Heroes and martyrs

Yesterday was the day that the State of Israel commemorated the heroes and martyrs from the Shoah.

One of the things we do is stop and stand silently for two minutes while sirens sound nationwide.

It's bizarre.

I was at work, speaking to a colleague, but keeping an eye on the clock. About 15 seconds before the siren started, my colleague stood. I opened the window, just to be sure we'd hear the siren. As it began, the six people in my office just stopped in the middle of what we were doing and stood up.

The siren isn't an even sound. It goes up and down, and seems like endless wailing for the two minutes it lasts.

And then, as quickly as we'd stood, we all sat back down at the end.

We didn't immediately return to what we'd been doing. It was quiet for a while, as we all continued to think about the Shoah and what it meant to us.

Eventually, we went back to work.

I didn't find out until after Yom HaShoah was over that an Israeli Shoah survivor in the United States blocked the doorway of his classroom so the gunman couldn't get in while the students escaped through the windows.

Liviu Librescu, of blessed memory, was a hero.