VIRTUAL JEWISH MUSEUM

Yom Hashoah stamps

Yom Hashoah Vehagevurah is the name of Israel's Holocaust remembrance day. It was established by law in 1953. The official date is 27 of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar. It is about midway between the date of the Warsaw Ghetto Revolt on the 14 of Nisan and Israel's Independence day over a week later on the 5th of Iyyar. These stamps were issued for the observance in 1962. One shows six symbolic candles. the other is a flame that also spells 'Shma Yisrael'.

Yom Hashoah

Yom Hashoah is a day of national mourning, with amusement places and many shops closed. Flags fly at half-mast. TV and radio programming is somber and appropriate to the day. The 'Gevurah' (might, heroism) part is important to Israelis who take inspiration from the Ghetto fighters as they rally to defend their own country.

Remember 6 million

Six million has become the identifying number for Jews who perished in the Holocaust. This medal raises up the tablets of the 10 commandments, engraved in Hebrew, while the figure stands above a field of victims.

Remember Six million.Yizkor

The back of the medal gives the dates of the Holocaust, a field of gravestones and the Hebrew word 'Yizkor' which means 'will remember' and also is the name of the memorial prayer said on major holidays. Two hands clutch the Menorah whose lights are a memorial.

End Of War.1945

This Italian medal, issued in silver and bronze shows Latin inscriptions. On the front it mentions the vengeance of G-d. The design shows a progression: The Nazi ax, engraved with a swastika, has cut down the tree. Lightening from heaven has struck down the ax. Meanwhile, from the trunk a sapling is growing. The back says 'Never extinguished' referring to the Menorah symbolizing the Jewish people. Roman numerals give both the Common date 1945 and the Jewish one 5705.

Nazis = Amalek

The biblical verse from Deuteronomy 25 commands us to "Zchor - Remember that which Amalek did to [the Jewish People]". They made an unprovoked attack on the Nation as they fled Egypt into the Desert. Through the generations, various enemies of the Jews have been characterized as Amalek. This sticker makes that connection by quoting the verse, underneath a yellow star as imposed on Jews in the Holocaust.

Zchor.Buttons

'Zchor' - Remember - Issued in the 1960s & 70s at commemorations.

Button.Warsaw

Here are several elements of Holocaust remembrance: 'Yizkor' invoking the memorial prayer, 'Gedenk' the Yiddish word for remembrance (Yiddish was the language of an overwhelming segment of the victims - and of the survivors), the number 6 million. This was the 27th anniversary. of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.

Never Forget.1946

One of the very first remembrances was this postcard, issued on the 1 year anniversary of the liberation of Mathausen concentration camp. Wiesenthal made this card, as he had been an inmate at Mathausen. The phrase above the reaching hand , in German, "Never Forget" was meant as a tribute to the victims and their sufferings,whose last words in many cases were 'Don't forget us'.

Birkenau panorama postcard

Already in 1947 the Polish government designated the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp as a museum and memorial. Over the years the sight has been developed. Some of the original barracks still remain, although they were flimsy to begin with and time is taking its toll. Possessions taken from victims are on display. There is a giant pit of victims cremated ashes. It is a significant site but it can be disconcerting to see passersby stop and eat a lunch sandwich at this 'park'.

Gift shop at Auschwitz

Auschwitz-Birkenau also has a shop at which books and postcards can be bought, some reproducing shocking and gruesome scenes photographed by Nazis during the war.

Warsaw Monument.stamps

In 1948 a permanent monument, in the form of a sculpture, was erected on the sight of the Warsaw Ghetto. Its 2 sides show 2 aspects of the Warsaw experience. This (west) side shows heroic resistors, many quite young, representing the heroic revolt. Stamps based on this sculpture also focus on the resistors. This was an aspect that everyone wanted to take pride in and has been commemorated repeatedly.

Warsaw.Monument.East etc.

