The six million remembered in Pretoria

DIANE WOLFSON

Pictured: Rabbi Fox

Young members of the community, Kyla Eichhorn, Seth Lewis, Jared Rauff and Dan Zetisky, intoned the names of children who perished during the Holocaust, setting the tone for the sombre service. Chairman of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies, Pretoria, Louis Pearlman, welcomed the large crowd

A brief yet meaningful message was brought on behalf of the State of Israel by Deputy Ambassador Michael Freeman. Jordan Harris, a matric learner, brought a message on behalf of the youth as his poignant message told the story of his late grandmother, Stella Salom Harris, a Holocaust survivor. 

The six memorial lamps were lit by chairmen of the various Pretoria organisations with Jordan Harris lighting the seventh candle in memory of his grandmother, symbolising the eternal flame of hope, while Anne Waldeck Thill performed on the violin.

Joshua Lewis read the poem Babi Yar by Yevgeni Yevtushenko and Second World War veteran, Ivan Sive, brought a message on behalf of veterans and those members of the Pretoria Jewish community who paid the ultimate price.

The Pretoria Hebrew Congregation choir, under Chazzan Asher Goldberg and choirmaster Dean Witz, sang Ani Ma’Amin and the Partisan Song. 

After the reciting of Hazkarah by Chazzan Goldberg and Tehillim by Rabbi Levi Medalie, Rabbi Gidon Fox of the Pretoria Hebrew Congregation recited Kaddish. The ceremony concluded with the singing of the South African national anthem and Hatikvah.