The Jewish Community Council of Victoria is calling for community members to submit photos for a special video presentation ahead of this year’s Yom Hashoah commemoration.

The theme for this year’s commemoration, to be held on May 5 at Robert Blackwood Hall, Monash University, is “We are Here”. The video presentation aims to show our community proud, strong and here – 79 years after the end of the Shoah.

Community members are invited to submit recent or historic family photos, photos of family members who survived the Holocaust, photos depicting Jewish life in Melbourne and photos that show their own Jewish pride.

“’We Are Here’ is the last line in Zog Nit Keyn Mol – the Partisan Hymn – but it is also a declaration that we will make as a community this Yom Hashoah,” said Naomi Levin, JCCV CEO.

“This special video presentation will demonstrate that nothing can destroy us, nothing can dampen our pride in being Jewish and nothing can stop us strengthening our vibrant and hopeful community.”

“We want as many photos as we can collect of our community at its strongest.”

This year’s commemoration will feature musical performances by The Bashevis Singers, Freydi Mrocki and Tomi Kalinski and Hilla Inbar. Jewish school students, Jewish youth movement members, Holocaust survivors and their families will all play vital roles in helping us to reflect on the Holocaust, pray for those murdered and pay tribute to the survivors.

“This year, more than others, we understand that we cannot take our community for granted. The Yom Hashoah commemoration is an opportunity for us to gather together, to continue to bear witness to the Shoah, and to reiterate our hope for a better future.”