AriseNow issue.4

arisenow ISSUE #4 / October 2013

Auschwitz The Door of No Return and the Tower of Evil

DANIEL KOLENDA

Interview with one of the most influential evangelists in the world

SPECIAL REPORT

FEAST

OF TABERNACLES www.arisegeneration.org

Miss Holocaust Survivor

The crowning of Shoshana Kolmer

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OUR vision is to courageously and creatively teach, live and share God’s passion for the young generation and stand firm by His plans for Israel and the world.

Blessings from Jerusalem,

Jani Salokangas WORKING IN: USA, Canada, Germany, Finland, Norway, England, Philippines, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Australia, South Africa, Fiji, Namibia, Switzerland...

Rooted in the powerful scripture of Ephesians 5:14, Arise stands to unlimitedly glorify God: to inspire and promote Biblical truths into young people’s everyday lives. Arise devotes itself to cause a generation to arise for spiritual awakening, works of love and support for Israel.

arisenow

CREDITS

International Director JANI SALOKANGAS Media Strategist EMANUEL MFOUKOU International Administrator SYBILLE HOCHULI AriseNow editors EMANUEL MFOUKOU AND JANI SALOKANGAS

From its beginning in 2002 the ARISE movement has had one mission – to gather students and young people from across the globe to live a life centered in God. We believe that God has a special plan for each person and it is our responsibility to live that calling to its fullest potential. Above all we want this generation to see and discover the unique and crucial plan that God has for Israel in His epic world redemptive plan.

The Arise movement is spreading worldwide. Join the movement today!

Proof reading PAUL PARKHOUSE, CHRIS CHAMBERS, LAURA SALOKANGAS Graphics / Illustration JANI SALOKANGAS Writers EMANUEL MFOUKOU, ANN HILSDEN, JANI SALOKANGAS, SYBILLE HOCHULI, Photography ICEJ STAFF, JANI SALOKANGAS, POND5, LAISHA MAGAZINE, EMANUEL MFOUKOU ARISENOW is published by Arise ICEJ. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited.

International Christian Embassy Jerusalem www.icej.org

For more information contact us www.arisegeneration.org arisegeneration@icej.org Telephone: +972-2-539-9700 PO Box 1192 Jerusalem 91010 Israel

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From the leader’s pen

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his morning walking to work in Jerusalem I saw an old lady sitting at the bus stop smiling. While she was smiling I noticed a badly tattooed number on her arm.

Suddenly it struck me that this happy lady was a holocaust survivor. Passing her slowly she looked at me and said “Shalom�. The word Shalom means peace and knowing where she was during her youth, that word in that moment put a massive tear in my eye which I discreetly tried to hide not to look like a sobbing crazy man on the street.

This is a nation where peace is not just a word among others, it is a word of true meaning and a dream which so often is disrupted.

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f a holocaust survivor can smile to a stranger while wearing a reminder of her suffering not only on her arm but through her whole being, how much more should we as Christians smile to others and greet them with peace.

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his morning I was reminded once more about the blessing of living under peace and not war.

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y the way, when I looked back this old lady took her bag and entered a bus with her friend who was an old muslim lady wearing a burka. This morning I saw nothing but pure love and affection given by a valuable battered basin filled with nurturing water spilling it over to strangers like me.

Jani Salokangas is the Arise International Director and he is based in Jerusalem with his family.

If a holocaust survivor can smile to a stranger while wearing a reminder of her suffering not only on her arm but through her whole being, how much more should we as Christians smile to others and greet them with peace.

Hot articles in this issue Young & Bold

page 5

Daniel Kolenda

page 6

Arise on the Road

page 8

Feast of Tabernacles Report

page 14

Why does God allow evil

page 22

When evil turns to something good

page 24

Auschwitz

page 26

We cannot forget

page 40

Yosef - my testimony

page 42

Miss Holocaust

page 45

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the movement today Like us in Facebook. facebook.com/arisegeneration

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YOUNG & BOLD According to statistics 52 percent of the world’s population is under the age of 30. In the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa 70% of the population are below 30, and in Malawi, a country in eastern Africa, 49 percent of the population is under the age of 15.

With such a large number of the world’s population being under the age of 30 and the majority of these living in the developing world, western based ministries should take this fact in to consideration. These areas are fields where the seeds of Jesus Christ needs to be sown and where international youth ministries should try to make an impact.

The younger members of the body of Christ are the future of the Church and need to be invested in. The bible is full of young adults who made an impact and contributed to the bible narrative. In the book of Job we can read about how a young man gave him valuable advice in times of trouble. David was a young man when he slew Goliath and when he revealed that he was willing to fight Goliath his young age was immediately criticized, by King Saul, his brothers and Goliath himself.

Timothy who received two letters from Paul, must also have been part of this category of young adults, as Paul told him that he shouldn’t let anybody look down on him because of his young age. (1 Tim 4:12) As a matter of fact, Jesus Christ himself would during his active years in ministry which he started when he was 30, been classed as a young adult. The same can be said of John the Baptist who was only six months older than Jesus. When it comes to the disciples there are several theories about their ages, but some commentators claim that the majority of the disciples all were younger than Jesus, i.e. between the ages of 20-30, maybe even younger. The bible reveals that Peter was the only one that was married; in addition he was the only one paying the temple tax which you had to be over 20 to pay, according to the book of Exodus. (Exodus 30:14) Furthermore, why would Salome, the mother of James and John ask if her sons could be seated next to Jesus in his Kingdom if they were grown up men? (Mat 20:20-21)

According to statistics 52 percent of the world’s population is under the age of 30.

52%

Arise ICEJ has understood the importance of the upcoming generation and are seeking to touch young adults around the world with the message of Jesus Christ and the important role Israel and the Jewish people plays in the bible. •

www.arisegeneration.org

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Most Christians have heard of Reinhard Bonnke, the world renowned evangelist who in 1972 received a word from the Lord that Africa would be washed in the blood of Jesus and that the continent will be saved.

Throughout his years in ministry, Bonnke and his Christ for all Nations Ministry, is believed to have preached to over 120 million people and led some 72 million to Christ.

Recently Bonnke felt that it was time to pass the baton to the younger generation, and Daniel Kolenda, a fifth generation preacher from Florida, was made the President of Christ for all Nations. To find out more about the future plans of CFN, AriseNow met up with Kolenda in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia where he attended the 23rd Pentecostal World Conference last August.

When we met him he had just arrived from Dar es Salam, Tanzania where he had been preaching to hundreds of thousands of people all hungry to hear the word of God.

Daniel Kolenda 6 AriseNow

Can you tell us a little about your last meeting campaign in Tanzania?

“We were there for five days for a crusade where we pulled together hundreds of churches right there in the capital, in the city of Dar es Salam. It is very simple what we do, we preach the gospel and we pray for the sick and proclaim the name of Jesus. So that’s what we did for the four nights of the evangelistic crusade. During the last day we taught the local pastors and the church workers how to continue the work once we had left.

