Eighty-one years after the defeat of Nazi Germany and the rescue of the surviving remnant of European Jewry, communities across Israel and around the world this week marked the “Day of Liberation and Rescue," established on the 26th of Iyar through the initiative of philanthropist Gabriel German Zakharyev and under the auspices of the Chief Rabbis in Israel and Europe. This year’s events were held under the theme: “From Generation to Generation Against Rising Antisemitism," with a special emphasis on the participation of schoolchildren and Torah students.
Prayer and thanksgiving gatherings took place in Buenos Aires, Budapest, Moscow, Vienna, Frankfurt, New York, Pinsk, Minsk, Bucharest, China and Tunisia, with the participation of chief rabbis, ambassadors, representatives of the Allied nations, public officials and Holocaust survivors. In Djerba, Tunisia, an especially moving ceremony was held, while in Romania hundreds of Ukrainian refugees joined the prayers of gratitude.
The central ceremony was held at the Western Wall Plaza in Jerusalem in the presence of Rabbi Moshe Lebel, Rosh Yeshiva of Torat Chaim and Head of the Rabbinical Court in Moscow, alongside rabbis and public figures. Hundreds of students from the “Mivakshei Torah" Mishnah study project of the “Anachnu V’Tze’etzaeinu" organization, which operates sixty branches throughout Israel under the patronage of Zakharyev, moved participants with Psalms recitations and songs in memory of Holocaust victims.
Rabbi Lebel addressed the children, saying: “You, the children, the pure young students who pray and study Mishnah in memory of the holy martyrs, including one and a half million children murdered for the sanctification of God’s name, are fulfilling the verse: ‘Out of the mouths of babes and infants You have founded strength to silence the enemy and avenger.’" The gathering concluded with the Yizkor memorial prayer led by cantor David Weinbach and prayers for redemption and the return to Zion.
At the “Skolniki" Jewish Center in Moscow, hundreds gathered for a ceremony led by Russia’s Chief Rabbis, Rabbi Berel Lazar and Rabbi Avraham Shayevich. Zakharyev delivered an emotional address, while among the participants were Israeli Ambassador Simona Halperin, Bahrain’s Ambassador Ahmed Al-Saati and senior diplomatic representatives. Messages from Russian President Vladimir Putin, Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were read during the event.
President Herzog wrote that the “Day of Liberation and Rescue is not merely a day of historical remembrance, but also a day of gratitude, responsibility and faith," stressing the need to confront “forces of hatred and antisemitism." President Putin wrote that the day “symbolizes the memory of the great achievement of the soldiers and commanders of the Red Army and the Allied forces who crushed Nazism and saved the Jewish people," while warning against nationalism, antisemitism and racism. Prime Minister Netanyahu noted that “upright Jews now stand in thanksgiving at the foot of the Western Wall in Jerusalem," and expressed special appreciation to Gabriel German Zakharyev “who initiated the incorporation of this important date into the Hebrew calendar."
Zakharyev, Vice President of the Russian Jewish Congress and President of the international STMEGI Foundation, said that the fact that the 26th of Iyar falls during the Counting of the Omer symbolizes that “the victory over Nazism was not an end, but a beginning, the beginning of Jewish revival after the Holocaust." According to him, the day expresses gratitude to the nations of the anti-Nazi coalition and serves as a reminder that “God granted me life, and I must live that life as a Jew."