The east side of the monument, by the same sculptor, shows Jews in their victim-hood. Here the faces are all cast down and the people edge forward huddled together. We feel the suffering, resignation, victim-hood. The postcard shows the monument, from a distance. It also displays the 'umschlagplatz' - the square where Jews were gathered for deportation from Warsaw.

Ghetto Fighter Kibutz

The Ghetto Fighters' Kibbutz was established in April 1949 overlooking the Acre valley. Among the founders, all survivors, were the last survivors of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, partisans, prisoners of concentration camps, those who went into hiding & those who escaped to the USSR. Upon immigrating to Israel, the pioneers established a kibbutz to commemorate their families that perished during the Holocaust and they founded the 1st Holocaust museum in the world.

Yad Vashem

Established in 1953, Yad Vashem is located on the western slope of Mount Herzl on the Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem. It is a complex of museum, memorials, archives, research, and educational center. The name comes from a verse in Isaiah 56: [G-d] will give in my house... a place and a name...an everlasting name". It is meant to memorialize those lost, many of whom had no one to even mourn them or carry their name.

Yad Vashem victim sheet

Recording the names and details of each victim is one of the primary goals of Yad Vashem. These sheets are used to gather such information. Over two million have been submitted - there are many more still missing. Yad Vashem is visited by a million visitors a year, the most visited place in Israel after the Western Wall.

Yad Vashem.bronze medal

A committee was established to gather names of 'Righteous Gentiles'- those who had risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. This medal in bronze was given to each of the 50 members of the committee. The silver version is actually presented to the honored recipients.

Yad Vashem.bronze.reverse

Those recognized by Israel as Righteous Among the Nations are honored in a section of Yad Vashem known as the Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations. They are brought to Jerusalem for a ceremony and awarded this medal, in silver, engraved with their names: "The Jewish People show gratitude to...". Striped-suited victims clutch a barbed wire lifeline and the words say"whoever saves one life is regarded as saving an entire world."

Yad Vashem.stamp.Righteous

This stamp honors the Righteous of the nations who saved Jewish lives. They are a rainbow of hope emerging from a dark cloud.

Righteous Gentiles on stamps

These stamps honor the righteous of various nations that saved Jewish lives, often at risk or loss to themselves. The famous Oskar Schindler, about whom a movie was made, Japanese Sugihara, Turkish Ulkumen, Swiss Charles Lutz, Portuguese Sousa-Mendes, and Italian Perlasca.

Hiram Bingham.Rescuer

The United States was little and late in commemorating the Holocaust. We saw one stamp from 1995 commemorating liberation of the camps. In 2006 the US honored diplomat Hiram Bingham IV, who, while posted in France, resisted the antisemitic attitudes of the state department and issued visas rescuing many Jews, including Marc Chagall. His partner was diplomat Varian Fry who has yet to be so honored.

Raul Wallenberg.Rescuer

Holocaust Museum.Washington DC

Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington D.C., this museum is the official United States memorial to the Holocaust, dedicated in 1993.

Museum of Jewish Heritage.New York

Opened in 1997, the Museum of Jewish Heritage memorialized the 6 million by teaching about the past and educating towards the Jewish future. the building is 6 sided, reminiscent of the 6 million, and also of the 6 pointed Jewish star.

Diary of Anne Frank

Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank (12 June 1929 in Frankfurt am Main – early March 1945 in Bergen Belsen) is one of the most renowned and most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Her diary has become one of the world's most widely read books, and has been the basis for several plays and films. The Frank family moved from Germany to Amsterdam in 1933, the same year the Nazis gained power in Germany.

Anne Frank medal.bronze

By the beginning of 1940 they were trapped in Amsterdam due to the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. As persecutions of the Jewish population increased in July 1942, the family went into hiding in the hidden rooms of her father Otto Frank's office building. After two years, the group was betrayed and transported to Westerbork concentration camp. Anne Frank and her sister, Margot, were eventually transferred to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp where they both died of typhus in March 1945.

