By Irina Manelis
So many of us are searching, heartsick, scrambling even, to understand and grapple with this new yet ancient reality.
I certainly am. And I believe that as Richmonders, we are the fortunate custodians of an essential piece of Jewish and Virginian history which should be both part of our response—and responsibility to—these very vital times.
It’s too well-kept a secret that North America’s oldest Holocaust memorial site, Emek Sholom Holocaust Memorial Cemetery, is nestled right here in the heart of Richmond.
The Emek Sholom memorial was unveiled in November 1955 by Survivors, refugees, and immigrants faced with a searing question—how to commemorate and honor their family members who perished in the Shoah, and whose final resting places would remain forever unknown.
From scant resources pooled together, they created this beautiful homage which served to honor their loved ones and to stand defiantly against the attempted obliteration of our people.
In November 1999, two additional panels were dedicated, adding new names of family members of more recently-arrived refugees and immigrants, including those of my paternal grandparents.
If you have never been to Emek Sholom’s annual Kristallnacht commemoration, you are missing out on one of the most meaningful events Richmond has to offer, and we encourage you to go.
And encourage us all to pay special heed to uplift and maintain this special landmark and organization, especially now, when it is needed, and when we need it, more than ever.
Spaces to gather, to grieve, to reconcile and renew are essential, and I count Emek Sholom among the most sanctified, together with our shuls.
There’s a tradition holding that Jews killed for being Jews have died in the sanctification of G-d’s name, Kiddush Hashem, and that sense of reverie and sanctity is felt at Emek Sholom.
Especially now, after the unimaginable brutality of the largest massacre of Jews as such since the Holocaust, we need such spaces to grieve.
And in the dizzying combination of searing silence and the torrent of hatred that has followed, we need spaces and organizations to remember our history, to remind us who we are, and to find our footing and resolve to be.
Emek Sholom offers just that, because it serves not only as a monument to our devastation, but also as a declaration of fierce defiance, faith, and resilience.
Israeli psychoanalyst Zvi Rex once bitingly observed that the Germans will never forgive the Jews for Auschwitz, and it seems perhaps, that rather, much of the world will never forgive us.
Which makes a space to bring our stories to life, something Emek Sholom does so beautifully, and to be with survivors and with each other, and with friend and supporters who care about the Jewish community, so powerful.
As is the chance to hear at each ceremony the deeply stirring Partisan Song, Mir Zaynen Do—We Are Still Here. It is all deeply resonant and restorative.
And it points to something else: the potential ways—holding deep potential—forward. The quiet dignity and integrity of Emek Sholom’s founding, people, and mission stand in stark contrast to the too often self-promoting, hollow, and sometimes shrieking tenor of the times.
So too with Emek Sholom’s work to foster a depth of understanding of history and humanity. The focus on our resilience and mission in the face of our sorrow is a tonic to often deflating, one-dimensional, and sometimes myopic, prevailing ideas.
And critically, comprehensive, authentic, thoughtful Holocaust education helps to combat Jew-hatred by both fostering sensitivity to Jewish suffering and providing greater understanding of how antisemitism operates, and how terribly swiftly and cataclysmically it can consume individuals and cultures.
For many reasons, Emek Sholom has so much to offer toward understanding our past and future, and meeting the present moment.
Please visit www.holocaustcemetery.org to learn more about the monument and organization, review past programs, peruse resources, and support Emek Sholom.
