“And You Shall
Tell
Your Children”
Yad Vashem
In this online exhibition through the photos, the artifacts and the personal testimonies, Yad Vashem explores and remember some of the ways Passover was observed throughout Europe prior to the Holocaust, during the Holocaust years, and in the displaced persons camps and children’s homes following the war.
The imperative to remember is a significant element of the Passover holiday, and part of its tradition and rituals.
Among the artifacts presented in the exhibition is The Passover Haggadah that 17 year old Elimelekh Landau prepared as his father quoted from memory when the family of five were in hiding in Boryslav.
The Landau family, Shmaryahu and Sarah and their children Elimelekh, Judah & Tamar lived in Borislav, Poland where they enjoyed a comfortable life. Shmaryahu Landau was a central figure in the Jewish community and was the owner of an oil field and a sizeable sawmill that supplied wood for export.
In 1939 the Soviets occupied the area but after the German invasion of the Soviet Union the lives of the Jews in Borislav became intolerable between general abuse and roundups. Shmaryahu and Elimelekh obtained work as “essential laborers” which enabled them to survive the roundups, but after one particularly harsh roundup in February 1943, Shmaryahu and Sara understood that all the Jews were destined for annihilation and they realized that in order to survive they would have to act.
Judah Landau wduring the war. Photo: Yad Vashem.