The camp was liberated by British soldiers. But thirteen thousand people died because of eating; as the British soldiers fed them for months. Why did they die? You cannot eat when you have not eaten or starved of food for months. – Mr. Emil A. Fish (Holocaust Survivor)

On Friday, the 27th of January 2023, the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of The Holocaust held at the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Gisonzi, Kigali, Rwanda. Going through the schedule, wreath laying commenced the ceremony. After this, Mr. Fish lit a candle in memory of The Holocaust. Mr Freddy Mutanguha. Executive director of Aegis Trust officially commenced the agenda presentation, acknowledged everyone present, and was deeply honoured to have the presence of Mr. Emil A. Fish, one of the last survivors of The Holocaust.

Opening prayer was handled by Rabbi Haim Bar Sela-Habad and I sensed the prayer invoked sorrow. I would come back to this.

Several addresses were made by prominent dignitaries and I would briefly highlight a few. Dr. Serge Brammertz, Chief Prosecutor for the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals stated that; “To resist is to go against the grain. We have an obligation to bring perpetrators to justice. One lesson we have learnt is that justice is a long process. Unfortunately, we have learnt that international justice is selective. Today, Genocide Ideology presents clear risks.”

On his part, Minister of National Unity and Civic Engagement, Dr. Jean Damascene Bizimana stated amongst other things that “Denial is not an option.”

Also, a poem by Israeli writer Avraham Halfi was recited by Dr. Deborah Hagit Adler. Rwanda’s Fred Mfuranzima also recited one of his poems titled; “Beyond a Shoah.”

The Address by Dr. Ozonnia Ojielo (United Nations Nigerian Resident Coordinator for Rwanda):
On the onset, I wish to appreciate the Government of Rwanda for accepting this commemoration to be held here and by supporting the organization of this event and for gracing it by its valuable presence through the Hon. Minister of National Unity and Civic Engagement, Dr Jean Damascene Bizimana and other Senior Government Officials.

I would also like to express my deep gratitude and appreciation to His excellency the Ambassador of Israeli in Rwanda for the invitation and for the close collaboration in organising this event. I cannot forget to commend the Kigali Genocide Memorial and Aegis Trust for coordinating and hosting this important event.

In 2023, the theme guiding the United Nations Holocaust remembrance and education is “Home and Belonging”. It highlights the humanity of the Holocaust victims and survivors, who had their homes and sense of belonging ripped from them by the perpetrators of the Holocaust. The theme reminds us of our responsibility to respond with humanity to the victims of atrocity crimes, to counter hate speech, antisemitism, Holocaust distortion and denial, and prejudice – to do all we can to prevent genocide.

In his message for this year commemoration, the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, said “We reflect on the millions of individual lives cut short; the millions of futures stolen away”. As reflected by the UN SG, “we mourn the loss of so many and so much, but we also recognize that the Holocaust was not inevitable, and no genocide ever is”.

Distinguished guests, your presence today, is key in remembering the suffering and loss of the victims and honouring the many brave men and women who risked their lives to help those persecuted. It is also a testament of the continued spirit of solidarity and comfort with survivors globally – who were forced to adjust their ideas of “home” and “belonging” as they faced the violent, antisemitic onslaught during the Holocaust. Its also on such days that we re-affirm our commitment to “Never Again”.

The remembrance of the holocaust happening at the Kigali Genocide Memorial Center, is a reminder that despite the strong commitment of the world to never experience genocide again, only 50 years later after the Holocaust, humanity witnessed another frenzied killing during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda where a million of people were brutally killed, just because they were Tutsi, as that was the case for the Jews during the second world war.

We must, therefore, never forget the tragedy of the Holocaust, and the genocide against the Tutsi, so that we use the lessons to create a better future. Yes, the Holocaust was not inevitable, and so was the genocide against the Tutsi. But the world failed humanity. What we can do is to honour the lost ones, to learn from our failures and to commit without reserve, to fighting genocide ideologies and walking the talk.

The UN System in Rwanda appreciate the good work done by Rwanda in preserving the memory of the genocide against the Tutsi and the success stories in uniting and reconciling the Rwanda society shattered by the genocide in 1994. We are happy that we have been part of this journey as UN system, in partnership with the Government, Civil Society Organisation and development partners. We all share this responsibility of saying “Never Again to genocide”.

Keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive is the fulfilment of a universal duty, a duty that leads to uprooting hatred, building peace, and, thus, protecting humanity. So, on this day, may we commit to always remembering. We owe it to the victims, to the survivors and most especially to the generations to come.

Honourable Minister, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I think that it was hard for all of us to hold back our emotions when we were going through the exhibition and it will be the same after listening to you, Mr. Emil A. Fish. The images that got stuck in young minds, memories and the horrors that survivors witnessed. Such lengths of brutality to exterminate millions of people, based on their difference, taking humanity out of them, stripping them of all dignity, all identity, and all love for life.

I cannot even imagine how hard it must be, for Mr. Emil A. Fish – representing all survivors of the holocaust, to bring these memories back to the surface. But your testimony which will be delivered shortly and your energy at 88 years shows that dignity, identity, and resilience are indestructible.

It’s great that the young people are constructively engaged in such commemorations. We saw the youth at the exhibitions and will hear moving and inspiring poem from a young Fred. When young people know the history of such atrocities, their impact on the community and how hard the process of reconciliation is, they are able to stand on the shoulders of the older generation, nurture their role in educating others, fight ideologies and confront genocide deniers.

Hate speech and antisemitic imagery are proliferating across the internet and social media. With social media part of our lives today and mostly used by the young people, they ought to use it to educate themselves and others about genocide, which can be a great contribution towards preserving the memory and changing the mindset of fellow youth and most especially ordinary people with skewed ideologies and thus shaping future generations free of hatred and genocidal ideologies.

History shows us that genocide is facilitated by ordinary people. It’s the ordinary people that turn a blind eye, that believe propaganda, or that join murderous regimes. And still, it’s the ordinary people who are persecuted, oppressed and murdered in genocide, simply because they are ordinary people who belong to a particular group.

Tackling the root causes of intolerance and denial of holocaust are urgent priority of the UN. This commitment led to the adoption of a resolution that condemns denial and distortion of the Holocaust and the UN Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech.

As the UN system, we reiterate our commitment to be at the frontline of the battle against anti-Semitism and all other forms of hatred. That is the best way to build a future of dignity and equality for all – and the best way to honour the victims of the Holocaust – we will never forget them.

As I conclude, on behalf of the UN Family in Rwanda, I wish to sincerely thank the Government and the leadership of Rwanda for supporting this commemoration event.

Today and every day, let us recommit ourselves to the prevention of, and fight against, genocide and other atrocious crimes and to never be silent in the face of hatred, and never again to allow the world to relive the horror of the Holocaust.

As rightly said the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in his speech at the 2023 United Nations Memorial Ceremony marking the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust said, I quote “Today and every day, let us resolve to never again remain silent in the face of evil – and to always defend the dignity and rights of all.”

I and the entire UN family, express our firm commitment to contributing to promoting just, peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, Leaving No One Behind.

The Address by Ambassador Dr. Thomas Kurz (Ambassador of Germany to Rwanda): We commemorate the liberation of the Auschwitz Death Camp, on this day, 78 years ago, by the Soviet Army. We remember the victims of the mass murder, of the genocide against the jews of Europe committed by Nazi-Germany – a genocide which we know as the Holocaust, as the Shoah.

The Holocaust today is an essential part of mankind’s collective memory, in 2005 it has been made a UN day of commemoration, not least because of the endeavour of Ambassador Ron Adam. The Holocaust has become, it still is and it will always be a decisive element of our, of Germans’, identity.

And I do not speak just about a memory, about the past. Beyond our borders it is less known how very much alive this memory is. In 2022 hardly a week passed where we did not have very engaged and vivid public debates on what exactly the Holocaust does mean for our society today and especially for our handling of the various forms of antisemitism which occur in our country and in other parts of the world, often in the context of a narrative of decolonization.

I think it is for the 12th time today that the ambassadors of the State of Israel and of Germany jointly host this commemoration here in Kigali. It does remain a miracle, it seems still rather unlikely that the heir of the Jewish victims, the ambassador of the State or Israel – and in the case of my friend Ron Adam a child of two Holocaust survivors – and myself, as the official representative of the country of the perpetrators, of Germany, jointly host this event. 

