FIDF Conducts First-Ever Virtual Yom HaShoah Ceremony

For the first time, Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) hosted, on Tuesday, April 21, a national, virtual Yom HaShoah - Holocaust Remembrance Day - ceremony. The event is part of FIDF's temporary digital alternative to community events and galas across the United States, as many--including FIDF's annual mission to Poland and Israel, "From Holocaust to Independence," part of FIDF's Witnesses in Uniform Program --have been postponed due to Covid-19.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camps and the end of World War II. The Yom HaShoah ceremony honors the memory of those who perished during the darkest days of the Jewish people and pays tribute to those who survived to make a better world for us all.

Among the speakers at the virtual ceremony were Holocaust survivor Bronia Brandman, 89, of New York. In 2017, as part of the FIDF "From Holocaust to Independence" mission to Poland and Israel, Brandman returned to the notorious Auschwitz-Birkenau death camps for the first time since the Red Army liberated the camps in 1945. Brandman was born in Jaworzno, Poland, and watched as two of her sisters were sent to the gas chambers at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Except for an older brother and a cousin, who also live in the United States, her entire family perished in the Holocaust.

Also speaking was Cpt. Sara, the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor and a past participant in the FIDF "From Holocaust to Independence" mission to Poland and Israel.

Taking part in the virtual event were FIDF Chairman Rabbi Peter Weintraub, FIDF President Bobby Cohen, and FIDF National Director and CEO Maj. Gen. (Res.) Meir Klifi-Amir. Songs were performed by Lt. Col. Shai Abramson, the IDF's Chief Cantor, and reciting the Kaddish was Holocaust survivor Leon Shear, 93, of Ohio, who returned to Auschwitz in 2018 with FIDF's mission.

Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) launched "FIDF Engage," a free, virtual event series and online portal, to provide official information and connection to IDF soldiers and Israeli officials amid the coronavirus outbreak. This series supports FIDF's fundraising efforts that provide a range of assistance from hygienic necessities to fitness facilities and equipment, all of which are important to addressing the well-being of soldiers. The FIDF Engage series grants supporters a way to learn more about how Israel is confronting the virus and how the IDF is handling the situation in real time.

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