What is the Connection?

Holocaust Remembrance Day and October 7

Apr 14, 2026

Tonight and tomorrow we honor Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Even from the earliest days following October 7, I wasn’t comfortable with the comparisons between the Holocaust and the massacre of October 7.

Not, G-d forbid, because I belittle the horrors of October 7—in some ways it was even more horrific for it wasn’t supposed to happen “here”. But it wasn’t the same. Captivity survivor Eli Sharabi— who, like so many Holocaust survivors, survived only to reveal that he’d lost his family on October 7— insists that there is no comparison to be made between his captivity and the Holocaust. In his words: “We experienced extreme starvation. Extraordinary difficult conditions. Fifty meters underground. But we all believed that it was just a matter of time and we’d return home.

So there is not comparison, but there is a connection.

And it is expressions of this connection that I bring you below.

A Grandfather and His Grandson: Survivors

The words on the photo read: “After almost a year-and-a-half one of the most moving moments we experienced was seeing grandpa Shimon (a Holocaust survivor) meet Sagui (upon his return home from Hamas captivity). He came within a day of Sagui’s arrival, and their meeting was something that can’t be put into words.”

Sagui’s wife Avital said of their meeting: “I can’t to stop the tears as I watch this meeting of grandfather and grandchild who survived the most difficult thing in the world. A grandfather who survived the Holocaust and a grandson who survived captivity. They are standing, smiling, and more than anything, they are strong.”