As far as I know this is a unique event in the world. It is no coincidence that this is happening in Rwanda – where else?

More special is the case of Israel and Germany, our two countries. Over the last couple of years; a tradition has been established where Israeli and German leaders jointly commemorate. This year for example, Mr. Dani Dayan, the Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate, spoke at the German Parliament, the Bundestag.

I can only be most thankful that this is possible today. It is a gift, which is hardly deserved.

We have to keep the memory alive, beyond any routine rituals of commemorating. We must never forget. The memory becomes especially painful when we bring individual fates to our minds. Such a fate is the story of 93-year-old Rachel Hanan from Haifa. Only a couple of days ago, she published her story in a small book. She arrived in Auschwitz on her 15th birthday, lost her parents and siblings – and survived to give testimony.

And of course, we do expect the testimony of Mr. Emil Fish here today.

We must never forget! Never again! This imperative has become even more urgent at a time, when an unjustified, an unprovoked and brutal war of aggression is being waged on the very territories where a large part of the genocide against the Jews of Europe has been committed by Nazi Germany. Some of the victims killed in this aggression were Holocaust survivors! Never forget!

Bullet points from the address of Mr. Emil A. Fish (Holocaust Survivor)
I am not a speaker. I am just a humble businessman. History repeats itself for those who refuse to learn. It is as simple as that. I was born in Slovakia and every Holocaust survivor has a unique story, unique to him or her. During The Holocaust, you just had to be fast thinking and lucky; everyone in my family (nuclear and extended). Everyone was looking for Jews to kill. My father was the only one who came back from the camp. Some people from my mother’s family survived. Baptist Christians were known to help Jews during World War Two. My father used false papers to get his family to Bratislava.

There was a thinking and a plan that everyone was alone once you were caught. The overall thinking and idea of The Jews was to find out how many Jews could survive.

He narrated a story of what happened in a restaurant (you say what you didn’t mean, just to survive.) The story was about how his father and his family arrived a restaurant and whilst they got settled in to order food, a German Nazi officer was in the same restaurant. And so, in order for the Nazi officer not to notice them and accuse them of being Jews, Mr Emil Fish’s father had to improvise and he did the Nazi salute to the Nazi officer before stating that The Slovaks would deal with the Jews and the Nazis need not worry to be in Slovakia to carry out their tasks. The fastest way to kill people was through the crematorium. His block was next to Anne Frank. His sister and Anne Frank were friends. He said the camp they were in, had dead bodies which were piled three feet high.

He made some startling comments. The camp was liberated by the British soldiers. But thirteen thousand people died because of eating as the British soldiers fed them for months. Why? You cannot eat when you have not eaten or starved of food for months. Slovakia was more progressive and richer than USA in the 1930s before World War Two. Americans were not accepting Jews after World War Two. South America and Canada were accepting Jews. Nine out of ten Jews in Slovakia did not survive. Touching story.

At this juncture, The Auschwitz website posted a piece on its’ website on Friday, 27th of January, 2023:
On January 27, a group of 18 Auschwitz and Holocaust Survivors met at the former Auschwitz camp to commemorate the 78th anniversary of the liberation of this German Nazi concentration and extermination camp. The event was held under the honorary patronage of the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda.

The main theme of the anniversary was the process of planning, creating and expanding the system of dehumanisation and genocide at Auschwitz, which was particularly strongly defined by the words of survivor Marian Turski ‘Auschwitz did not fall from the sky’.

The witnesses of history were accompanied, among others, by Minister Wojciech Kolarski from the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland and other representatives of state authorities from Poland, the Second Gentleman of the United States Douglas Emhoff, the Minister of Culture of Slovenia Asta Vrečko, the Secretary of State for Veterans’ affairs and Memory from France Patricia Mirallès, ambassadors and diplomats, representatives of the clergy, regional authorities, local governments, employees of museums and memorial sites.