Anne Frank medal.Bronze back

This French art medal was made to honor her memory. The front shows her face pressed in to the surface, to represent her hiding behind walls. The back shows 3 levels: the flowers representing Anne and all victims are pressed below the surface, then the surface of the medal, then the strands of barbed wire raised up.

Anne Frank silvered.1979

Otto Frank, the only survivor of the family, returned to Amsterdam after the war to find that her diary had been saved, and his efforts led to its publication in 1947. It was translated from its original Dutch and first published in English in 1952 as The Diary of a Young Girl. It has since been translated into many languages. The diary, which was given to Anne on her 13th birthday, chronicles her life from 12 June 1942 until 1 August 1944.

Anne Frank silvered reverse.1979

The Judaic heritage Society is a company that made medals for collectors, honoring famous Jewish personalities. This medal was issued in 1979, on what would have been Anne's 50th birthday.

Anne Frank Commemorated.Silver

This medal shows a quote from Anne's diary: 'I believe in the good in people'.

Anne Frank commem back

Anne Frank is perhaps the most famous victim of the Holocaust. She represents a million children whose lives were cut short. This side of the medal reads in Latin: In memory of the murdered children in war". The broken flowers are a graphic representation of the lost flower of youth.

Concentration Camps on Stamps

Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Maidanek, Treblinka and Sachsenhausen are commemorated on these Polish and East German stamps.

Concentration Camp Belzec stamp

Romania commemorated the more than Half-million Jews murdered at Belzec.

Czechoslovakia Stamps

The Czechs commemorated nine concentration camps. They focused especially on the ghetto/camp Theresienstadt (Terezin) that was in their own territory. Besides illustrating the camp, they issued a set showing some of the children's art that was created there and survived.

Liberation of camps commemmorated

France, Belgium and the United States commemorated the liberation of the camps.

Zchor.25 yrs liberation.jpg

Israel, Belgium, France, and Hungary all issued stamps on special envelopes to mark the anniversary of liberating the concentration camps. Russian forces reached the Polish camps first, in the summer of 1944. In early 1945 Allied forces from the west reached the German camps.

Memorial to North African Jews

Eisenhower.Liberation

The Bnai Brith organization issued envelopes with brief historical blurbs. This one honored President Eisenhower when his stamp was issued in 1969. The image shows him inspecting a Nazi death camp. He wrote in his memoirs 'Crusade in Europe': "my duty to testify 1st hand about Nazi brutality in case there ever grew up the belief that these stories were just propaganda".

Jewish Brigade

The Jewish Brigade was a unit in the British army , made up of Palestinian Jews. their goal was to help win the war against Hitler. they saw some fighting in 1944 -45. Mainly they assisted survivors in various ways, including helping them smuggle into Palestine. Israel struck this medal to honor them.

Jewish Brigade medal reverse

The back of the medal quotes a phrase from Talmud Berachot: "If someone means to kill you, strike first". This essentially defensive philosophy explains why Jews took up arms, when they could.

Jan Karski remembered

Karski was a Polish Catholic who grew up among Jews. A trained army officer, he came to Warsaw and joined the resistance. He was smuggled into the Warsaw Ghetto twice to observe & record treatment of Jews. Starting in 1942, Karski reported to the Polish, British & U.S. governments on the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto & the Holocaust of Polish Jews. On 28 July 1943 Karski personally met with President Franklin D. Roosevelt becoming the 1st eyewitness to tell him about the Holocaust.

Jan Karski Polish coin

Roosevelt reportedly showed little interest in the Jewish aspect of the war. Karski later published his story and efforts in "The Story of a Secret State". He later earned a PhD and taught at Georgetown U. in International affairs. He was honored by Israel as a Righteous Gentile on 2 June 1982. Poland issued coins in gold, silver, and this one for circulation in 2014 on what would have been his 100th birthday.

