Holocaust commemoration programs planned in May

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

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

The annual Shoah Memorial Ceremony will take place at 4 p.m. next Sunday at the Jewish Community Center, 505 Gypsy Lane, and the 23rd annual community Holocaust commemoration event is set for noon May 5 in the rotunda of the Mahoning County Courthouse.

Yom Hashoah is an internationally recognized day set aside for remembering all victims of the Holocaust and for reminding society of what can happen to civilized people when bigotry, hatred, and indifference reign.

In keeping with historical themes set by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., this year’s local theme is “Children in the Holocaust: A Lost Generation.” The community will explore how, in any campaign of genocide, children are among the most-vulnerable targets. The theme also addresses how racial hatred has resurfaced repeatedly since the Holocaust and children are affected most deeply.

The annual memorial ceremony at the JCC will feature the premiere of a newly created Holocaust educational film, starring local teens, to be used as an instructional tool in area high schools. The film, which provides historical context about World War II and the Holocaust, depicts fictional students who are preparing to work on a class project about the Shoah. One of the students is a grandchild of a survivor who shares her family’s personal history with her peers. The memorial ceremony also will feature special music, student art project presentations, Holocaust-inspired readings, historical perspective, and a candle-lighting ceremony led by family members of survivors.

The annual community Holocaust commemoration at the courthouse will feature a special presentation on children in the Holocaust, a preview of a new exhibition on the life and legacy of local survivor Henry Kinast, the recognition of the winners of the JCRC’s annual student Holocaust writing contest, the presentation of a proclamation by Youngstown Mayor John A. McNally, as well as a memorial candle-lighting ceremony to honor the 6 million who died.

Both programs are free and open to the public. 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 interested volunteers from the community.

For information, contact Bonnie Deutsch Burdman at 330-770-8702.