Wednesday 12 February 2014

Amir Benayoun's Song for International Holocaust Day

On 27 January 2014, the largest ever delegation of Knesset (Israeli Parliament) members traveled together with Holocaust survivors to the grounds of Auschwitz-Birkenau camp.

Popular Israeli musician, Amir Benayoun composed a song (see video below) to Moshe Klugheft's lyrics specifically for  the commemoration ceremony on International Holocaust Memorial Day 2014.

The historic gathering, focused on combating anti-Semitism, was held in honor of the six million Jews who perished during the Holocaust. This year, 2014 marks the 69th Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau by the Allied troops in 1945.

The Israeli delegation included over sixty Members of Knesset~each one accompanied by a Holocaust survivor. The delegation also included senior representatives of the Israel Defense Forces, the Chief Rabbis of the State of Israel and representatives of various student groups, signifying the living link between the past and the future. Anti-Semitism is not just a Jewish or Israeli issue, but a global struggle, as was demonstrated by the large number of elected officials and Parliamentarians from around the world, including Europe, and a senior bi-partisan group of leaders from the US Congress. 

Jonny Daniels, an Israeli, founder and Executive Director of "From the Depths", a non-profit organization devoted to preserving the memory of the Holocaust and connecting the Jewish past with the Jewish future, stated:

At least one Holocaust survivor an hour is dying in Israel and we are getting very close to the point where there will be no more first-hand accounts left. The onus falls on us, not just as Jews and Israelis, but humanity as a whole, to learn, to be with the survivors and to understand what happened and to ensure it never repeats again.

Last One Left~Amir Benayoun (Lyrics Below)



The Last One Left
Words: Moshe Klugheft
Composed by: Amir Benayoun
Translation: Yoel Lax

I am the last one left, From The Depths I call out to you;
My soul calls out for the hope, I stayed alive even though I died.
I am the last one left, I remained a human being even when I was just a number;
A loaf is bread is something that you eat, 
but under the pillow it, I would always keep.

Chorus:
And in the relay race I was left alone;
The torch is relayed now from hand to hand
Take from me everything, I am like the burning bush;
You will remain here to tell the story.

I am the last one left, still attached to the Israelites in the desert;
I have no rest, I wander and roam;
All that remains are the memories from the cattle cars.
I am the last one left, returning now to the provinces of the past;
This grass is green from dread;
I call out to you, Mother Nature.

Chorus:
And in the relay race I was left alone;
The torch is relayed now from hand to hand;
Take everything from me, I am like the burning bush;
You will remain here to tell the story

There are millions of eyes staring at me now, How can I give up?
I am the last one left, to tell the story.

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