Dozens of Jewish communities in Israel and around the world marked Liberation and Rescue Day over the weekend, commemorating 81 years since Nazi Germany’s surrender and the rescue of Jews who survived Nazi persecution in Europe.
The events, marked on 26 Iyar, the Hebrew date associated with Nazi Germany’s surrender, were held this year under the theme “From generation to generation in the face of antisemitism.” They took place against the backdrop of growing concern in Jewish communities worldwide over the rise in antisemitic incidents since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.
According to the organizers, memorial and prayer events were held in Argentina, the United Kingdom, the United States, Tunisia, Germany, Austria, Russia, Hungary, Belarus, Romania, and China. Rabbis, Jewish community representatives, Holocaust survivors, representatives of Allied nations, and public officials took part in the events.
The main event in Israel was held at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, with hundreds of students participating in a Mishnah study project in memory of Holocaust victims. During the ceremony, participants recited Psalms and the Yizkor memorial prayer, along with songs of remembrance. They honored the memory of those murdered in the Holocaust and the stories of the Jews who survived it.
Rabbi Moshe Lebel, head of the Torat Chaim Yeshiva and head of the rabbinical court in Moscow, said at the ceremony that the children who took part in the event and study in memory of Holocaust victims represent the continuity of the Jewish people from generation to generation. In his remarks, he also referred to the approximately 1.5 million children murdered in the Holocaust.
Another major gathering was held in Moscow, where hundreds attended an event at the Sokolniki Jewish Center, including government representatives, diplomats, Holocaust survivors, veterans, and members of the Jewish community. During the event, letters of greeting were read from President Isaac Herzog, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Jewish communities celebrate Liberation Day from Tunisia to Vienna
A ceremony was also held in Djerba, Tunisia, with hundreds of residents and students in attendance. In Bucharest, Romania, an event was held with students from the Tikva institutions and refugees from Ukraine. Additional events were held in Frankfurt, Pinsk, Minsk, Budapest, and Vienna.
In a letter sent to the events, Herzog wrote that there was “deep significance” in Jews gathering in Jerusalem, opposite the stones of the Western Wall, “to give thanks for the rescue and remember what our people endured during the darkest hours of our history.”
“Liberation and Rescue Day is not only a day of historical remembrance, but also a day of gratitude, responsibility, and faith,” Herzog wrote.
Putin wrote in his letter that the day carries “special moral value” and honors the memory of Red Army soldiers and Allied forces who helped defeat Nazism and save the Jewish people and other peoples in Europe and around the world. He added that the destructive consequences of nationalism, antisemitism, racism, and xenophobia must be remembered.
Netanyahu wrote that during the darkest days of World War II, “few could have imagined that a day would come when proud Jews would stand in a ceremony of gratitude for the defeat of the Nazi monster at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.” Netanyahu thanked the organizers of the events and noted the role of businessman Gabriel German Zakharyayev in promoting the date on the Hebrew calendar.
Zakharyayev, the initiator of Liberation and Rescue Day, said that in his view, the victory over Nazism was not only the end of one period, but also the beginning of Jewish revival after the Holocaust. He said the day also expresses gratitude to the nations of the anti-Nazi coalition that fought to liberate Europe from the Nazis.