“We saw many wonderful miracles, and the whole thing was broadcast live on television and radio, so people were saved and healed even in their homes. We heard amazing testimonies. Afterwards, one of the pastors came to me saying that he had counted 3900 people who had been saved in the crusade, and who ended up in his church with a follow up booklet.”

How do you take care of the harvest? Can you tell us a bit about what happens during the follow up, after the people have accepted Jesus in to their hearts?

“Jesus did not only say, go and make converts, he said go and make disciples. So we want the people to connect to the local churches. We do our part, and we invest large parts of our budget into the follow up system, that is very important to us.

“As soon as a person accepts Christ, a counselor comes to them, hands them a form and prays with them.

They fill out their names, phone number and email and immediately we have hundreds of volunteer workers in a tent entering information into computers. This information is thereafter sent off to local pastors.

everywhere. I travel about three weeks a month, doing ministry all over, but Africa does have a special place in my heart. I was called to Africa when I was seven years old, and it will always be that way.”

You are one of the speakers at the Pentecostal World Conference, what is your take on this conference?

“This is a gathering of the most influential people in the Pentecostal movement, so it’s very critical. I feel that the Pentecostal movement is at a strategic point in history. Whether we will become like so many other movements, become more like a monument, or whether we will go to the next level. So it’s important; there is a lot at stake all over the world.”

If you could send a message to the young adults around the world, what would that be?

“When I was 16 I had a radical encounter with the Holy Spirit which changed my life, and that’s when I started doing what I am doing today. I started preaching on the streets, I started going to the parks, I started doing revival meetings, and little evangelistic meetings.

“I think a lot of teenagers don’t realize how much God really wants to use them, and can use them. They don’t have to be old. Even while they are young they can make a mighty impact on the world.

“Teenagers have a built in desire to be rebellious. It’s part of the growth process I think, breaking away from what you are familiar with and what has been forced on you, becoming your own person; its part of the natural growing up phase. So to be rebellious, they paint their hair and they pierce their bodies – but that’s not rebellious, that’s just what all the other kids are doing. A real rebel goes against the flow, and if you want to go against the flow, preach Jesus, stand up for Jesus, stand up for righteousness. Preach the gospel; people will notice you and you will make a difference.”

“Teenagers have a built in desire to be rebellious. It’s part of the growth process I think, breaking away from what you are familiar with and what has been forced on you, becoming your own person”

“We also train and equip the pastors as we depend on them to do the work. Just to give you an idea of how sophisticated it is; if a person receives Christ in a meeting, by the time they are on their way home they have already received a text message on their phone telling them where they can go to church on Sunday. We have done everything we can, from a technological, equipping and manpower perspective.

“At the end of the day we need the church to come in and do their part. We are only one part of the five fold: 20 percent.

We are the evangelists so we need the pastors, the teachers and the prophets and the apostles to come and take the fruit in to the barns.”

Are you only active in Africa?

“For the crusades it’s almost exclusively Africa, seven to eight times a year. But we travel all over the world and we do stuff www.arisegeneration.org

On the 20th of September, the Feast of Tabernacles, organized by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, will kick off: what are your expectations of this year’s feast where you will be one of the keynote speakers?

“It’s a meeting where people come from all over the world, and then they take what they have received back with them, so I am praying that the Lord uses it as a point to release a contagion in the church that will spread the fire of the Holy Spirit, and the passion for souls, that hunger for intercession. Also the support of Israel as well; we want to continue to reinforce that because there is a blessing that follows it.”

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Between the 27th to the 30th of August, Arise accompanied the Executive Director of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, Jurgen Buhler, on a ministry trip to Thailand and Malaysia. During the trip, Arise had the opportunity to speak to hundreds of young adults from mainly South East Asia but also from other corners of the world. In Bangkok, Thailand, we spoke in two different churches and informed the young adults about Arise and our ongoing work with spreading the gospel and teaching the world wide body of Christ about God’s redemptive plans for Israel.

ARISE

ON THE

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ROAD

The 23rd Pentecostal World Conference was this year, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in the newly built Calvary Convention Center, able to seat some 5000 persons. AriseNow took the opportunity to ask young people from around the world what strategies they believed would be the best in reaching out to young people across the globe with the Good News.

Josephine, 21 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Involved in the Royal Rangers Ministries “I think the most relevant way is to share the love of Christ, because nowadays people are really seeking true love and relationships, and I believe that only Christ can fill that void in young people’s hearts.

Rosette Kawere, Rwanda. Student based in Malaysia “First of all we need to come close to the young people, talk to them and become friends with them before we start to talk about Christ, that is the best way. We need to meet them where they normally hang out; in their natural environments, and from there we can move them and show them the light of the word of Jesus Christ.”

Olo Atobe 28, Nigeria “To attend seminaries. The more you attend, the more you learn.” www.arisegeneration.org

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Thailand We started in a country once known as Siam, but which in 1949 changed its name to Thailand. Thailand literally means the land of the free, but despite its name it is estimated that only 0,7 percent of the country’s population are Christians, with the majority of the population belonging to Buddhism. Large statues of Buddha and food sacrifices can therefore be seen all across Thailand.

Despite the majority of the country being Buddhist, there is still a feeling of revival hanging in the air among the small but powerful Christian population, and many people have in the last years left Buddha in favor of Christ.

During our visit we were mainly situated in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, with the Praise Church as our head quarters.

But we also visited the Assemblies of God, while on the last day we travelled to a conference organised by The Kingdom of Glory Chantori Church, some 2 hours’ from Bangkok. In this church, 90 percent of the 450 members were believed to be under the age of 30.

During the meetings, information about ICEJ’s work in Thailand was presented by the ICEJ Branch Thai director, and Jurgen spoke several messages about the one new man and the importance of Israel from a biblical perspective. We also met with the Israeli ambassador Simon Roded where discussions of how to raise awareness of the Holocaust among the people of Thailand and the dangers of genocide, were on the agenda.

nowned book, the Start Up Nation, had been translated into Thai, which caused the ICEJ Thailand administrators to sign up people interested in attending the book launch.

“We need to tell the youth about the plan of God for Israel, and how to be more like Jesus”

As the horrible history of the Holocaust, or genocide in general, aren’t taught in the schools of Thailand, the discussion evolved around how ICEJ Thailand could organize gatherings to teach the public about this dark chapter of humanity so that future genocides won’t be repeated. The genocide in Cambodia, the killing fields which lead to the death of over two million and which took place in the immediate neighborhood of Thailand, is not even taught in the country’s school system.

