This event serves as a place to join together to remember those who perished during the Holocaust. This year’s Commemoration will also mark Israel’s 60th anniversary with a tribute to those who escaped Europe to Israel and fought for her independence. The “bricha” (lit. “escape”) was perhaps the largest organized clandestine population transfer in history. Bricha operations began in July 1945; by the end of June 1946, 48,106 refugees had left Poland for Palestine. An unknown number of Jews actually arrived on her shores, but estimates range from 80,000 to 250,000. Approximately one-third of those who died while fighting for Israel’s independence participated in the Bricha and it has been said that, if not for these survivors, Israel would have lost the War of Independence.
