Gidon Ariel Preserves 100 Survivor Memoirs

When 95-year-old Rabbi Eliyahu Dermer pulled a typewritten manuscript from a desk drawer, he held decades of extraordinary resilience in his hands. He had survived unimaginable tragedy, rebuilt his life in Israel, and spent years guiding his community as a respected teacher.

Publisher Gidon Ariel knew instantly that this vital piece of living history deserved to reach people far beyond a private study. The original photocopy lacked photos and was written entirely in Hebrew, meaning most readers across the globe could never access it.

Ariel offered his publishing expertise to translate and professionally print the rabbi's memoir under the title Through Faith and Fire. He proudly placed the finished volume into Dermer's hands just one month before the beloved rabbi passed away.

That moving milestone inspired a much larger undertaking known as the We Must Not Forget project. Led by Ariel through his nonprofit organization Root Source, the initiative aims to publish 100 survivor accounts in English.

The mission carries deep personal meaning for Ariel, whose own father survived the Holocaust in Hungary. He recognized that while some high-profile accounts are widely celebrated, countless personal narratives risk fading away in dusty boxes.

Many surviving memoirs remain in Hebrew or rest quietly in family living rooms without international distribution. Translating and producing a book independently can cost tens of thousands of dollars, placing wide release out of reach for most families.

Ariel streamlined the process to make publishing accessible, reducing production costs down to approximately seven thousand dollars per title. Already, one book is in print and twenty more memoirs are actively moving through translation and design.

To make the dream a reality, Root Source invites schools, synagogues, churches, and individuals to adopt and sponsor individual memoirs. This grassroots teamwork ensures that preserving history becomes a shared communal celebration rather than a solitary burden.

The Ripple Effect

Once completed, these professionally bound books travel to public libraries, university collections, and classrooms around the world. Every donated volume allows young readers to encounter vivid firsthand lessons of endurance and human dignity.

By connecting diverse global communities through the act of preservation, the initiative turns remembrance into an active bridge of shared empathy.

Each newly preserved story ensures that the enduring light of human resilience shines brightly for generations to come.