During the stay it also came to light that Saul Singer’s re10 AriseNow

Another interesting meeting took place in the Emporium Suites hotel in downtown Bangkok, where Jurgen briefed Christian businessmen from Thailand about the history of Israel and, in particular, the country as a startup nation. During the meeting we had the opportunity to discuss Thailand from the perspective of young Christian professionals together with Trinupab Jiratritarn a.k.a Jedi. He explained that the youth of Thailand are very similar to other young people around the world. They like to go to the movies and hang out in coffee shops, etc. But when it comes to challenges facing young Christian men and women in Thailand, the ever increasing materialistic society is one of the greatest and most acute challenges. “Sometimes one can feel alone as there aren’t many Christians in the country, and many also look upon us Christians as boring,” he continued, adding that Thailand also is suffering from problems such as an ever grow-

ICEJ Executive Director and Arise Media Strategist Emanuel Mfoukou enjoying their time in a Thai Church.

In this church, 90 percent of the 450 members were believed to be under the age of 30.

ing sex industry, not to mention the issue of transsexuality. And according to Jedi, information which was confirmed by several pastors, it happens that young men who have changed their gender come to church, repent and give their lives to the Lord.

We also had the opportunity to visit a well-known Christian owned restaurant, Yod Lard Ped Udon, and both taste their Thai specialties as well as pray with their young owners.

Thananiti Na Nongkhai, one of the owners, converted to Christianity several years ago as he married a Christian woman, and since then he is praying for the peace of Jerusalem on a daily basis. He proudly revealed that he already had been to Israel once before and that he soon will go back again.

Emanuel Mfoukou is the Media Strategist for Arise and he travels worldwide to minister and get the best stories to be told for the body of Christ.

One of Bangkok’s youth leaders with a burning passion for Christ and the importance of Israel was Chaiapat Ditjaroen, pastor of Heart of Christ Church. He told AriseNow that he regularly is teaching his congregation about Israel. “We need to tell the youth about the plan of God for Israel, and how to be more like Jesus,” Chaiapat said, and he used a verse from Revelation 22:16 to show that Jesus even in his resurrected and ascended form is a Jew. “If you skip the Jew, you will not understand who Jesus is,” he added.

“I want Thai youth to make an impact in the world for Jesus Christ, and I want to see them grow up and become successful, I want them to be the salt and the light for the nation.”

Another young adult, Ball, a fourth generation Christian and one of the worship leaders of Praise Church, revealed that his wife had just left the church to find out if they would get access to money that would enable them to attend the 2013 Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. • www.arisegeneration.org

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CORNER We anticipated it for months, prepared diligently, praying to God to show up, hoping that we didn’t forget anything important. And then it was here and over in what seemed like a moment. ‘We’, that’s the staff of the ICEJ. ‘It’, is our annual Feast of Tabernacles conference.

We had seven people in the Arise Feast tour and God showed up indeed. He spoke into the lives of each one of them giving them new directions, callings, and confirmations. He encouraged them to live fully for Him, showed them areas in their lives where they need to work on, and created a group of young people which is committed to stand and pray with eachother beyond this nine days in Israel.

What a blessing it was to witness this. I had the privilege to spend most of the time with the participants, to get to know them and to hear and see what Jesus was doing in their hearts. This conference was special; the Holy Spirit touched many lives through the different speakers in the morning seminars and the worship and prayer times in the evening celebrations. Myself included. It was a refreshing but also a very emotional week for me. I would like to share with you one of the many things I’ve learned.

Most of my life I have struggled with the thought that I don’t have a testimony, at least not an interesting one. My parents are believers and I gave my life to Jesus at a young age. I went to Sunday school, the kid’s club, attended summer camps and I’ve been walking with Him ever since. Sure, I do have my ups and downs, my insecurities, and times of struggles, times when I was wondering where He is or if He really knows what’s best for me. And God always helped me through. But when it came to telling my story, I didn’t have this great testimony of how Jesus saved me out of a meaningless life, or out of drugs and near death.

There is no miraculous healing from illness or a complete turnaround of lifestyle. It’s just my simple life. I don’t have much to give to others, something where they could see God. Well, that’s what I thought.

But that first night of the conference, down at the shores of the Dead Sea, when Suzette Hattingh was preaching the Word of God under the starry sky with the full moon in the back of the stage, Jesus showed me something I wasn’t aware of. I don’t remember if it was something Suzette mentioned or simply the Holy Spirit working in my heart. It’s not about me and what I can give others: it’s all about Him and what He can do through me.

Just the fact that I grew up in a sheltered life and that God kept me from many harmful and wrong ways is a miracle. And it’s a testimony, a powerful one. God is able to keep me – and you – whole and safe. All we need is to show Him to the people, we can’t give anything from ourselves anyway. It’s Him we need and it’s Him we have to share. And in this way you can be a testimony of His love to those who are lost and broken, even when you have never experienced what they are going through. So I praise Jesus for what He revealed to me and I pray that this is an encouragement for you as well. •

www.arisegeneration.org

Bible passage “So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.” Romans 8:6 Many of my friends and family have experienced a variety of upheavals over the past little while…a death in the family, job insecurity, health issues. The youth I know are also not immune to stress and upset. Many struggle with depression, heartache, relationships and schoolrelated challenges such as assignment deadlines and exams. For any of you who are feeling the “weight of the world” on your shoulders… cast your care upon the One Whose shoulders are big enough to carry the burden for you!

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HARV FEAST of TABERNACLES PRESENTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN EMBASSY JERUSALEM

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VEST

L A I C E P S REPORT

On the 30th of July 1980 the Jerusalem law declared the city to be the capital of Israel, and the seat of the President, the government, the parliament and the Supreme Court. As a result the embassies of the world that prior to this date had been based in Jerusalem decided to move to Tel Aviv. As the embassies left, a group of Christians decided to create a “Christian Embassy,� the ICEJ.

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Today the Embassy is carrying out various projects in order to support Israel and its people, and in order to carry out its work the embassy is divided in different departments, of which Arise, the young adult department is one of them.

The objective of Arise is to spread the gospel of Christ to the uttermost parts of the world, and to teach young adults around the world about the importance of Israel and the Jewish people from a biblical perspective. In order to do so Arise is engaged in worldwide speaking tours, as well as producing a weekly radio show, AriseBase, and a quarterly magazine AriseNow. We are also offering yearly tours to Israel, such as the Arise Summer tour which throughout the years has brought thousands of people interested in walking in the footsteps of Jesus.

For more information about Arise, visit our website on www. arisegeneration.org or like us on face book.

What is the Feast of Tabernacle?

Since the 80’s the Christian Embassy has brought Christians from around the world to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, and this year was no exception with more than 3500 pilgrims from over 70 nations coming up to Jerusalem to celebrate the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ.

The Feast of Tabernacles is one of the seven biblical Feasts described in the bible as well as one of the three mandatory feast where Jewish males were commanded to go up to Jerusalem for a pilgrimage. The first mandatory feast was Passover, the second one Shavuot or Pentecost, described in the book of Acts, and finally we have Sukkot, or the Feast of Tabernacles or ingathering as it also is called.

The Feast of Tabernacles is the last of the biblical feasts and is known to be a joyous celebration. Prior to sukkot we have Yom Kippur (redemption) and the Jewish New year, Rosh Hashana (repentance).

