In honor of Yom Hashoah, Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day, a graduate of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem has designed an evocative and poignant poster.
Dorielle Rimmer Halperin, who created the poster, said the poster was dedicated to her grandparents – David and Esther Rimmer – who survived the Holocaust, as well as their family members who did not.
The official poster of Yom Hazikaron L'Shoah 2012 was designed by Rimmer-Halperin as part of a project of the International School of Holocaust Education at Yad Vashem with the participation of the Ministry of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs.
“This was an exciting challenge for me,” said Rimmer, who graduated from Bezalel in 2003. “It’s a real honor for me to be able to pass the message on to every home in Israel. I believe that the message of this poster is very clear and it will touch the heart and provoke thought.
“My design shows that the shadow of the family lying on the road is the shadow of the family who perished and will always be there with the survivors. But this is also the shadow of their new family of survivors, which is there to remember, to preserve them and their heroism,” she said.
“We are often ‘asked’ to remember the Holocaust through famous photographs, movies and the ‘usual’ characters. I tried to remove the memory from what we are so accustomed to seeing, removing a little of the ‘national’ collective memory and making it more personal by showing how it comes into the homes of every one of us and casts a shadow over our daily lives.
“When I look at my grandparents, both Holocaust survivors, in their shadow I see my shadow as well. The lack of light in their lives is always there and will always be a part of me and my family, something we will pass onto future generations,” Rimmer said.
“But around the great shadow of the Holocaust is also light; plenty of light. Holocaust Memorial Day is also about heroism – and not only that of the survivors.”
Yom HaShoah ceremonies begin with the sounding of a siren on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. and continue into Thursday evening. Restaurants, bars and places of entertainment close in honor of the day's solemnity.
The central ceremonies, in the evening and the following morning, are held at Yad Vashem in the presence of the President of the State of Israel and the Prime Minister, dignitaries, survivors,and families. Six torches, representing the six million murdered Jews, are lit at the start of the ceremony, which is broadcast on Israeli media.
The central theme for this year is My Brother's Keeper - Jewish Solidarity During the Holocaust; this is the story of how, despite danger, suffering and deprivation, Jews helped each other attempt to survive the Nazis.
Israel will come to a standstill for two minutes at 10:00 o'clock Thursday morning as air raid sirens sound again in remembrance of the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust.
Cars will stop and people will rise and stand in place, many with heads bowed, in memory of the victims.
At Yad Vashem, wreaths will be laid before the six torches. Across Israel, ceremonies will be held to mark Yom HaShoah at Kibbutz Lohamei Hagetaot (named in honor of the ghetto fighters), Yad Mordechai (named for the Warsaw Ghetto hero), at national institutions, on military bases, and in private venues.
