My experience with Yad Vashem UK Foundation has been so worthwhile and has changed my life and the way I feel about the Holocaust.
My name is Leora Moher, I am 12 years old.
I had my Bat Mitzvah in July 2019. For my Bat Mitzvah, I twinned with Yad Vashem UK Foundation. They twinned me with a girl named Alice Chana Grunwald, a surname that my family also used. Sadly, Alice Chana did not survive to celebrate her Bat Mitzvah, as she perished at Auschwitz.
During my Bat Mitzvah, I remembered her and wore the Yad Vashem badge to remember her, and all those children who unfortunately did not make it to their Bar/Bat Mitzvah. I mentioned Alice Chana in my speech. After my Bat Mitzvah, many people asked what the cause was that I was fundraising for. When I told them that it was Yad Vashem, some of my friends thought it was such a nice idea, that they too decided to twin for their Bar/Bat Mitzvah.
I managed to have an amazing experience with the lady that actually registered Alice Chana’s death. That lady was Alice Chana’s cousin, Yudit Rapparport. I got to meet her and her husband Chanan, when I went to Israel on my summer holiday. We had a long talk about Alice Chana. I found out so much about her and was privileged to meet Yudit and her husband.
My experience with Yad Vashem UK Foundation has been so worthwhile and has changed my life and the way I feel about the Holocaust. I therefore decided to raise money for their fantastic charity, in order for them to continue teaching young people about the Holocaust, so that it NEVER happens again. I look forward to doing many more special things with them, like going on the Yad Vashem tour in Jerusalem, Israel. I loved working with Sandra and the Yad Vashem UK Foundation team, as I had a life changing experience learning more about Alice Chana and her family. Who knows if she really was my relative?