Wiesenthal Israel Austria stamp

Israel has issued far more Holocaust remembrance stamps than any other country. This one is a joint issue with Austria, honoring Simon Wiesenthal,who was Austrian by birth.

Krystalnacht 50 Years

November 9 -10, 1938 is the date of Krystallnacht - 'The Night of Broken Glass'. Shops were destroyed, Jews attacked, and many sent to concentration camps. The most visible result was the destruction of synagogues. these stamps commemorate the 50th anniversary of that event.

Heroes of Resistance

France commemorated heroes of resistance. Some resisted physically, joining the partisans. Others resisted by maintaining their moral and ethical standards, even in the face of suffering. Masse was a member of parliament. He resisted the Vichy regime and died in Aushchwitz. 'He refused to be freed until his coreligionists were too'. Michel-Levy managed partisan communications and even in camp Flossenberg organized a revolt, for which she was hanged.

Warsaw Uprising.Lubetkin medal

The Ghetto Fighters Kibbutz honored the women fighters in the Ghetto singling out Zivia Lubetkin. She was a leader of the Jewish Resistance in Warsaw, one of only 34 survivors. She led her group through the sewers of Warsaw and continued fighting outside. In Palestine, she was one of the founders of this kibbutz. Lubetkin testified at the Eichmann trial in 1961.

Warsaw Uprising.Lubetkin.reverse

Jews preferred the book but took up the gun in self-defense. Six stars commemorate the 6 million.

Wasaw.Fighters Medal

This anonymous medal memorializes the Ghetto fighters. We see them hiding in the sewers below ground, while the Nazi soldier guards above. Notice that the one on the left is a young boy!

Warsaw Fighters medal.reverse

The back of the medal shows ruins of a bombed Warsaw. From behind, the image of a Phoenix rising from the ashes with symbolism for Poland and/or for the Jewish people. Issued on the 30th anniversary of the revolt which took place in April 1943.

Warsaw. Anielewicz

This 20th anniversary of the revolt medal was issued by Israel. It features an image of a civilian fighter, holding a grenade in his hand. It is meant to represent Mordechai Anielewicz, and with him all the fighters of the Warsaw Ghetto revolt. He was the leader of the Jewish Resistance in Warsaw when the revolt broke out on April 19 1943. He was killed in his bunker a few weeks later on May 8th.

Warsaw.Anielewicz.reverse

The reverse of the medal shows an abstract memorial. Around is the quote from Isaiah 56: "I will give them an everlasting name" - the verse from which the phrase 'Yad vaShem' is taken. Kibbutz Yad Mordechai was named in his memory and the fighting image here reproduces a full statue that stands in the kibbutz.

Warsaw Revolt graphic cover

This British envelope commemorates the 60th anniversary of the Revolt. The painting shows German soldiers commanding the streets while resistors pop out of windows and use their home made weapons.

Warsaw Revolt Stamps and Labels

These stamps and labels commemorate the Warsaw revolt but don't specifically mention anything Jewish about it. Poland, who is particularly sensitive about their quick defeat by the Germans (and accusations that Poles actually helped the Germans persecute Jews), were eager to celebrate this Revolt as a demonstration of their defiance and opposition to Germany.

Warsaw Revolt Graphic Covers

The Warsaw Ghetto Revolt is a popular theme with collectibles and celebrations because it portrays participants not simply as victims but as resistors who stood up for themselves. This theme was important to Poland which issued one of these envelopes. It is also important to Israel, with enemies all around it, who wants to see itself not as helpless but as taking its fate into its own hands.

Frankenhuis Collection Medal

Morris Frankenhuis was born in Germany. He was a collector before the war but ended up in the camps. He survived and built a collection commemorating WWI & WWII. He donated it to a museum in Israel. This medal honors his collection. It portrays in high relief the heart-wrenching scene of boarding deportation trains.

