In 1933, Adolph Hitler rose to power in Germany and established a racist regime in which Jews were deemed to be “untermenschen” (sub-humans), not part of the human race.

In 1939 Hitler began implementing his “final solution” to annihilate the Jewish people.  His forces concentrated the Jews in ghettos and established labor, concentration, and extermination camps to which the Jews were sent.  Documents uncovered after the war show that Hitler’s aim was to exterminate every Jew in the world.  During the six years of the war 6,000,000 Jews including 1,500,000 children were murdered by the Nazis; one-third of the Jewish population of the world.

In Ariel, at 44 Derech HaNachshonim, Irena and Yaakov (Kuba) Wodzeslawske, both Holocaust survivors, founded the Holocaust and Heroism Memorial House in 2003.  “My wife and I are aware of the responsibilities of our work because as long as time passes there will be less people who are witnesses to what happened.  We will never forget the memories of the faces of the people who were walking to their death who called to the ones who would survive to revenge their blood.  We know that as survivors we will forever bear witness to what was done to our people.  We realize that we were left alive in order to tell what took place.”   This is a unique memorial site in Ariel, located in their private home.  Memorial House covers 4 of the 6 floors of the Wodzeslawske’s home, and functions as a commemorative shrine and a testimony to the horrors of the past.

Over the course of Chanukah, Aliyah Fairs were held by the Jewish Agency across the United States and Canada. Many issues were dealt with at the fairs – benefits for new olim, incentives for Israelis abroad to return Home, taxes in Israel, student programs, employment in Israel and – of course - communities in the Land. Interestingly enough, only two communities throughout Israel were featured. The two communities were Jerusalem and Ariel.

Each of the hundreds of fair visitors received the unique opportunity to learn about a very special place, a place that in some cases they had never heard of before. In New York, Boston, Baltimore, Toronto and Los Angeles Jews of all sorts arrived at the Aliyah Fairs in anticipation of revealing what new things the true Land of Opportunity has to offer. Many approached the "Ariel Aliyah" booth and found what they were looking for.

Ariel's Community Aliyah Program is well underway. Word is spreading, people are expressing interest and "piloteers" have been visiting Ariel to get an up-close taste of the city and community that they may choose to call home.

The marketing process is a challenging one. North American olim have a tendency to flock to places that they've already heard of. Indeed, though such tendencies are perfectly logical they may not prove to be the most sound approach to a healthy and successful aliyah absorption. Not surprisingly, quite a number of olim who first arrived in such communities have chosen to move to Ariel. In Ariel we believe that we have the responsibility to make it abundantly clear to new olim that Israel offers a wide variety of lifestyles to its people. New olim should feel comfortable examining their personal needs in terms of the community they would feel most comfortable in, and proceeding to seek such a community.