Sukkot is celebrated from the 15th to the 22nd of the month of Tishri as commanded in the bible. Lev 23:34, “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, on the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the Feast of Booths to the LORD.” During this feast one is able to see huts constructed in order to remember the shelters the Israelites stayed in during their 40 years journey towards the Promised Land. The Feast of tabernacles is a time to rejoice and according to Deuteronomy 16:14-15 we are commanded to celebrate it.

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In the book of Acts we can read about how people from all nations were present when the Holy Spirit fell on the Upper Room. In a similar manner, people from all nations were present at the Binyenei HaUma (Buildings of the nation) during the Feast of Tabernacles 2013. Here is some of what the pilgrims had to say about Israel and the Feast.

Christabelle, 22, Canada This year’s Feast has been really great, and I can tell that all the speakers have been touched by God. The messages that I have received have been really relevant to my life. I would like to encourage other young Christians from the world to come to Israel, it’s an experience that they will never forget and once they are here they would like to come back all the time.

Douglas Beven, 40. Australia This is a really awesome place. I didn’t expect to find all the 3000 year old stuff, a lot of it has been destroyed, but mate, there is so much stuff to see here and to support the Israeli people. It’s the first time for me at the Feast of Tabernacles and I love it.

Rafaela Marces Dasilva, 24, Brazil Since I was a child I learned to love Israel, so I feel home here at the Feast. To be in Israel is a big opportunity to learn about principles, family and God’s rules, and being here is the most beautiful experience of my life.

Chrystal, 19, China, Guandong province The reason why I decided to come to Israel is because I love God, and God in turn loves Israel. Many Chinese Christians are praying for Israel every day, but they really don’t know the deeper meaning of why it’s so important to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. We are trying to connect to pastors from abroad in order to get them to mainland China to preach and teach about the importance of Israel in God’s word.

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FEAST of TABERNACLES PRESENTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN EMBASSY JERUSALEM

Matin Yamouda, 24 Zimbabwe I am a first time visitor to Israel and it is so beautiful. My life will never be the same again. I have seen so many different places, and the messages that I have heard, I feel so encouraged to go on and press through. After the message tonight I feel that I can go and evangelize the whole world.

Mikko, 25, Finland It’s my second time in Israel, this conference has increased my love for God and it has really made an impact on me. I would really recommend anyone to come to the Feast of Tabernacles next year.

www.arisegeneration.org

Bethany, 20 Australia I love the conference, it’s pretty transforming, and it has impacted me a whole lot so far. I can’t wait to see what’s next in store.

Young adults should come visit next year’s feast, they will surely be empowered.

Clinton Zhen, 24, Singapore I came to Israel with my father who is an experienced traveller in Israel. The Feast of Tabernacles has been amazing and I have really been touched by the Lord through the worship. Every morning I get touched by the Lord. The messages given by the speakers have all been very edifying and given me fresh revelations from the Lord.

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WATCH Persecution In Algeria, Africa’s largest country, Islamist groups have grown in strength since the outbreak of the Arab Spring; several of these groups are monitoring the activities of the country’s churches. Since 2012 the threats against churches and believers in the country has increased.

Young adults of Algeria are faced with various challenges, such as unemployment and the search for truth, something that that Islam hasn’t been able to offer since the religion invaded Maghreb at the end of the 7th century.

Berserk Berserk Numbers > 70%

Of US teens

leave their church by the second year of college.

> 60

Million

child labourers in India.

>19202

Abortions

done in the State of Israel in 2011.

Today an increasing number of young Algerians are being touched by the gospel. The strength of these young Christians rests in the conviction that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. Many new converts are persecuted by their family members, while others are hiding their faith for the fear of rejection.

Believers in Algeria have one desire, and that is to be allowed to be both Christian and Algerian free of expressing their belief in Jesus Christ, in their own country. They are looking forward to a prosperous Algeria where God, both spiritually and naturally will turn the deserts into pools of water. According to a report from Open Doors, Algeria has not registered any new churches since 2008, and it is therefore important that we come together to pray for the Algerian church. •

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> 3.5

Million Tourist

came to Israel in 2012. The resilience of the Israeli tourism industry is all the more remarkable, given a whopping 82% decrease in visitors entering on day-trips from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, as a result of ongoing clashes there between government forces and armed Islamist groups.

> 12800

rockets

and mortars, an average of 3 attacks every single day, have landed in Israel since 2001.

COMING 10-14 OCTOBER 2014

FEAST of TABERNACLES PRESENTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN EMBASSY JERUSALEM

www.arisegeneration.org

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Why does God allow evil?

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, evil is defined as something which is morally reprehensible, sinful or wicked. It arises from actual or imputed bad character or conduct.

The concept of evil, this form of profound and often incomprehensible immorality, has been a topic that has puzzled theologians and philosophers for centuries. Both Socrates and Plato were concerned with evil, and later Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Immanuel Kant, David Hume, Luther and Calvin were occupied with trying to explain the concept of evil.

The renowned 18th century Reverend and scholar Thomas Malthus, today often quoted in issues relating to population growth and scarcity of resources, wrote in one of his works, “An Essay on the Principle of Population,” that “evil exists to spur human creativity and production. Without evil or the necessity of strife mankind would have remained in a savage state since all amenities would be provided for.”

Another renowned scholar was Hanna Arendt, a German born Jew who during the Second World War took refuge in the United States. Much of her work focused on evil and from an academic standpoint she was trying to trace the very roots of evil. In her first book, The Origins of Totalitarianism, she seeks to find the root cause of Stalin’s Communism as well as Hitler’s Nazism.

In another of her works, Eichman in Jerusalem; A Report on the Banality of Evil, she tries to explain evil by studying Adolf Eichman. It was in this book she for the first time coined the term which she would be known for, the banality of evil.

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”God al people m

Eichman was a German Nazi SS officer who during the Holocaust was in charge of the transportation of the Jewish population to the death camps in the occupied Poland. After the war Eichman fled to Argentina, but was eventually tracked down by Israeli security agents who transferred him to Israel where he faced trial for his crimes. During the trial when asked why he carried out such heinous acts, he responded that he just had been following orders. Arendt who followed the trial picked up on this statement and claimed that Eichman was the embodiment of the banality of evil.

With the banality of evil she meant that the evils committed by mankind during the Holocaust were not carried out by fanatics but rather by normal people who followed the orders of the state.

Her theory on the banality of evil has even caused professors, such as Stanley Miligram from Yale University, to try to figure out through human experiments in laboratories if Eichman and millions of his henchmen in the Holocaust were evil by nature or if they were, as Eichman said, just following orders.

The concept of evil has therefore been studied and researched by disciplines covering the whole spectrum, from theologians, philosophers to politicians and experiments in laboratories.

Despite all efforts made to explain evil we have not yet found a definitive answer to why evil exists or to why God allows it.

