Jewish council plans programs to commemorate the Holocaust

Staff report

youngstown

The Jewish Community Relations Council has planned its annual Holocaust commemoration programs for this spring’s series of Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance) observances.

The 19th annual Community Holocaust Commemoration event will be at noon April 19 in the rotunda of the Mahoning County Courthouse, 120 Market St.

It will feature the recognition of the winners of the JCRC’s annual student Holocaust-writing contest, the presentation of a proclamation by Youngstown Mayor Charles Sammarone and a memorial candle-lighting ceremony to honor the 6 million who perished.

“Zacharnu, We Remember,” a Holocaust exhibit, will be displayed April 16-30 at the Jewish Community Center, 505 Gypsy Lane. A special display will be April 19, World Holocaust Memorial Day, at the Poland Library, 311 S. Main St., Poland.

The Shoah Memorial Ceremony will be at 4 p.m. April 22 in the community center. The ceremony will feature special student project presentations, Holocaust-inspired readings, historical perspective and a candle-lighting ceremony led by survivors and children of survivors.

Alexandra Zapruder, a noted Holocaust educator and designer of the famed Daniel’s Story children’s exhibit at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., will attend.

The Holocaust exhibit will include 24 displays designed and constructed by students in the Penn Hills School District, Pittsburgh. The displays were part of a Holocaust study program during which Eva Schloss of London, England, Ann Frank’s stepsister, visited.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has set the national theme for this year’s events as “Choosing to Act: Stories of Rescue.”

All programs are free. The Holocaust Commemoration and Education Task Force, a committee of the JCRC, is chaired by Rabbi Joseph Schonberger and Rochelle Miller, children of Holocaust survivors, and is comprised of numerous survivors, children of survivors, and other volunteers from the community. For information, call the JCRC at 330-746-3251.