International Holocaust Memorial Day

On Sunday I attended and addressed the International Holocaust Memorial Day to commemorate the liberation of Auschwitz organised by the Australian Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants together with Ambassadors and Consul Generals of many countries and United Nations representatives.

It was a very special moment for me, as my mother the late Edith Hoenig was a holocaust survivor and I was asked to join them on this day to share her story. My mother was only 16 when along with her entire family she was taken by the Germans to Concentration Camp. My mother was the only member of her family to survive. She was separated from her parents on the first day and never heard anything about where they were or what they were doing until after she was liberated. Only then did she learn that her parents had not made it to a camp but along with almost a 1000 of others they were striped naked, shot and buried in a mass grave.

Looking at my family tree shows the devastation. Two generations wiped out, with the exception of my mother, an aunt and cousin. 

Joined by my son Benjamin it was an honour to be among such amazing people whose stories of survival are an inspiration to us all. 

"Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.” Wise words from Edmund Burke, Dublin, 1729-1797. 

The story of the holocaust must be told so that it is never repeated. The importance of such days will continue to grow and the stories of those who survived must never be lost.

The video of my address can be see at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxesHU1RbM0&feature=youtu.be

Ron Hoenig recounting the story of his mother

Ben Hoenig the 3rd Generation lights one of 6 candles to
commemorate the murder of the 6 million jews.