CIP and Fisesp hold an event for the International Day in Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust with a strong presence of youth (São Paulo, Brazil)
The Jewish community of São Paulo remembered on January 29, the International Day in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. The event had more than a thousand people and was full of authorities, such as the deputy governor of the state of São Paulo, Felício Ramuth, and the mayor, Ricardo Nunes, in addition to 21 ambassadors and consuls.
Held by the state’s Jewish federation, Federação Israelita do Estado de São Paulo (Fisesp) and Congregação Israelita Paulista (CIP), the Act in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust remembered, with the lighting of six candles, the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust and the other victims of Nazism.
The act brought together survivors, political and civil authorities, religious and institutional leaders, in addition to the unprecedented attendance of the General Consul of the United Arab Emirates, whose presence was applauded.
Those who attended the event had the opportunity to check out an exclusive exhibition with objects, photos and engravings that belong to the Jewish Museum of São Paulo. The exhibition “Hunger as Politics” seeks to remind us, through our own history, that nowadays hunger and food insecurity are still present in humanity — and that an ethical commitment is necessary with the definitive end of this unacceptable reality.
“One of the horrors of the Shoah was subjecting people to starvation, as a form of control, perpetuation of suffering and extermination. It is unacceptable that, nowadays, hunger is still used as a political strategy to demobilize, exhaust and annihilate peoples around the world. We have to take a vehement position to eradicate this inhuman reality.” says Felipe Arruda, Director of the Jewish Museum of São Paulo.
In addition to the survivors’ speeches and the exhibition brought by the Jewish Museum, a major milestone of the ceremony was the strong presence of community youth. Around 50 young people from the tnuot Avanhandava, Chazit Hanoar and Colônia da CIP attended the event. During the act, the youth had its own moment to speak. Gisele Turkie Rinaldi, from Avanhandava, Luísa Heilmann, from Chazit Hanoar and Yasmin Nudelman, from Colônia da CIP, represented the Jewish Zionist Youth Council of São Paulo in this important milestone.
Conib President Claudio Lottenberg emphasized the danger of hate speech and highlighted Israel as our greatest example of resilience. “The Holocaust is an incomparable stain on human history. It cannot and will not be trivialized, with frequent and unfounded comparisons. There is no way to compare the incomparable and bringing this scenario to the present day means keeping alive our commitment to respect diversity, defend democracy and the souls that succumbed”.
The Solemn Act in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust was supported by the Jewish Agency for Israel, A Hebraica, Arq Shoah, B’nai B’rith, Beth-El, Comunidade Shalom, Confederação Israelita do Brasil, General Consulate of Israel in São Paulo, Fundo Comunitário, KKL Brasil, Instituto Brasil-Israel (IBI), Sherit Hapleitá, Sociedade Beneficente Israelita Brasileira Albert Einstein, Stand WithUs, Pit Cult and Unibes.
The ceremony ended with a blessing to the survivors and with all together singing Israel anthem.