While the function of Auschwitz as an extermination center was taking shape in 1942, in 1943 the scale of operation became industrial. In the spring of that year, the Germans completed the construction of four installations at Auschwitz II-Birkenau, which included gas chambers and modern facilities for cremating corpses.
Two Auschwitz Survivors spoke during the commemoration event: Dr. Eva Umlauf and Zdzisława Włodarczyk.

Eva Umlauf was born in the Novaky labour camp in 1942. She was deported to Auschwitz on 3 November 1944 in a transport of Jews from Sered in Slovakia, together with her whole family as a two-year-old child. She was liberated on 27 January 1945.

In her address, she recounted the wartime fate of her family and shared personal reflections on the importance of memory.

‘All other members of the family were not that lucky – apart from me and my Mum nobody survived; my sister, Nora was born shortly after the liberation, in April 1945. All my mother’s siblings were murdered, she said.

‘Auschwitz is the subject which is so much moving and so much distressful, the atrocity of which cannot be comprehended – either rationally or emotionally. The fact that I confront with “Auschwitz inside me” and “Auschwitz in a German society “, is understandable. For me, Auschwitz is a traumatizing element of my own biography, my emotional heritage. And this emotional heritage will not end with me. It will be transferred from one generation to another. I must ensure that this heritage should not be transferred onto my sons, my granddaughters or people around me,’ said Eva Umlauf.

‘My engagement for a peaceful future full of human respect is necessary for me. Auschwitz cannot be repeated. Yet, proclaiming only “Never again” is not enough! The solidified division between those who push atrocities away from them, and those who confront with atrocities, must be worked through together. I am one of the persons concerned, so I want to bring my own contribution. I know that hatred and exclusion of individuals or groups will always lead to aggression and war. We know that a bridge is needed between various groups or ideologies to close the gap within the empathy between the differences most,’ she said.

Zdzisława Włodarczyk was born on 21 August 1933. After the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising on 1 August 1944, her family was arrested by the Germans and deported to Auschwitz on 8 August 1944, in one of the first transports from Warsaw. She was liberated on 27 January 1945.

‘When we were pushed to the fright carriages, being taken from the transition camp in Pruszków, someone asked aloud: where will we go? The answer was: to a village near Krakow. We were going for a long time. My father tried to watch the train route through a chink between the planks. It was already a twilight, when I heard my father’s desperate scream. He held his head in the hands, beating it against the wall of the carriage, shouting: God, where did they take us, where did they take us? I looked through the chink and saw a white plaque with a black inscription: Auschwitz, said Zdzisława Włodarczyk.

‘Nights were the worst. The children were crying that they were cold and hungry. With time, they became silent, because they knew that no one and nothing would help them. Mothers would not come,’ she added.

‘Today, when I stand in the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial, I am frightened when I follow the news coming from the East about the war. The Russian army, that liberated us here, now wages war in Ukraine. Why? Why?’ concluded Zdzisława Włodarczyk.

The last speaker was Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński, the director of the Museum.

‘Our world proved to be fragile in the age of murderous antisemitism, Übermensch ideology and a craving for the so-called Lebensraum. Our world continues to be fragile. Here we are, we stand with you, Dear Survivors, you who have walked the darkest path of war. And it is difficult for us to stand here. More difficult than before. First, war violates treaties, then borders, finally people. Civilian victims, dehumanised, terrorised, humiliated, they do not die by chance. They are taken hostage by wartime megalomania,’ director Cywiński said.

‘The Warsaw district of Wola, Zamojszczyzna, Oradour and Lidice, now bear different names: Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel, Mariupol and Donietsk. Similar sick megalomania, similar lust for power. And almost same-sounding myths of exceptionalism, of greatness, of primacy… but written in Russian,’ he underlined.

‘Being silent means giving voice to the perpetrators, staying neutral means reaching out to the rapist, remaining indifferent is tantamount to condoning murder. And today, before our very eyes, our memory is putting us to the test. Today we can clearly see which door is opening, and which remains closed,’ said Piotr Cywiński.

‘In the first generation after the war, the Rolling Stones sang: War, children, it’s just a shot away, I tell you love, sister, it’s just a kiss away.

We need to realise that every gesture of ours is as significant as a lack thereof. There is a choice in everything. Today, once again, comes the time for essential human choices. And only in our memory can we find the key to the choices we are making,’ concluded the director of the Museum.

