Eternal Life-Hemshech, Inc. was formed on September 3, 1964 by Holocaust survivors who settled in the metropolitan Atlanta area. Their primary goal was to build a monument that would memorialize their six million brethren who were murdered by the Nazis during World War II.

Memorial to the Six Million

Eternal Life-Hemshech, Inc. was formed on September 3, 1964 by Holocaust survivors who settled in the metropolitan Atlanta area. Their primary goal was to build a monument that would memorialize their six million brethren who were murdered by the Nazis during World War II.

Because they had no grave sites to visit, the survivors also needed a place to grieve their personal losses and recite the Kaddish (the Jewish memorial prayer) for their loved ones lost in the Holocaust.

They dedicated their monument on April 25, 1965. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 21, 2008.

Community-wide Yom HaShoah Commemoration

Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, is held each year, on the 27th day of Nisan. 

In 1964, the survivors of the Shoah (Holocaust) who lived in the Atlanta area organized and constructed The Memorial to the Six Million at Greenwood Cemetery.  They did this to have a place where they could go and recite Kaddish (mourner’s prayer) for members of their families who were murdered during the Holocaust.  The following year, they gathered for the dedication of the memorial and the inaugural community-wide Yom HaShoah commemoration ceremony.

Sunday, April 19, 2020, would have been the 55th consecutive year where the community would convene in front of the memorial.  Sponsors of the event, Eternal Life-Hemshech, The Breman Museum and the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta had planned another meaningful service.

Ilse Reiner, a survivor of Theresienstadt, was to be the featured speaker.  But this cannot happen.  The world is on hold.  However, the memories of the Holocaust continue. To that extent, the planning committee felt it is important for Ilse’s message to be delivered.

Education

Donations to Eternal Life-Hemshech also enable Holocaust education at schools, universities, synagogues, churches, libraries, museums and other locations across metro Atlanta and Georgia.

It is painful for survivors to recall and share the horrors of Nazi brutalities against them and their families in Europe. Yet Hemshech’s Holocaust survivors endure the agony of their memories to teach and dispel ignorance that might lead history to repeat itself.

Nobel Prize recipient and survivor, Elie Wiesel, has said, “To listen to a witness is to become a witness.”