International Holocaust Day 2024 — Association of Jews of Vilna and vicinity in Israel

On International Holocaust Remembrance Day in January 2024, members of the Association of Vilna and Surroundings in Tel Aviv hosted the Navy’s Naval Engineering Unit at the annual conference, which has been held regularly for 13 years. This year, the mutual bond between the two groups was expressed through the theme of the strength of culture and spirit during the crisis years of the Holocaust. The house was filled with soldiers in olive-green uniforms, due to the war situation in Gaza. Mickey delivered remarks and welcomed the attendees, then invited Ze’ev Levitan together with a representative of the soldiers to light the six-branched menorah in memory of the six million.

Mickey told the audience about a special project initiated for International Holocaust Remembrance Day by the Headquarters of the Families of the Hostages in Gaza, which produced videos, stories, and interviews as part of the efforts to free the captives. The Association of Jews from Vilna  reached out to Nobuki Sugihara and to Iga Makutėniene, descendants of the Righteous Among the Nations who rescued Jews in Lithuania. They created video messages addressed to Hamas, making an emotional plea for the release of the hostages. Both videos were screened before the audience at Beit Vilna.

Later in the event, Shmulik Sorek spoke about his mother, the singer and actress Sima Skurkovitz from Vilna, about her activities during the Holocaust, and played excerpts from her testimony and her songs. We also heard her grandson, tenor singer Yoed Sorek, perform songs that Sima loved and used to sing. To conclude, a vocal ensemble from the Kiryat Ono High School performed Yiddish songs that deeply moved the members of the Association.