The second part of the commemoration event took place at the ruins of gas chamber and crematorium IV. Rabbis and clergymen of various Christian denominations said prayers. Participants laid candles by the ruins in memory of all the victims of Auschwitz.

Earlier on 27 January, Survivors together with the directors and staff of the Auschwitz Memorial laid wreaths in the courtyard of Block 11 at the Auschwitz I site. State delegations also visited the Memorial. In addition to Second Gentleman of the United States Douglas Emhoff, the US delegation included the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt and the Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues Ellen Germain.

Until the liberation of the camp by soldiers of the Red Army, German Nazis murdered approx. 1.1 million people in Auschwitz, mostly Jews, but also Poles, the Roma, Soviet prisoners of war and people of other nationalities.

Auschwitz is to the world today, a symbol of the Holocaust and atrocities of World War II. In 2005, the United Nations adopted 27 January as the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust.

The Address of Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywinski (Director of The Auschwitz Museum):

Marian Turski, a survivor, warned: “Auschwitz did not just fall from the sky”.

Halina Birenbaum, a survivor, wrote: “it’s not rain, it’s people”.

Auschwitz emerged out of lust for power and out of megalomania. Paradoxically it was the quintessence of great progress; the industrialisation of the 20th century. The camp had been conceived of, designed, planned, sketched, drawn and expanded. Architects, planners, designers and surveyors worked on it.

And here we are today, standing among wires and chimney stacks, the remains of barracks and gas chambers, where German Nazis dehumanised, humiliated and murdered Jews, Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war and many others. These are authentic remains of a poorly conceived marriage: that of Viennese romanticism and Prussian positivism.

We can see how fragile our civilisation is. Our world proved to be fragile in the age of murderous antisemitism, Übermensch ideology and a craving for the so-called Lebensraum.

Our world continues to be fragile. Here we are, we stand with you, Dear Survivors, you who have walked the darkest path of war. And it is difficult for us to stand here. More difficult than before. First, war violates treaties, then borders, finally people. Civilian victims; dehumanised, terrorised, humiliated; they do not die by chance.

They are taken hostage by wartime megalomania. The Warsaw district of Wola, Zamojszczyzna, Oradour and Lidice, now bear different names: Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel, Mariupol and Donietsk. Similar sick megalomania, similar lust for power. And almost same-sounding myths of exceptionalism, of greatness, of primacy but written in Russian.

We see before our eyes the end of what we used to call the post-war era. For decades ‘post-war’ looked different in the east than in Western Europe. But both parts were conjoined by the very thing that brought together our thoughts and our identity: our overarching consciousness of the ‘post-war’.

And now it is all elapsing. Once again innocent people are being killed en-masse in Europe. Russia, unable to conquer Ukraine, has decided to destroy it. We see it every day, even as we stand here.

And so, it is difficult to stand here today. May we, free people, act differently today. Being silent means giving voice to the perpetrators, staying neutral means reaching out to the rapist, remaining indifferent is tantamount to condoning murder. And today, before our very eyes, our memory is putting us to the test. Today we can clearly see which door is opening, and which remains closed.

In the first generation after the war the Rolling Stones sang: War, children, it’s just a shot away, I tell you love, sister, it’s just a kiss away.

We need to realise that every gesture of ours is as significant as a lack thereof. There is a choice in everything. Today, once again, comes the time for essential human choices. And only in our memory can we find the key to the choices we are making.

Back to the event at the Kigali Genocide Memorial.

The Speech by Ambassador Ron Adam (Ambassador of Israel to Rwanda):
I have a special connection to this day. One reason is being a second generation of Holocaust survivors. My mother was 9 years old girl from Budapest Hungary when she was taken from her warm home in the middle of night to the death camp Bergen Belzen in Germany in June 1944. It was then when she lost her childhood, and stayed alone with her brother for the years to come.

My father was 17 years old, when the German Luftwaffe areal fighters bombed his city Belgrade in Yugoslavia and destroyed his house. His mother died and he started a 4 years long run from Nazi soldiers in Yugoslavia and Italy, along with his father and sister. Another connection to this day is me being a government official at the right time in the right place.

