As the years go by, the horrors of the Holocaust stay with us. While six million Jews were exterminated by the Nazis and their collaborators, some five million survived, mostly moving to the United States and to Israel. Nature has taken its course, and only some two hundred thousand survivors are still alive, the youngest among them over 80 years old.

In September 2024, our good friend Root Source CEO Gidon Ariel had the hallowed honor of meeting one of these survivors, 94-year-old Rabbi Eliyahu Dermer, resident of Geula in Meah Shearim, Jerusalem. The two hit it off, and Rabbi Dermer agreed to Gidon's offer to publish his memoirs through Root Source Press, the organization's publishing arm. The book, in English and later in Hebrew and other languages, was published in October 2025. Some 23 generous donors contributed to the covering of the cost of this effort.

We cannot rest on our laurels. We consider it a holy task to record more stories of these survivors' lives.

Through this ambitious initiative, "We Must Not Forget," Root Source will publish 100 autobiographies of Holocaust survivors, thereby keeping their personal stories alive and joining the leaders of the holy effort to keep the national and universal stories and message of the Holocaust itself alive. This project will be done in cooperation with Yad Vashem, Israel's World Holocaust Remembrance Center located in Jerusalem.

Together with our friends, we are "adopting" a Holocaust survivor and partnering with Root Source to sponsor the publication of her or his life story. The budget includes interviews, photography, translation, editing, formatting, and project management, at a sponsorship rate of $7,000 per book. (One story = one book)

Soon we will know which Holocaust survivor's story we are adopting and sponsoring. Without your contribution, their story would be lost forever!

Our book will include a dedication page acknowledging all partner/donor/sponsor[s].

Donations can be paid out over three years! So ten people each committing to a monthly donation of $20 for three years (for example) covers the entire project!

Proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to support Holocaust survivors in Israel.

We trust that you recognize the imperative and urgency to publish this work, and will join us in enabling its critical message to be heard.

https://wemustnotforget.org/RoyandMelBotma
https://wemustnotforget.org/

Roy and Mel Botma

"Saving one life [story] is like saving an entire world"