Genocide, anti-Semitism continuing, Liberty rabbi says at Holocaust commemoration

YOUNGSTOWN

Statistics of 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis during World War II tell only the “numbers” part of the story, cautioned Rabbi Joseph Schonberger, who addressed about 100 people attending a Holocaust commemoration program Thursday.

“These were real, vital and precious souls,” said the religious leader of Temple El-Emeth and co-chairman of the Holocaust Commemoration and Education Task Force. He spoke at the 23rd annual Holocaust program, “Children in the Holocaust: A Lost Generation,” in the rotunda of Mahoning County Courthouse sponsored by Jewish Community Relations Council of the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation.

Rabbi Schonberger, a son of Holocaust survivors, said it is imperative “that we remember them though they have left us. But we can still feel their presence.”

The rabbi said learning about history should help humanity “not to repeat the mistakes of the past.” But, he noted, that is being repeated with the “genocide of Christians in some countries” and the reality that “anti-Semitism is growing.”

Rabbi Schonberger added, “This is not abstract” and that for “the health of the world,” the situation must be addressed and rectified.

Read more about the issue and the event in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.