It was 2005, when I functioned as Director of the UN department in the Ministry of Foreign affairs in Jerusalem. It was 60 years to the end of WW2 and to the liberation of the Death Camp Auschwitz Birkenau. After being a diplomat in the UN during previous years, knowing well the processes and rules of procedures of the organization and after realizing that the Holocaust is not mentioned and does not exist on the UN agenda, I decided to make a difference. I initiated and drafted a New Resolution, that was later on brought to the General Assembly, which decided (and I quote) “that the United Nations will designate the 27 of January as an annual International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust”.

On November 27th, 2005, the resolution was brought to a vote but the General Assembly adopted it in consensus, with the presence of all 193 Member States. This consensus was an end of a very long diplomatic process conducted around the world, a good end which showed the commitment of all nations of the world to the remembrance of the Holocaust and as remind and of the history of the worst Genocide of mankind. The UN Member States agreed on the need to remember, on the need to teach about the Holocaust and other Genocides, to prevent Holocaust denial, fight antisemitism and to bringing war criminals to justice.

I grew up in a family where my both parents preferred not to share their stories. My brother and I are probably affected by that decision. My mom, who passed away 5 years ago, told us only stories about the fact that she did not really eat much during 9 weeks, while she was in the concentration camp, except a bowl of soup early in the mornings. My dad never told us anything. His suffer was beyond the ability to share with us.

It was only so many years after his passing, that I found a letter where he described part of his story of escaping the Nazi dogs and soldiers in the forests of the Balkan, until he found a refuge in Switzerland in 1945. Sharing the personal stories of the Holocaust in Israel did not start immediately after the end of the WW2. It was only in 1977, more than 30 years later, when the Government of Israel decided officially to include the history of the Holocaust in the curricula of schools and encourage survivors to share their testimonies. That was very late. However today many books are written and printed on individual memories. It is so crucial due to the deniers that are out there. I would like to thank you Emil Abraham Fish for your testimony and courage to come to Kigali and share your story. As time passes, and the survivors are leaving us like my parents, it becomes more and more important to share the testimonies.

So it is here in Rwanda, in the case of the Genocide against the Tutsi. During
my service here, I have encouraged and supported initiatives to promote culture of writing and reading about Genocide, while sharing the Jewish experience, as well as conferences to raise awareness to mental health and healing.

In this context, and as a second generation of survivors, I find it imperative to uncover, arrest and bring to justice war criminals, wherever they are hiding around the world. For us it was too late, For Rwanda it is still relevant. We should not wait and we should not give up.

Lastly, we cannot tolerate any act of racial discrimination dehumanization
that might lead to another Genocide.

May the souls of the six million Jews and one million Tutsi rest in peace. May we never again witness any act of Genocide in the world.

My Notes:
Writer’s block is something writers deal with quarterly but there are stories that would clear the path of deep reasoning and thought processes which enable one to transmute thoughts into crystal clear words. Genocide is one for me. And one has come to realise that nations (Armenia, Namibia, The Jews, Rwanda, to name a few) who have experienced Genocides have several similar traits. One is unquenchable resilience in the midst of impossibilities. The other is the zeal to keep on telling their stories to the world, so that the world does not forget and most importantly, to deter repetition.

Just in case you missed a particular sentence by Mr Emil A. Fish, let me repeat it: America was not accepting Jews after World War Two but countries in South America and Canada were accepting Jews. Fact and sadly, the truth.

Whilst Ambassador Adam spoke, my instinct notched me to turn; I turned to look at the invited guests behind me and I still saw tears from some people in the audience, especially Rwandans. I still saw the tears when Mashirika troupe performed. Remember the prayer by Rabbi Haim Bar Sela-Habad which I alluded to in the first few sentences of this long epistle, which I sensed was a sorrowful prayer? But since I don’t speak Hebrew or Yiddish and only know a few words; after the event at the genocide memorial, I had to reach out to Ambassador Ron Adam, to confirm what the prayer was about and Ambassador Dr. Ron Adam who is the Ambassador of Israel to Rwanda stated that, “Yes, it is a prayer in Hebrew dedicated to the victims of The Holocaust.”

Dolapo Aina writes from Kigali, Rwanda.