Frankenhuis medal.reverse

The back describes the collection. It shows another version of the cut-off trunk with a sapling growing from it which has been used on other medals. The collection you are viewing right now is a similar effort to tell the story of the Holocaust through surviving artifacts and memorabilia.

Survivors Gathering.medal

The World Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors took place in Israel in June 1981. Over 10,000 were expected to attend, from 27 different counties. A third of them from the United States. Special programs and celebrations of their survival, and commemoration of those who perished took place. Attendees included children and grandchildren of the survivors. Israel issued this silver medal to mark the event.

Survivors Gather.back

The theme is 'From Holocaust to Rebirth' with the star badge turning into the symbol of the vibrant Jewish State. These gatherings re-unite people after decades of separation and sometimes even result in discoveries of surviving relatives!

Survivor Lapel Pin.

At survivor gatherings, lapel pins were often distributed. They are a badge of distinction. this one reads in Hebrew "Organization of Survivors in Israel - Bergen Belsen".

'Destruction of European Jews'

This book by Raul Hilberg was published in 1961. It was the first thoroughly documented, widely read account of the Holocaust, raising awareness around the world. Stationed in Munich as part of the War Documentation Project, he was in a position to examine many primary sources. Some of his conclusions were controversial, including the position that very few Jews put up any kind of resistance.

War Against the Jews

Published in 1975, this work contends that Hitler irrationally devoted resources to killing Jews, even when it was strategically bad policy in fighting the war. Davidowitz saw this as an outgrowth of Christian antisemitism centuries old, promoted by the Catholic Church. She also went to great lengths to substantiate the 6 million number based on birth and death records in European cities.

Wiesel.Night

'Night' was published in 1960, after earlier versions in Yiddish and French. It is Elie Wiesel's memoir of living through the concentration camps.

Elie Wiesel.Nobel Prize

Eli Wiesel was born in Romania. His family was deported to concentration camps where most died. He was in Auschwitz and Buchenwald from which the Allies liberated him. He learned French, became a journalist and eventually wrote 'Night'. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 for speaking out against violence, repression and racism.

Elie Wiesel.congressional medal back

Wiesel received the US congressional gold medal in 1985. He also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992 from President George Bush.

Elie Wiesel.Congressional medal

Wiesel's writing is considered among the most important in Holocaust literature. this is a bronze copy of the medal he received in gold.

Maus Graphic Novel

Cartoonist Art Spiegelman drew a series of cartoons, telling the story of his parents ordeals trough the Holocaust, and also what is was like to live as the son of survivors, the 2nd generation. the Jews are mice and Germans and Poles are cats and pigs. Published in 1986 and 1991, his 2 volume work was the first cartoon/graphic novel to ever win a Pulitzer Prize.

Zchor.cowardice.jpg

In the wake of the Eichmann trial and of the publishing of Hilberg's book, questions arose about the passivity of Hitler's victims. Why didn't they fight back, resist. This booklet was published in 1963 as a response to that question, particularly as young Israelis were coming to think of European Jews as cowards. Some explanation are: Jews were faced with overwhelming force, scarcity of weapons and systematic starvation. Soon there would be books describing Jewish heroism.

Jewish Resistance

One response to the accusation of Jewish cowardice was a 4 volume work gathering stories, pictures, and eye witness accounts of Jewish resistance. Isaac Kowalski is the compiler. He records Jews in and out of uniform who fought the Nazis.

Sparks of Glory.Spiritual Resistance

Moshe Prager, an Orthodox journalist, survived the war and interviewed survivors. His book 'Sparks of Glory' records stories of Heroes of the Spirit. They continued to cling to faith, traditions, customs and prayers in the face of impossible circumstances.

