Mumbai remembers the Holocaust, together with Pope Francis for Jews and Armenians
Mumbai (AsiaNews) – Today, Israel and Jewish communities across the world are marking Yom Hashoah, Holocaust remembrance day. Solomon F. Sopher, from the Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue in Mumbai said to AsiaNews that "Holocaust Remembrance Day is very important for not only the jews but for all humanity to remember that certain events should never happen again in any part of our generation. To wipe out a community, to wipe out a faithful people who have faith in the Almighty is a shame on the human race. Pope Francis on Sunday, demonstrated immense moral courage in openly calling -the mass slaughter of the Armenian-'“the first genocide of the twentieth century. "
Yom Hashoah falls on the 27th day of Nissan, one week after Pesach (Passover). With this anniversary Israel honors the sacrifice and heroism of millions of people, by recalling their personal tragedies and sufferings.
For the occasion, Sopher explains to AsiaNews, "We will be having a prayer service that will be attended by a number of Jews, other community representatives and also consul generals of various nations. The prayer service will be followed by a documentary about a holocaust survivor Eva Kor, who is now 80 years old".
Going back to what was said by the Pope about the Armenian issue, the intellectual explains: "We definitely agree with this inspirational and courageous statement of Pope Francis. This should never have happened in that century or in any century or to the Armenians or any other race. The Pope displayed absolute and inspirational courage to all humanity".
Judaism is one of the first foreign religions to arrive in India. Their origins are not clear: some say that the first Jews arrived at the time of the Kingdom of Judah (about 993 BC), others who were descendants of the ten lost tribes of Israel. In general, the Indian Jewish community has never experienced anti-Semitic incidents.
The majority of Indian Jews emigrated to Israel with the creation of the state in 1948. Today they are a tiny minority: 0.004% (about 5 thousand units) of a total population of over 1.2 billion people. Most live in Mumbai (Maharashtra), but other communities are based in Calcutta (West Bengal) and Kochi (Kerala).
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