The renowned pastor and Christian writer R.T Kendall, who once had the opportunity to present the gospel of Christ to the now late leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, Yasser Arafat, has in one of his books, Why Did Jesus Die, asked himself why an omnipotent and kind God does allow evil and suffering? Kendall claims that the answer to what he calls the world’s oldest philosophical question is hidden in the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead.

llows evil so that might have faith” www.arisegeneration.org

When Mary and Martha sent a word to Jesus that Lazarus was dying, they assumed that Jesus immediately would rush off to heal him, but he didn’t. They assumed that God who loves all would do all in his power to immediately heal him, but instead he tarried until Lazarus died. How could Jesus allow this?

In John 11:14-15, Jesus gives us the answer: 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

Kendall therefore claims that God allows evil so that people might have faith, and continues to say that, “if you and I had the answer to this immortal question, why does God allow evil?, we would never ever need faith!” What makes faith a possibility is that you don’t know the answer to this ancient question. Be glad that you don’t know why God allows evil and suffering so that you qualify for faith,” Kendall concluded. •

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This article was first published in Wayne Hilsden’s Blog

EVIL

When can turn into something

GOOD Ann Hilsden | Photography Pond5

On the first Sunday in July 1995, something unthinkable happened in Israel. A raging fire consumed an estimated two million trees. Hand planted trees!

About 2,500 acres of land were left charred and barren. Several communities were evacuated while hundreds of firefighters bravely battled the flames in high summer temperatures, and planes and military helicopters sprayed chemicals from the air.

The ashes were landing on my balcony that day, though our home was at least 25 kilometers away from the forest. Roads into Jerusalem were closed and our speaker for that evening service at King of Kings Community Jerusalem was not able to arrive. We all prayed.

Only weeks earlier I had traveled past that forest, headed west in the afternoon, and marveled at the beauty of the trees through the sunlight. This was a heartbreaking day for a land that treasures its trees.

I now know that many of the pines that burned that day had been among the earliest planted. They had been fast to grow but had a short life span, and had probably lived it out by then.

Researchers are now saying that fires are not necessarily bad, but can be a natural part of a forest ecosystem. Para-

I would prefer a baptism in fire from Yeshua now, than have to undergo a worse burning later. sites and pests die, piles of turpentine-producing needles and cones burn off, giving the soil a chance to regain its pH balance.

Today, 17 years later, the Jerusalem Forest is again beautiful.

But now there are trees and plants that could not grow there before. This forest will be a stronger one, for it is planted in soil cleansed and renewed by the fire. Even the rainfall in the area has greatly increased over the years because of surrounding growth.

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Have you been hit with a devastating tragedy? Does it seem like a loss that can never be redeemed? The story is not over when the ashes still smell and the soot is still flying through the air.

God’s fire is painful but not cruel. Only for the rebellious does His fire consume and destroy, but if you are His, you will come through better, stronger and more luxuriant.

Some theologians deny that God would treat His own with fire. They insist that only those who rebel and reject God are subject to His fire.

Read Zachariah 13:9. Here we see God refining His remnant people for His glory. Hear what He says! “They will call upon my name and I will answer them. I will say ‘They are my people’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’”

Ann Hilsden contributes to creative arts, special events, the Yuval School of Music and the Arts, and writing for publications. She is also the wife of Pastor Wayne Hilsden from King of Kings Community based in Jerusalem.

I would prefer a baptism in fire from Yeshua now, than have to undergo a worse burning later. I pray for him to burn away the chaff and every harmful element from my heart; to bring me out of the fire with a tender and pure heart, ready for a new season of growth and wholeness. •

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Auschwitz Auschwitz Auschwitz

The Door of No Return and the Tower of Evil Emanuel Mfoukou | Photography Jani Salokangas

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Cocentration Camp Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp (German: Konzentrationslager Auschwitz) was a network of concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II. It consisted of Auschwitz I (the base camp); Auschwitz II–Birkenau (the extermination camp); Auschwitz III–Monowitz (a labor camp to staff an IG Farben factory), and 45 satellite camps.

1.1 MILLION VICTIMS • 960,000 JEWS, • 70,000 AND 75,000 POLES • 23,000 GYPSIES AND • 15,000 SOVIET PRISONERS OF WAR

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In April during an Arise speaking tour to Poland, the Arise Director, Jani Salokangas, together with his colleague, Emanuel Mfoukou, had the opportunity to visit the gruesome and terrifying death camps of Auschwitz and Auschwitz II-Birkenau.

The camp of Auschwitz was established in 1940 to hold political prisoners from Poland. As the Nazis enlarged their evil activities, the camp developed into the most renowned site for the extermination of Jews from across Europe. In 1941 the first Jews were killed, and from 1941 to 1945 it is believed that 1,1 to 1,5 million Jews perished in this murderous death camp.

During the three and a half hour visit, we were taken back into history; to a time without morals, and a time where ultimate racism, hate and greed flourished. The guided tour led us into buildings whose walls have seen the most gruesome of things. Even though seventy years have passed by, the evil deeds and the monstrous acts committed by Nazi Germany are still lingering in the atmosphere.

If you have ever visited a concentration camp like Auschwitz, or one of the many slave forts still standing along the coasts of Western Africa, you would have experienced the atmosphere in such places, which is heavy loaded. Silence and uncommon despair combined with indescribable odours are still present as a result of the evil which once passed through and caused devastation in those places.

Throughout the tour we were told about the gruesome conditions of the transport used to reach Auschwitz. The people were transported in overloaded cattle rides, and depending on where one came from, the journey could take more than eight days.

During the journey one had no access to food or water, and the cattle cars didn’t contain any toilets.

The comfort was no better in the camp; we entered several buildings used as living barracks, where six people were forced to share a bed, the rooms were pitch dark, lacked electricity and in the winter were freezing cold. According to Auschwitz Birkenau’s guide book, the daily food portions were scarce, and for breakfast they were offered half a liter of coffee, while dinner consisted of meatless soup, often cooked with rotten vegetables. The last meal of the day, supper, was made up of 300g of black clayey bread, 30g of margarine and 20g of sausage and herbal tea or something looking like coffee.

The tour further led us through rooms where one was able to see the private belongings of the people who had been transported to Auschwitz. In one room we saw tens of thousands of reading glasses of all shapes and forms, while another room contained an uncountable amount of prosthesis such as legs, crutches and back supports.

A third room contained thousands of suitcases, and on many, one could still read the name of the owner; Frans Engel, Else Meier, Anna Kraus.

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“During the journey one had no access to food or water, and the cattle cars didn’t contain any toilets.”

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Further down the hall we found a room containing more than 80 000 shoes of different styles and colors, while the most gruesome room was one filled with two tons of human hair. The guide explained that prior to entering the gas chambers the hair was shaven off and later used for the German textile industry to create covers and rough work clothes.

One of the buildings which really aroused our feelings was the gas chambers and the neighboring crematoriums. Here we were shown where people undressed before execution and where they entered for a certain death. Today the atmosphere in the gas chambers is cold and damp, and in the ceiling one can still see the opening where the Zyklon B gas was entered.