Holocaust and Halacha

Observant Jews lived and died by Halacha - the code of Jewish law. This continued even into the Holocaust. Awful questions arose and were posed to rabbis, many with precedents in Halachic literature. Is suicide permitted? Murder? Abortion? Saving a life at the expense of another? Rabbis gave what guidance they could, mostly without references or conferrals. Published in 1976, this book recounts questions answered by Rabbi Ephraim Oshry, who survived the war & wrote 3 Hebrew volumes of Responsa.

While 6 Milion Died

Arthur Morse published this book in 1967. It is sub-titled 'A Chronicle of American Apathy'. It describes how the US did little to stop the Nazis from persecuting Jews or from offering refuge. The media avoided or buried reports of atrocities. The State Department enforced & even underfilled quotas of immigrants. A proposal to bomb concentration camps to stop the killing centers was never followed through. A War Refugee Board was created toward the end of the war saved too few too late.

Hitler's Willing Executioners

While others trying to understand the Germans' actions in the war said they were essentially normal people functioning in a culture of authority, Goldhagen writes that 'ordinary Germans' are different in that they have a deeply rooted antisemitism, dating back to medieval times, which Hilter unleashed. Thus citizens participated willingly in the murders. His book is famous, and controversial.

Polish 'Neighbors'

In 2001 Jan Gross published this book 'Neighbors' in which he describes the pogrom of the town of Jedwabne. "One day in July (10) 1941, one half the population of a small European town murdered the other half." 1600 Jewish men women and children were locked in a barn and burned to death. His story was based on interviews but many objected and blamed the Germans who had occupied the town. Poland has always cast itself as a victim and not a participant in Nazi atrocities.

Jedwabne Massacre Medal

This medal graphically commemorates the fiery death of Jedwabne's Jews. A polish inquiry in 2002 substantiated Polish collaboration with the Germans while holding the latter to blame. They calculated 340 deaths as opposed to Gross' estimate of 1600.

Jedwabne Memorial

In July 2001 a memorial was constructed on the site of the massacre. Blocks of stone outline the barn, monuments engraved in Polish and Yiddish testify to the massacre of Jews that took place here. Original inhabitants were on hand although the townspeople stayed away. This medal shows part of the memorial. Polish President Kwasniewski spoke and asked for forgiveness. The memorial was defaced with antisemitic graffiti in 2011.

Artists of Terezin

Theresientstadt (Terezin) had an unusual concentration of artists and musicians. Some of the art created in the camp was preserved and published later. This book from 1969 discusses the art and those who created it.

'Myth of the 6 Million'

This book is part of an outlook called Holocaust Denial. Opening sentence: "There has never been a more colossal and successful deception, nor one which has been so enormously profitable in every way for its perpetrators, than the Myth that Hitler and his Nazis killed 6 million Jews". Some countries have made Holocaust denial a crime and lawsuits have been successfully prosecuted over it.

Shoah foundation

One answer to Holocaust deniers is the testimony of people who actually lived through it. The Shoah Foundation was created by Steven Spielberg in 1994 to record and preserve eye-witness testimony to the events of the Holocaust. Over 52,000 accounts have been recorded. The archive is now preserved by the University of Southern California.

Yizkor Book Tiktin

Once survivors began adjusting to a new life, they wanted to preserve the memories and flavor of their destroyed European communities. They formed organizations named for their hometown and gathered articles, photographs and biographical information about those who ere lost. These are known as 'Yizkor Books'. This one is about Tiktin/Tykocin Poland.

Yizkor Book Sanok

This Yizkor book is about Sanok in Southern Poland. There are hundreds of such books, mostly published in the 1950's and 60s. Printings were small and they are hard to find today. But digital projects are making them available online.

Jewish Community Center.Berlin

A stamp issued in 1966 by West Berlin featuring the Jewish community center. It had been founded in 1959 and was to become a major cultural center for Jews coming to Berlin.

Berlin Jewish Center

This silver medal from 1971 commemorates 300 years of Jewish community in Berlin. The image on the front is that of the Jewish community center in Berlin It occupies the land on which stood a magnificent synagogue, on Fasanenstrasse. That was destroyed on Krystalnacht. Over the door an arch of the facade has been preserved.

