Nazi camp clip combats Shoah denial
Powerful video filmed in former concentration camps in Poland aims to teach non-Jewish children about one of darkest episodes in history of mankind
VIDEO - Seventy years ago, no one at the Majdanek concentration camp would have imagined that one day Jews would film a music video at the place where masses were systematically and brutally murdered.
The song, "Rainbow in the Night," performed by Cantor Yaakov Lemmer, has been distributed ahead of International Holocaust Day, which was marked Friday. It speaks of hope and the Jewish people's victory in continuing to exist in the 21st century.
The clip is part of a campaign targeting non-Jewish children in the United States, aiming to teach them about one of the darkest episodes in history.
"There is an entire generation, a new generation, growing up in the fast world, where something new happens every single moment," says the person behind the project, Danny Finkleman, an Orthodox Jew from Manhattan Beach.
"This young generation doesn't have the patience to learn about the Holocaust. For us it's an inseparable part of Jewish history; for them it's just another black-and-white encyclopedia entry.
"The campaign aims to target young people's world – a five-minute video focusing on the shocking horror, alongside the Jewish faith and courage which did not cease for one minute, even when the worst happened.
"More than 70 years have passed since World War II, and as time goes by, the number of people who survived the horror is getting smaller. As the voice of the survivors fades, the voice of Holocaust deniers grows stronger."
Most of the clip was short at former Nazi concentration camps in Poland and, for the first time, within Majdanek.
"We had to go through a difficult journey to receive the permit to shoot in Majdanek," says Finkleman. "It was important for us to be in that place rather than start building a production. Authenticity has a central and influential part in conveying messages."
The video ends with a scene showing Jewish children living in New York, raising their hands to the sky and smiling.
Finkleman explains, "The display of Jewish children, with the skullcap on their heads, was aimed at illustrating the Jewish people's victory over Hitler, while stressing the danger of assimilation in the Jewish people."