Thousands of people of all ages died in these chambers and the guide revealed that usually 2000 people were killed at the same time. The death was one of the hardest imaginable. It was a slow one which eventually led to suffocation, and it could take up to 15 minutes before death occurred. Next to the gas chambers were crematoriums where the bodies were burned, and it normally took two days to clear the chambers from dead bodies, before they could be used again. The gas chambers were the most common reason for death, but many also died as a result of executions, starvation, forced labor or medical experiments.

At the end of the tour everyone in our group was affected, and some could not hold back their tears as the story of these terrible crimes was unfolded.

AriseNow asked one of the participants, Phil, a PHD student from the UK and a first time visitor to Auschwitz, what he felt at the end of the visit.

“I can’t put my feelings into words at the moment. It’s surreal to think that this horrible thing really took place, it’s crazy,” he explained. “Auschwitz was definitely on the list of things to do. I have been to Cambodia, to the killing fields, and that was pretty powerful, but this is also in a different way very powerful.

I work in the area of peace and conflict myself, and I think it’s really important to learn from the past, and from what really took place here in Auschwitz,” he continued.

Many parallels can actually be drawn between the African slave trade and the Holocaust, and one of them is known as the door of no return. In the African slave forts, when one passed through the door of no return and into the slave ships, one stepped into an unknown future which meant separation from family and friends, while for others it meant death or forced labour. The door of no return is also to be found in Auschwitz, and through this door, which is also called the tower of evil, thousands of trains passed through with hundreds of thousands of people destined for forced labour or certain death.

In conclusion, one can’t help but think back to the cold stony staircases leading up to the rooms filled with hair, shoes and reading glasses, once belonging to someone’s child, mother or father. These stairs have, throughout the years, been worn out as a result of the millions of feet which have left an impression since Auschwitz became a museum. Feet from all over the world have walked up and down these stairs in order to understand and be reminded of what happened during the holocaust. Yet the question remains; is our conscience as affected as the stairs? Has the information about genocides and the holocaust etched itself deep into our consciousness in the same way as the stairs? Can we say with certainty that the evil of genocide won’t ever be repeated again? •

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In 1947 Poland founded a museum on the site

The international Holocaust Remembrance Day is commemorated on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on the 27 of January 1945. www.arisegeneration.org

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1 IN 6 JEWS

killed during the Holocaust died in Auschwitz.

Auschwitz camp is situated in a Polish city called Oswiecim, located some 50 kilometers west of Krakow. Oswiecim changed name to Auschwitz in 1939 when the city became incorporated in the Third Reich. After the liberation in 1945, the town once again became Oswiecim.

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During the Holocaust, Zyklon B was used by Nazi Germany to poison prisoners in the gas chambers of the extermination camps AuschwitzBirkenau, and Majdanek, and in Sachsenhausen concentration camp; most of the victims were Jews and Poles.

The chemical was deliberately made without a warning odorant.

At the liberation of Auschwitz, 7000 people were freed, some weighed

23 kilos www.arisegeneration.org

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I will take you from the nations a the countries and bring you into

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and gather you from all o your own land. Ezekiel 36:24

Arise Media Strategist Emanuel Mfoukou and Arise International Director Jani Salokangas visiting Auschwitzs II Birkenau. “This place is a great example of destruction and evil. But also a great example of what God has set to be, nobody can destroy.

His people are the apple of God’s eye” said Jani.

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GENOCIDE EXPLAINED

Winston Churchill once said that the world had “been brought face to face with ‘a crime that has no name.’” What he really meant was that this gruesome crime, committed by the Nazi regime, was incomprehensible, and even if this heinous type of murder in 1944 received a name, it is still impossible to understand how mankind could commit such an immoral act.

The term genocide was coined for the first time in 1944 by a Polish Jew, Raphael Lempkin. Genocide is a mixture of two words genos (Greek. family, tribe or race) and cides (Latin. Killing). According to Lempkin,“genocide signifies ‘the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group,” and in an interview from the 40’s he stated that he became interested in genocide because it had happened so many times; “it happened to the Armenians and after the Armenians Hitler took action.”

On the 9th of December 1948 the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. Article two lays out the framework for what genocide legally constitutes: ...any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

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The term genocide might be a modern invention, but the actual concept of genocide goes back to time immemorial, with both the African slave trade and the eradication of the American Indians as two examples of crimes which according to article two could be classified as genocides.

Some scholars claim that the 20th century was the bloodiest one in the history of mankind, with several crimes similar to genocide according to the framework laid out by the United Nations. The first genocide of the 20th century is often believed to be the Herero and Namaqua genocide in what was then the German South West Africa, today’s Namibia. This genocide started in 1904 and went on for three years with an expected 100 000 people dead. Many of the strategies used in Namibia such as concentration camps and branding of the prisoners were later to be used by the Nazis.

Furthermore we have the Armenian genocide with over 1.5 million victims not to mention the Holocaust which led to the death of six million Jews. In the 1994 genocide in Rwanda between 500 000 to one million people perished.

Mass murder also took place in Pol Pot’s Cambodia, in the so called killing fields which led to the death of 1.7 to 2.5 million people, while Indonesia saw the death of 500 000 people. In the meantime, both Stalin and Mao were responsible for the killing of millions of people.

George Santayana, a Spanish-American philosopher and novelist, once said that “those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” What he said should be mandatory knowledge for all. It is crucial, especially for the body of Christ, to learn from history and pass those lessons on to the next generation. If the world had been more alert and had learnt from history, the genocide in Rwanda could have been avoided. But as humanity hadn’t yet learnt from history, it repeated itself, and will most probably happen again if we don’t spread the knowledge about this form of ultimate evil.

As Christians we are supposed to be the light and the salt of the world. The substance of both light and salt has a purpose. God didn’t put them in the Word for poetic reason, but because they have a function. Edmund Burke once said that, “all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” The question is who are these good men who are doing nothing? Do they know what it means to be salt and light?

Today we no longer have time to act like Christians from the Laodicean church. We need to spread the word about the dangers of genocide; we cannot forget what happened in the Holocaust or in Rwanda or Cambodia and so on. We need to educate the upcoming generation so that this kind of evil won’t take place again. It is up to us as believers in Jesus to figure out what really hides behind the meaning of truly being the salt and the light. •

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WE CANNOT

FORGET

Dr. Susanna Kokkonen | Photography Jani Salokangas

Picture from the “Gate of no return” at Auschwitz Birkenau

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“Our town is burning, brothers, burning Our poor little town is burning.

Angry winds are fanning higher The leaping tongues of flame and fire, The evil winds are roaring!

Our whole town burns!

And you stand looking on with folded arms, And shake your heads.

You stand looking on, with folded arms, While the fire spreads!”

These words by the Yiddish poet Mordechai Gebirtig were written in 1938 whilst he was witnessing a pogrom. His words were prophetic, as they were written before the Holocaust. Germany attacked Poland in September 1939. Jews were taken to the ghettoes and then to camps. As the time came, many Gentile neighbors stood looking on and the poet was murdered in the Krakow ghetto. Today, so many years later, his words speak directly to me, as if they were written only to me.

