ORT students recite Zog Nit Keynmol for Holocaust Remembrance Day

“This is the first time I’ve read or heard the poetry of someone from that time. It’s hard for me to imagine how he could have found the time or energy to be creative in those circumstances, but he did. And his verses are very powerful and life-affirming,” Maryusya said.

World ORT supports an initiative by Eli Rabinowitz to promote Zog nit Keynmol to new generations. Learning the lyrics, Maryusya said, had made her think about the Holocaust and its lessons for humanity.

“We have to learn that a person must not be humiliated or destroyed because of their ethnicity, faith or politics,” she said. “We can’t expect everyone to be a saint but the more we protect each other, the more tolerant we are, the stronger humanity will become. The alternative is extinction.”