pressburger
Holocaust History Museum
Yad Vashem’s name is derived from the
verse in Isaiah (56:5): “And to them will I give
in my house and within my walls a memorial
and a name (a Yad Vashem)... that shall not
be cut off.” It is here in Jerusalem that the
stories of men, women and children – like
Petr Ginz – are recorded, researched and
ultimately remembered. It is to Yad Vashem
that, having survived the Holocaust, Petr’s
younger sister Chava Pressburger chose to
donate his writings and artworks, to ensure
that not just Petr’s precocious talent, but
also the fact of his existence, will never be
forgotten.
Christian Friends of Yad Vashem (CFYV)
needs you to stand with us and spread
the word about our mission. Please, let us
know how we can work with you to further
Holocaust remembrance and education in
your community. For more information about
visiting Yad Vashem or participating in our
Christian Leadership Seminars, traveling
exhibitions, lectures by Yad Vashem scholars
and experts in your communities, or any of
our other activities, please contact Christian
Friends Desk at Yad Vashem:
Christian.Friends@yadvashem.org.il;
Tel: +972 2 6443420.
Come and be inspired by the moving
stories on display at Yad Vashem’s Mount of
Remembrance in Jerusalem.
The author is the Director of the Christian Friends
of Yad Vashem