By Laurie Warshal Cohen and Miriam Greenbaum, Special to JTNews
On April 18, the greater Seattle community is invited to an important program in memory of those who perished during the Holocaust, and in honor of survivors, liberators, and rescuers in our community.
The program, “The Legacy of Children,” to be held at the Stroum Jewish Community Center and Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation, is being organized by the Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center, and is co-sponsored by a group of Jewish and non-Jewish organizations. The program begins at 2 p.m. with a remembrance service at the Holocaust Memorial at the JCC on Mercer Island.
“Yom HaShoah is one of those unique moments during the year when the Jewish community as a whole can gather together,” says Rabbi Jay Rosenbaum of Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation, who will officiate at the service.
Leaving the memorial, participants will walk across the street to Herzl-Ner Tamid carrying candles. The program will continue with awards to student winners of the 13th Annual Jacob Friedman Creative Writing Contest and words of inspiration from interfaith leaders. Dr. Debórah Dwork, internationally renowned social historian of the Holo-caust, whose book Children with A Star gave voice to the silenced children, will give an address titled “Creativity in the Midst of Catastrophe: Jewish Youth in Nazi Europe.”
Klaus Stern, local Holocaust survivor and member of the WSHERC Speakers Bureau believes that “the commemoration on this day is a time for us to remember our families, but it is not just for survivors—all Jews were touched by the Shoah.”
Magda Schaloum, another Speakers Bureau member and a Hungarian Jewish survivor, welcomes public programs of remembrance and education.
“Programs for Yom HaShoah will educate people to understand the tragic deaths of the Holocaust,” she says.
As this year’s speaker, Dwork, the Rose Professor of Holocaust History and the Director of the Strassler Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., has given shape to a new forum for Holocaust and genocide education and scholarship, dedicated to teaching, research, and public service.
In addition to Children With a Star, Dwork co-authored Auschwitz with Robert Jan van Pelt, receiving the National Jewish Book Award in 1996. Her most recent book, also co-authored with van Pelt, is Holocaust: A History. This book spans the long and broad history in which the Holocaust was rooted, from the Middle Ages to the middle of the 20th century. Dwork also edited an important book for educators, Voices and Views: A History of the Holocaust under the auspices of the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous.
Yom HaShoah is relatively new to the Jewish calendar. In 1951, after several years of debate, the Israeli Knesset chose the date for this new day of remembrance to mark the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, and Israel’s Independence Day, and also because it occurs during the traditional Jewish period of mourning known as the Counting of the Omer.
In Israel it became a national holiday in 1959, commemorated by a siren at 10 a.m. when Israelis stand in a moment of remembrance. In the U.S., a 1980 Act of Congress established Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust, set aside for remembering the victims of the Holocaust and for reminding Americans of what can happen to civilized people when bigotry, hatred, and indifference reign.
Henry Friedman, President Emeritus of the Holocaust Center, is celebrating the 60th anniversary of his liberation by the Russians in 1944. A strong advocate of educational programs, Friedman says “it is so important for us to know our history and to learn the lessons from the Holocaust in order to accomplish peace in the world today.”
In recent times, increased interest in Holocaust issues in America has made participation in Yom HaShoah programs of significance to a wide community audience—beyond survivors and their families, and even beyond the Jewish community. Robert Herschkowitz, Board President of the Holocaust Center and child survivor, sees this commemoration not only as a day of remembrance of six million Jewish victims, but also a reminder of man’s cruelty.
“Let us not forget that beside Jews, Roma, Sinti, Jehovah’s Witnesses and homosexuals were also persecuted,” he says.
This theme of inclusion is echoed by many of the groups sponsoring this program this year.
“Promoting positive intergroup relations on behalf of the Jewish community is a strong part of our mission,” says Rick Harkavy, Executive Director of the American Jewish Committee. “We are glad to be a part of a program that honors the sacred memories of those who perished during the Shoah in the Jewish and wider community.”
Sister Joyce Cox, the Archbishop’s Delegate for Ecumenical/Interfaith Officer will participate in this year’s commemoration. She points out that “the Catholic Church deplores all hatreds, persecutions and displays of anti-Semitism leveled at any time or from any source against the Jews. Archbishop Alex Brunett, Archbishop of Seattle, stands in witness to this declaration and supports ongoing work of the Church over the past 50 years to stand with the Jewish community in its deep sorrow for the Shoah.”
Reverend Barry Keating of Maplewood Presbyterian Church says that his participation in Yom HaShoah stems from his roots in Northern Ireland.
“As a Christian minister,” Keating says, “every child of God is precious.”
The program also spans the age con-tinuum. Suzanna Eller from the Summit at First Hill retirement community will bring interested participants, and the Jewish Education Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle has distributed infor-mation to principals of Jewish schools. Many teachers in the area will bring student groups to the program as well.
“The Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle is excited that we can support this community program,” comments Amy-Wasser-Simpson, vice president for planning and external affairs.
If you go:
For more information contact the Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center, 206-441-5747, or info@wsherc.org
On Tuesday, April 20, 2004, a reading of names will take place at First Hill Park between University and Minor in Seattle. For information contact B’nai B’rith Evergreen Region at 206-232-3976, or aroses@yahoo.com