Holocaust Remembrance and Heroism Day Law, from Section 2 of the law: "On Remembrance Day, there will be a two-minute silence throughout the country, during which all work will be suspended and all traffic on the roads will cease; memorials, public rallies, and ceremonies of unity will be held in army camps and educational institutions; flags on public buildings will be lowered to half-mast; radio broadcasts will express the uniqueness of the day, and in amusement parks only topics that are appropriate to its spirit will be raised.""
Another year, another Holocaust Remembrance Day, and once again the all-too-familiar and almost unique phrase for this day: "Remember and do not forget" is aired and heard in every media outlet. The people of Israel come together and unite with the six million who gave their lives for the sanctification of God.
But where are we the other 364 days of the year? Where is the memory? It is almost nonexistent. Is this reality derived from our desire, in practice, to put our past behind us? Is it possible that we are comfortable leaving the memory of the crematoria, the gas chambers, and death behind and being content with remembering them once a year? Unfortunately, reality proves that it is.
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When did we talk about the Holocaust? When did we invite and honor survivors? When did we reach out to them and ask them to tell us their stories? We didn't ask, we didn't want to remember, and perhaps we even wanted to forget.
The State of Israel and its citizens are wrong in everything related to the treatment of Holocaust survivors and the memory of this dark period.
At the end of the Holocaust, after World War II, the State of Israel was reborn. After 2,000 years of exile, we returned to our land and homeland. It is not for nothing that Holocaust Remembrance Day is celebrated so closely to Memorial Day and Independence Day. The connection between them, which concerns the rebirth of Israel, is clear and obvious, and without them, the fallen soldiers of the IDF and the fallen Jewish people, the state would not have been established. We must recognize and acknowledge them as much as possible, honor their deaths, and give meaning to the memory they left behind.
Headlines about the plight and living conditions of survivors in the run-up to Holocaust Remembrance Day do not give that media outlet a certificate of honor for raising the issue, but rather a point of reflection for all of us on why the story is relevant and receives the respect it deserves only during a certain period in the Hebrew calendar. Ministers and government agencies cannot implement positive plans regarding the welfare of survivors only on this day; they must do so without fail on all days.
This is not a call to turn the State of Israel into a state of tombstones and monuments, but rather a demand to wake up so that we know and acknowledge our moral and ethical obligation to recognize every survivor and care for them in all their needs, all days of the year. The obligation to know and present their stories and testimonies, and to say to them and to those who are not in a loud and clear voice: "We are here because of you.".
• The writer is the head of the Nahal Sorek Regional Council, who implemented a project to record the story of every refugee survivor in his jurisdiction.