Berlin Jewish Center.reverse

'Berlin Jewish Community 300 years". Actually it was after the Berlin Wall came down in 1989 that Jewish life returned to Berlin. Eastern European Jews as well as secular Israelis have made it their home. Not mentioned is the 400 years of expulsion and persecution of Jews that came before they were allowed back in 1671.

Munich synagogue remembered

The original magnificent Hauptsynagogue of Munich was built in 1887 and commemorated by a medal that looks like this one on the front, but had the date of dedication on the back. This example is a restrike from 1972.

Munich Synagogue.reverse

This side shows a stylized image of the destroyed synagogue, which was ruined in Krystalnacht. The edge is marked 25 July 1972.

Comic. Moral Equivalent

This comic is from the 1970s series 'Sgt. Fury and the Howling Commandos'. It portrays stories from WW Two. It is not surprising that Nazis and Jews should end up in the scripts. However, look closely at the dialogue bubble at the bottom.

Moral Eqivalent closeup

"This is war for you! The Krauts are murdering thousands of Jews...and we're knockin' off thousands of German on our bombing raids!" This dangerously confuses murderous evil with justified self-defense. Is there no right and wrong. Such confusion is very apparent even today in world conflicts.

Comic.'Medical' Experiments

This 1970s comic from the 'Combat Kelly and his Deadly Dozen' series also portrays events from WW Two. Here we are exposed to threats of 'medical experiments' on prisoners which was in fact a true and tragic experience for some prisoners in the camps.

Buttons Cheapen the Holocaust

As time goes by, the language and attitudes of the Holocaust enter people's vocabulary and inevitably are borrowed for other uses. These buttons show how 'Hitler', 'Heil', and the swastika can be applied to anyone, cheapening and dishonoring the extreme inhumanity that was the Holocaust.

Antisemitism Lives On

These items from the 1960s and 1970s demonstrate that Nazi style beliefs and propaganda are alive and well. While antisemitism died down for a while after WWII, no doubt from guilt and shame, as Israel has become strong and Jews have rebuilt Jewish life and institutions, these sentiments return. Much of today's instigation is digital, appearing on the internet.

Neo-Nazis

This fund-raising envelope from the Anti-Defamation League ('ADL') pictures neo-Nazis on the front. The ADL was founded in 1913 to combat antisemitism of that time. It continues to operate and lobby for equal rights and treatment for all citizens. Responding to neo-Nazi activity is a prime example.

Jewish Defense League. Never Again

The Jewish Defense League (JDL) was founded by Meir Kahana in 1968 to protect Jews and lobby against mistreatment of Russian Jewry. Its aim was to 'protect Jews from Antisemitism by whatever means necessary'. Its slogan was "Never Again" referring to the Holocaust. These buttons reflect that feeling.

Never Again

This Polish stamp and envelope commemorates victims of Hitler. The monument graphic on the left states a phrase the became famous with Meir Kahana's Jewish Defense League. It originally referred to Holocaust and was enlarged to refer to any Genocide. This envelope was issued in 1967.

Study in Memory of Holy Victims

Those who perish simply because they are Jewish are deemed Holy Souls in Judaism. This society encourages students to study Torah in their memory. Each member of the society receives a card with a brief prayer and the name of the Holocaust victim. The one named here is Dovid Dov Polak who perished in Auschwitz at age 3. 'I hereby study Mishnah to benefit the soul of *** who perished in Sanctification of G-d's name".

Auschwitz synagogue

The town of Oswiecim (later renamed Auxchwitz) had an old lively and cultured Jewish community. This restored synagogue, the Chevra Lomdei Mishnayos shul, is the only survivor of the original 13. The concentration camp is just outside of town. As Jews have shown renewed interest in European and especially Polish Jewish sites, the government and private foundations have invested money in restoring such places.