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What Holocaust Memorial Day means to me

Today we mark Holocaust Memorial Day, the day that Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated from the Nazis in 1945.

February 4, 2019 14:17
1 min read

I learned recently, that my grandad on my dad’s side was selected for India’s water polo team for the Berlin Olympics in 1936. He was not allowed to compete because it was deemed too dangerous for him to enter Hitler’s Germany as a Jew. He contested their decision, but in the end was made to stay in India and watch his teammates compete.

So, there is a little bit of legacy here for me today, as a skeleton athlete representing Israel.

In November 2018, I competed in Königssee. Some of you may know that the Eagle’s nest, Hitler’s holiday home, sits on the top of the mountain and overlooks the valley. It looks like a fortress and for me, it casts a cold, dark shadow and gives me chills looking at it.

But then I captured this moment. The Israeli flag raised, flying majestically in 2018 between the flags of our friends - right in front of the Eagle’s nest, which you can see at the top of the mountain. Year’s after Hitler tried to systematically exterminate my race because we were Jewish, I am standing there. I’m still here.