During the critical years of the mass murder of the European Jewry there were very few Righteous Gentiles; non-Jews, who chose to hide Jews or in other ways resist the Nazis. The Christian world did not respond appropriately to what was happening in its midst. It is then our duty to keep asking what are the moral and ethical implications of the Holocaust to us as Christians today? Are the precedents of the Holocaust valid to us and future generations? Did the Holocaust survivors bring us a message? What is the message they speak to you?

Learning the lessons of the Holocaust means active remembering. From remembering comes a command to transmit a clear message. “Who will bear witness to the witness”, as a survivor Paul Celan asked. We need to be the witnesses bearing the legacy of the survivors. The lessons to be drawn from the Holocaust are universal despite its unique Jewish dimension.

In addition to the absolute command to remember and commemorate, which we all share, the lessons of the Holocaust do include action. The important memorizing of the history has to be converted into meaningful action so that generations to come, across cultures and religions, will be able to stand up to hatred today.

Remaining silent means lending a hand to the evil going on around us. If we do not speak about the Holocaust and teach its facts, Holocaust deniers gain legitimacy because of common ignorance. Remaining silent was something that most people chose to do during the Holocaust and we cannot afford to repeat that. That is why we will keep remembering, learning and teaching. The Bible says “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him”. We are equal and that means sharing an equal responsibility. It is the age old human responsibility to be counted, to stand up and speak for the values we hold dear.

When most of the Gentile world consisted of mere bystanders, few chose to be rescuers, and therefore, their deeds are truly outstanding. This is a message that is relevant to the people in our churches and communities because through the stories of the rescuers we are reminded of our values. Do the younger people at churches know that even in times of crisis we have an ability to act upon moral precepts? Or do you know that religious lifestyle does not guarantee righteous actions under tyranny? These questions are universal and important and Yad Vashem is the place where we must ask them. Making a commitment is always voluntary, but anyone who chooses to become part of our activities is part of a miracle of Jewish-Christian relations. We have a common fight against anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial and silence. •

“Don’t look on with folded arms, And shake your heads.

Don’t look on with folded arms While the fire spreads!”

Dr. Susanna Kokkonen, Director, Christian Friends of Yad Vashem

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YOSEF My testimony Some six million human beings, all with feelings, dreams and hopes. Six million human beings who liked to laugh, joke and offer comfort in times of trouble were brutally slaughtered during the Holocaust in the many Nazi camps across Europe. Many of the victims were children – children who desired love and comfort from their parents – but during these brutal years were abandoned. In many cases they were forcefully separated from their parents; hungry, thirsty, afraid, tired and alone.

More than one million children were killed during the Holocaust. One of the children that was to survive, but who had to suffer tremendously during the Nazi regime, was Yosef Aron.

Last July, AriseNow sat down with Yosef to hear his story of how it was to grow up as a child during the Holocaust.

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Yosef was born in Germany in 1935 and was one of 11 children. His father was living in Holland, and so Yosef’s mother was forced to raise the children as a single mother. In the beginning of the Second World War, some people came to his mother and offered to take two of her children to France in order to release her burden. “It came to pass that my sister and I left for France, and that was the last time I saw my mother and my siblings as they all were to die in the terrifying death chambers of Auschwitz.”

Yosef was to spend two years in a children’s home in Lyon, France. He recalls with anxiety in his voice how one morning a group of soldiers came with cars and barking dogs forcing him and his friends out from their home and to the local train station. As they were not given time to dress, many of the children were taken as they were, including Yosef who was dressed in his pajamas and without shoes. Thereafter they were forced into train wagons, with hundreds of people crammed in to a single wagon for a period of two to three days until they had reached their final destination.

“When the train finally stopped, the Nazi’s screamed, out Jews out Jews, and they were beating us. I remember that we were exhausted and tired as we hadn’t been given food or water for three days. The journey was so hard that some 20 people perished. Afterwards, it was we, the children who had to take care of the dead bodies and dig graves for them.”

Eventually Yosef, who was six years old at the time, ended up in the Bergen Belsen concentration camp, situated in the north western parts of Germany.

He explains how he was separated from his sister and that he had to stay alone, without any of his family members. The food was scarce and the only thing offered after a long day of work was soup. “Everyone was very hungry, and we had to eat very fast otherwise someone would come and take the soup away from you.”

“One evening as we came back from work I found a potato on the ground, and as I was hungry I picked it up to eat it. An SS man managed to see me and asked what I had in my hand.

He removed the potato and told me that that kind of food was not for Jews. So they took me away and said that they would kill me, and threatened me with a knife to my throat for 4-5 minutes. Thereafter they laid me on a bed and pulled out my toe nail. I cried and I cried. I am unable to tell you how painful it was. The next morning, despite my pain I was forced to go to work in order to avoid further punishment.”

One day the Nazis came to Yosef’s barrack and commanded everyone to immediately gather at the appelplatz. “From here, me and nine other children were ordered on trains departing for a certain death in Auschwitz. But all of a sudden, a man came and told us that it is not yet time for us to die and we thought we were going to be able to go home.

You can imagine how happy we were.”

that it was a special country for the Jews. So we travelled to Marseille and for six days or so we were on the sea until we arrived to Haifa.

“Thereafter they took us to a refugee camp, where we lived for several months. My sister was taken to a kibbutz, while I ended up moving between various children homes.

“In 1949 I was taken to Jerusalem. I was given a little money, but the money finished quick, and I was forced to sleep on the streets, homeless for at least nine months with nobody to help me.” One morning, he was woken up by a very old man. The man asked him what he was doing and Yosef replied that he lived on the street. One thing led to another and this 80 year old man provided Yosef with both food and shelter.

With time he found a job in a coffee shop, and from that day God opened a new life for him.

”Thereafter they laid me on a bed and pulled out my toe nail. I cried and I cried. I am unable to tell you how painful it was.”

Instead of going home they were taken to a room where they were hanged from the ceiling for several hours. Later on that same evening, a number of soldiers came and took them down whereafter they removed their clothes. “They then put us on the floor and for three and a half hours they raped us. I can’t explain what I have gone through. We stayed there for three and a half years, and every day they raped us, morning and evening. Out of the nine children that were with me, only three survived; the rest died,” he explains with tears in his eyes.

When the English soldiers eventually came to liberate Bergen Belsen in 1945, Yosef was 10 years old and weighed 11 kilos.

Only skin and bones remained, and when he woke up he was in a hospital in Switzerland. Here he spent a year to recover and heal. “I didn’t remember my name, that I had a sister or anything from my family. I was more dead than alive.”

After some time the Red Cross came and transferred me to a family in Basel. “I was afraid for everything. I stayed in my room.

They brought food to the room and I never went outside.”

