About 25 Holocaust survivors and World War II fighters participated in a Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Memorial Day) memorial ceremony held by the students of AMIT Karmiel Jr. and Sr. High School.
Using real railroad tracks and gravel, the students created a simulation of a real railroad track next to the entrance of the school. This was meant to be a re-creation of the railroad tracks that led the Jews to the concentration camps, but this time the same railroad tracks symbolized the progress of the generation of rebirth.
The survivors were very moved by this and asked to be photographed on the “track”, beside which was built a small model of the Treblinka camp. The survivors shared their stories with the students by displaying stamps, medals, and various personal items from the collections of the Museum of the Jewish Soldier. One survivor, Tova Teitelbaum, shared the amazing story of her father, Yona Eckstein, who was known as “the angel of Pressburg”, having saved thousands of Jews in Slovakia.
The principal of AMIT Karmiel, Guy Dekel, summarized the day: “We see tremendous importance in connecting our students to previous generations and their testimonies, based on a perspective of faith and Zionism, and out of hope for action and growth.”
Throughout the day, the students participated in special learning workshops on the topics of memory and commemoration, which were run by students, teachers, and the school administration.