Gamaraal Foundation

20/04/2026

This week Gamaraal Foundation and the whole world commemorates the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on 15 April 1945 — a moment that ended unimaginable suffering, but could never undo the lives lost and the trauma endured. At liberation, around 60,000 prisoners were found in the camp, with starvation, disease, and mass death all around them. We remember with deepest respect the victims. We honor with deepest respect the survivors. And we renew our responsibility to speak, to teach, and to stand against antisemitism, hatred, and indifference in every form.

Holocaust survivor Prof. Ladislaus Löb, who was imprisoned in Bergen-Belsen as a child, reflected: “If ‘luck’ is a relative concept I can call myself lucky. I lost the majority of my family in the Holocaust. I spent five months in Bergen-Belsen as a child of 11, but I was spared Auschwitz…”

He also recalled the meaning of survival and release: “We had almost forgotten what friendly soldiers, a hot meal and a comfortable matress are like.”

As we commemorate Bergen-Belsen, we do more than look back. We carry memory forward. We affirm the dignity of every human life. And we say clearly from the bottom of our hearts: remembrance must lead to action.

14/04/2026

Today is Yom HaShoah and we remember the millions of victims of the Holocaust during World War II. We honor with deep respect their memory, we are mourning the unimaginable atrocities they endured, but we also carrying their stories forward, so that it will never happen again.
Never.
Today, we share the heartbreaking testimony of our beloved Holocaust survivor Klaus Appel, who left us shortly after giving us his testimony: “We were at home when the doorbell rang. ‘Are you Mr. Appel? Then come with us.’ My father turned to me and said: ‘You go to school.’ Those were the last words he spoke to me. I never saw him again.”

Klaus Appel was born in Berlin in 1925. After his father was arrested, Klaus and his sister Ruth escaped on one of the last Kindertransports to England. Their older brother, Willy-Wolf, just 20 years old, was arrested and later murdered in Auschwitz, along with their father.

Our dear friend and mentor Klaus Appel passed away in 2017, but his voice, his courage, and his story live on forever. His testimony remains a deeply important part of the Gamaraal Foundation’s exhibition, The Last Swiss Holocaust Survivors. We will always preserve his memory for future generations in order to remember and never to forget, never to be silent, never to hate, never to be indifferent, never..

01/04/2026

❤️Chag Pessach Sameach from the Gamaraal Foundation! ❤️

We celebrate Pesach, the holiday of freedom and renewal.

The team of Gamaraal foundation wishes you all from the bottom of our hearts a happy and meaningful Pesach. May this Passover be an inspiration for peace, unity, and reflection and embrace the values of freedom and hope.

Wishing you and your loved ones a happy and blessed holiday filled with love, joy, and the warmth of the tradition. ❤️

20/03/2026

"In 1940 my family was surprised by the Blitzkrieg. After the German Invasion of the Netherlands, at the beginning, Jews were allowed to continue to pursue certain professions and were not put in Ghettos. However, they had to wear the “Judenstern” and unfortunately sadly there were arrests and deportations every day to the concentration camps", said Joop Caneel, a Holocaust survivor in front of the students in a school nearby Zürich, organized by the Gamaraal Foundation.

Joop Caneel is one of "Тhe last Swiss Holocaust survivors".

06/03/2026

International Women’s Day reminds us to honor women whose courage has shaped memory, justice, and humanity. On 8th March we will pay tribute to the late Holocaust survivor Catherine Ruebner, she gave her testimony to the Gamaraal foundation just shortly before her death.

“The daily roll calls, the exhaustion, the rubella epidemic and pneumonia – my older sister Eva died in Bergen-Belsen. Her death is my trauma – to this day. Eva always wanted to be a psychologist. I became a psychologist”, said Catherine Ruebner

Her testimony is more than a personal story — it is a powerful act of remembrance, resilience, and responsibility. By sharing her experiences of exclusion, persecution, and survival, Catherine helped younger generations understand the human reality behind history and strengthens the fight against antisemitism, hatred, and indifference.

The Gamaraal Foundation is committed to preserving the voices of Holocaust survivors and is engaged in Holocaust education, ensuring that testimonies like Catherine’s continue to inspire empathy, awareness, and action. On this International Women’s Day, we celebrate the late Catherine Ruebner and all women whose strength turns memory into moral courage for the future.

02/02/2026

27/01/2026

On 27 January, the world marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day—a day to remember the victims and a day to listen to survivors, who bear witness. One of them was Nina Weil. Born in 1932, she was deported as a child to Theresienstadt, then to Auschwitz, where she lost her mother and was tattooed with the prisoner number **71978**. She later survived forced labor and a death march—carrying the trauma until the last moment of her life.

Many years later, after rebuilding her life in Switzerland, Nina found the strength to speak. She is part of Gamaraal Foundation’s exhibition “The Last Swiss Holocaust Survivors”. She shared her story with many, many thousands of students and no one who had the privilege to listen to her, will never forget her words. Nina died on 9 November 2023, aged 9…., we miss her incredibly. We, in Gamaraal Foundation keep her testimony and we are making sure, that we keep our promise to Nina to teach the next generations about the atrocities of the Holocaust.

On this day, we remember Nina Weil—and remembrance is for us a deep responsibility: Never to forget, never to be silent, never to be indifferent and never to hate. For humanity.

26/01/2026

The commemoration of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is held on January 27th every year,will begin with an exhibition opened by the Minister of Culture and Media, Dr. Sc. Nina Obuljen Koržinek, at the National and University Library.

The exhibition was organized at the initiative of the Croatian Ambassador to the Swiss Confederation, Andreja Bekić, with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Media, in cooperation with the National and University Library in Zagreb and the Gamaraal Foundation from Zurich.

16/01/2026

We are happy to share with you our opening of the exhibition "The Last Swiss Holocaust Survivors“ from Gamaraal Foundation at Bar-Ilan University in view of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

We were overwhelmed by the wise and impressive opening speeches of President Isaac Herzog, Rabbi Lau, Ambassador Colette Avital, Ambassador Simon Geissbühler, Prof. Zehavit Gross, Prof.Yaron Shav-Tal and Anita Winter. We are deeply grateful for the wonderful cooperation with the Embassy of Switzerland in Israel Yad Vashem: World Holocaust Center, Jerusalem and the Bar- Ilan University.

From international venues to United Nations offices, “The Last Swiss Holocaust Survivors” has traveled widely, connecting with global audiences through deeply human portrait of survival, resilience, and dignity. Centering on individual lives rather than abstraction, the exhibition highlights the lasting urgency of Holocaust education as a way to confront antisemitism and uphold fundamental human values today.

Pictures: Yoni Reif

16/01/2026

"The World Jewish Congress joined diplomatic, academic, and cultural partners in marking the inauguration of the powerful exhibition “The Last Swiss Holocaust Survivors” at Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv, on the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Co-hosted by the Embassy of Switzerland in Israel, Yad Vashem – World Holocaust Remembrance Center, and Bar-Ilan University, the exhibition is presented by the Gamaraal Foundation, led by Anita Winter, and documents the personal stories of Holocaust survivors who rebuilt their lives in Switzerland after the war. In written remarks marking the opening, President of the State of Israel Isaac Herzog emphasized that the exhibition restores “names, faces, and life paths,” reminding audiences that Holocaust history is lived “one life at a time.” He warned that at a moment when hatred and antisemitism are again flaring openly, remembrance is not passive, but a moral stance that connects memory to responsibility."

The World Jewish Congress joined diplomatic, academic, and cultural partners in marking the inauguration of the powerful exhibition “The Last Swiss Holocaust Survivors” at Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv, on the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

15/01/2026