woensdag 5 juni 2013

Iranians meet Holocaust survivors, ‘embarassed by ignorance'



Fifteen young men and women of Iranian descent who now live in Britain met on Tuesday in Haifa with Holocaust survivors and heard, for the first time in their lives, stories about life in the concentration camps and life in the ghettos.

The young members of the Church of Light were born mostly Muslims and converted after moving to England. Many of them still have relatives who live in Iran. According to them, their meeting with Holocaust survivors via the Yad Ezer La Haver organization was one of the highlights of their two-week visit to Israel.

Shoshana Kolmer was sent at the age of 21 to Auschwitz. She showed the group the number tattooed on her arm and told them about life in the camp, her family which perished and about being sent from camp to camp through the end of the war.

Team Leader Darius Zrian knelt before Kolmer and said, "It is a privilege and a great honor for us to hear about your life. It is difficult to accept and understand what happened to you and the other people who experienced the Holocaust. Perhaps only God can."

He said that as a child, he was raised to hate Israel. "I am from Hamadan in southern Iran. Every morning at school the day was opened with the shout, “Death to Israel.” Only years later when I became a Christian (a follower of Yeshua Ha'Mashiach), I realized it was the religious land of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I'm very happy we came here and heard these things."

Read whole story: YNet