World leaders, actors, and other public figures wished survivors of the Holocaust a ‘Happy Hannukah’ in videos published by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) ahead of the Claims Conference’s 6th International Holocaust Survivors Night and a candle-lighting ceremony, according to a news release from the organization.
The Claims Conference was formed in 1951 in order to help Jewish victims of the Holocaust secure a degree of restitution from Germany for the Nazi persecution and genocide of the Jewish people.
The candle-lighting ceremony will take place on Monday at 9:00 p.m. IST and will be broadcast as a live stream for Holocaust survivors in m over a dozen countries.
The event will feature leaders and celebrities such as German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, actress Mayim Bialik from The Big Bang Theory, Jamie Lee Curtis, Barbra Streisand, and others.
The broadcasted candle-lighting ceremony will be hosted by MSNBC anchor Katie Tor, CBS anchor Tony Dukofil, and Vice President of the Claims Conference, Greg Schneider.
Holocaust survivors to light candles at Western Wall
As a main part of the event, the live broadcast will include the candle lighting to take place at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem. Around 100 Holocaust survivors, including those who had been evacuated from their homes in October at the start of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, will participate.
“You (Holocaust survivors) have experienced the worst human cruelty, and yet you are the living proof that there is always hope,” President Isaac Herzog said in a teaser video for the ceremony. “Each of you reminds us that even from the darkest depth light can emerge.”
“I try to imagine how much the images from Israel, how much antisemitic hatred on the Internet and on streets around the world must be hitting you (Holocaust survivors), of all people, right in the heart,” German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz said in the video. “This idea pains me a lot. You have experienced immeasurable horror and suffering. You have fought for your lives with unimaginable strength. We will ensure that the crime against humanity of the Shoah committed by the Germans will never be forgotten.”
“It is my pleasure to wish the Holocaust survivors around the world a very happy Hanukkah,” Singer Barbara Streisand said in another teaser video.