Eventually Yosef was reunited with his sister and they left for Holland. In Amsterdam, he spent around ten months before he was told to move to what was then Palestine. “I didn’t know what Palestine was or where it was, but my sister explained

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Today, Yosef is fluent in five languages – English, German, French, Dutch and Hebrew – despite that his lost childhood prevented him from going to school. He carried on working in the coffee shop saving money for a trip back to Germany, as he still hoped that some of the family would be alive. His sister insisted that no one was alive and that all 380 members of the family had perished in Auschwitz.

“Despite what my sister said, I still decided to go to Germany and look for them. So I left Israel and travelled to our old street in Frankfurt. As the streets and the surroundings looked completely different, I spent hours trying to remember how it once used to look. After a while I discovered a small house in the end of the street. Something told me to go there and knock on the door. As I did, a very old woman opened the door; she only looked in my eyes and started to cry, and asked me if I was the son of Fanny.” She revealed that she used to be a friend of Yosef’s mother, who was in her 50’s when she was taken to Auschwitz, and that his mother came to the house with photos of her family just two days before the Gestapo came and took her.

“Today these very photos are the only thing that remains from my family and my former life in Germany. These pictures I have with me every day,” Yosef concludes.

“I worked in Frankfurt in a coffee shop to make money in order to return to Israel, whereafter I returned to Jerusalem because it was now my new home.” •

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MissHolocaust On the 22nd of August, this year’s pageant for Miss Holocaust Survivor took place in Haifa at the Romema Arena, home of Maccabi Haifa, the 20122013 Israeli basketball champions. The contest which was organized by Yad Ezer L’Haver in cooperation with the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem was attended by an audience of over 2,500 holocaust survivors and their loved ones.

The event was in many ways very special, especially for the 14 contenders hailing from six different countries including Israel, who were robbed of their youth as a result of the Holocaust.

One can therefore say that the contest was an expression of life and proof that evil was unable to defeat the beautiful gift of life.

AriseNow spoke to Shoshana Kolmer, 94, who emerged as the beauty queen in Miss Holocaust Survivor 2013. Dressed in a beautiful black jacket and matching black skirt, adorned with a silver crown on her head, she savoured the moment and explained that she was overjoyed. “I am happy, I am so glad.

It is because of your help, thank you so much! I will never forget this,” she reiterated.

“I HAD TYPHUS AND PNEUMONIA BUT I STILL WORKED BECAUSE I WAS AFRAID TO GO TO THE DOCTOR. WE KNEW THAT HE WOULD SEND US STRAIGHT TO THE CREMATORIUM IF WE WERE SICK.” the most brutal of all Nazi death camps. On her left arm one is still able to see the identification number, 80277, tattooed on her skin, in addition to a triangle indicating that she was Jewish. “I was 23 years old when I went to Auschwitz” Shoshana explains, and reveals that upon her arrival, both Adolf Eichman and Josef Mengele were at the camp. “When we arrived, Mengele did the selection, sending people to the right or the left, to death or to hard work, while some girls were chosen for the pleasure of the Nazi soldiers.”

Shoshana who managed to escape death was sent to work in an ammunition factory. She recalls that during periods of sickness she still had to work. “I had typhus and pneumonia but I still worked because I was afraid to go to the doctor. We knew that he would send us straight to the crematorium if we were sick.”

Shoshana has quite a life story to tell. She was born in Czechoslovakia and together with her sister managed to survive three and a half years in Auschwitz, www.arisegeneration.org

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In 1945 when the end of the war was nearing, close to 100 000 inmates of Auschwitz were sent on death marches.

Shoshana recalls that she had to walk for four days in temperatures of minus 19 degrees Celsius with the only nourishment being the snow on the ground. “I had no coat, just a blanket wrapped around my shoulders. One of my feet was frostbitten because my shoes were not warm enough. The death march was horrible and I have never seen so many dead people in my life, the ground was covered with dead bodies.”

Today, Shoshana explains that it must have been written in heaven who should live and who should die. One year after Nazi Germany surrendered to the allied forces, Shoshana and her sister emigrated to Israel. Today she is a mother of two children and three grandchildren and revealed how she likes to sing and laugh a lot and that she is happy with her life.

With regards to her past and her gruesome time in Auschwitz, Shoshana is clear on one point. To remind the world to never forget what happened. “Study the Shoah and never forget it, pass on the information to the next generation so they never forget there was a holocaust,” Shoshana concludes.

In relation to the contest, AriseNow also spoke to Shani Hazan, the 20 year old beauty queen who won Miss Israel 2012 and who acted as one of the judges in Miss Holocaust. We started

The world is not allowed to forget, and I think we should do more. It’s extremely important to teach the younger generation about the Holocaust by asking her if she could relate to the feeling that Shoshana expressed as she was announced as the winner.

Shani confirmed that she definitely could relate to the joy and happiness felt by Shoshana and continued by talking about how her year has been since she was won the Miss Israel contest.

“I was Miss Israel 2012, and since then a lot of things have happened in my life. I have been able to get in to show business, modeling, acting and I am also a singer. The victory truly has opened up a lot of doors for me, and until now I am still working as a model for a couple of companies here in Israel. I am also a singer and song writer; I write and compose my own songs both in English and Hebrew, so maybe soon you will hear something from me,” she explains with excitement in her voice.

In relation to Miss Holocaust 2013, Shani was surprised to have participated as one of the judges. “Wow, it was amazing!

I felt really honored to be part of it and to be a judge in this competition of women who have been through so much in their lives. It was something special. It was striking to see them walk down the runway like top models. They were truly beautiful in all ways possible, and that shows that it doesn’t matter how you look from the outside, it’s the inside that matters.”

Shani further explained that as soon as she laid eyes on Shoshana, she wanted her to win: “she didn’t look nearly 94, but at least 15 years younger,” she continued. A characteristic the judges looked for in the winner was first and foremost an element of charisma. “We looked for someone who was interesting and alive with a lot of energy and magic, and Shoshana had just that. When she expresses herself she is talking like you want to listen to what she has to say, she is interesting and smart, her life story is absolutely amazing and you can listen to her for hours. Later when I was reading her full story I couldn’t help but shed a tear.”

In conclusion, and in relation to the Holocaust, we asked her what she thought were the best strategies for keeping the memories of the holocaust alive. “The world is not allowed to forget, and I think we should do more. It’s extremely important to teach the younger generation about the Holocaust and genocides in general, and we should always remind ourselves of what took place. •

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SURVIVORS

IN NUMBERS IN ISRAEL

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Today there are around 500 000 Holocaust survivors alive worldwide…

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Close to 200 000 Holocaust survivors are alive and living in Israel…

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The ICEJ is housing 50 survivors in the Haifa home for Holocaust survivors.

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The majority (88%) of Israel’s holocaust survivors alive are over the age of 75 years old.

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In 1959, the Israeli parliament, Knesset, made the Holocaust Remembrance Day,

Yom Hashoah a national holiday.

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Around 66% of all Jews living in Europe during World War II were killed by the Nazis.

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In total 11 million people perished during the Holocaust. Six million of these were

Jews while the rest were made up of Romani people, Communists, homosexuals,

disabled people and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

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