ENHANCE - 1st Quarter 2023

Special Report
The number of living survivors of the Holocaust
is decreasing fast. At the same time, Holocaust
deniers remain adamant about their version of the
truth, and antisemitism is rising to higher levels than in the
1930s, when the Nazi’s propaganda machine pushed their
version of the truth.
Hanukkah and Christmas overlapped in
2022, which seemed to accentuate the
great need, even craving, for ‘light’ in our
dark world. One way we can be ‘light’ (see
Matthew 5:14), as a ministry and individual
believers, is to stand with Jewish communities
around the UK and reiterate the need to remember the
Holocaust in meaningful ways, showing a heart for learning
about the Nazi persecution and ensuing horrors in the
concentration and deportation camps of Europe.
As part of CFI Jerusalem’s ‘Forsake Them Not’ project,
Olga and Tanya continue
to sacrificially love and
support ageing Holocaust
survivors around Israel. They
endeavour to make at least
400 visits each year, even
during Covid, but know
the need is great and hope
two more staff members
will join the team in 2023.
They can then increase
the love and support,
listening and reading psalms
to these often-lonely residents in the land.
Olga tells us that each survivor’s story is unique, and with
prayerful support each visit can bring greater friendship and a
measure of healing. January 27 th marks
the anniversary of the liberation of
Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi
death camp, and was designated as
Holocaust Memorial Day in 1999. It is
marked by the Association of Survivors
in Israel, with Olga and Tanya being
invited to participate.
Olga was invited to join a special
online event for CFI UK this January,
hosted by Julia and David Soakell, in
which she could share her heart for
the work of CFI Jerusalem with the decreasing
number of survivors, enabling prayers to be
offered up about the future of that work. A CFI
supporter who found out just a few years ago
that his mother was rescued in WW2 as part of
the Kindertransport was also invited to share
his unique perspective on memories of his late
mother and the impact it had on his life.
Sir Nicholas Winton, a young stockbroker,
rescued 669 children from Czechoslovakia,
bringing them to the UK by train, and sparing
them from the horrors of the Holocaust. Those train journeys
became known as the Kindertransport. Testimonies of the
children and grandchildren of survivors will need to provide
the narrative of Holocaust Memorial Day in the years to come,
preserving the message for future generations.
Those passionate about Holocaust remembrance are
blessed to receive input from educational institutes like Yad
Vashem. But one essential point for us, as we discuss and
commemorate the Shoah, is to remember how these people
lived and not just how they died. They had friends and
families, careers and purpose. They had aspirations and hope
for a future until it was torn from them.
The heart cry of those who survived, is for those of us who
visit to remind people back home not to forget them, but to
always remember that it really happened. A mark of wisdom
for civilization is that it learns from history.
6 ENHANCE • 1 ST Quarter 2023
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