Holocaust Remembrance Events April 23-30

Holocaust Remembrance Day tomorrow, Mon., April 24th, is commemorated in NYC with a week of events to honor those who were lost, and hear from survivors. Most events are FREE and open to all, Jewish or not, so we never forget the true cost of intolerance and hate.

Today, Sunday, April 23rd

New York’s Annual Gathering of Remembrance – This is largest Holocaust commemoration in New York City in observance of Yom HaShoah, bringing  together more than 2,000 people, including survivors and their families, elected officials, and other members of the community for a memorial service that fulfills the sacred Jewish act to remember.  Because we must never forget.  2pm, at Temple Emanu-El, Fifth Ave. at 65th St.

• NOTE that tickets are absolutely required for admission. Reserve FREE tickets now. Tickets are required and must be reserved in advance.  No admission without a ticket.

Tomorrow, Monday, April 24th

Holocaust Remembrance Day on April 24th marks the start of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. There are all-day events at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, including stories from Holocaust survivors, ending with a special memorial service at sundown.  Once again this year, in commemoration of Holocaust Remembrance Day/Yom Hashoah, the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Lower Manhattan is offering FREE admission and extended exhibit hours, through Sunday, April 30.

Watch the recent International Tribute to Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust survivor who became a Nobel Peace Prize winner for his worldwide activism on behalf of world peace.  The tribute included readings of his seminal work Night by celebrities including Joel Grey, Itzhak Perlman and Dr. Ruth Westheimer.

See the new exhibit, Eyewitness, with life-size and larger photographs of Holocaust survivors living in New York City, with their stories.  The exhibit opens on April 20, and will be on view through mid-May. It’s an addition to the museum’s permanent core exhibit, of photos and more, documenting the Jewish experience in Europe from 1880 through today.

When We Remembered Zion: The New Budapest Orpheum Society Commemorates Yom HaShoah – The Grammy-nominated group bears witness to those murdered, those who resisted, and those who must not be forgotten. Under the direction of Philip V. Bohlman and Ilya Levinson, the ensemble consists of singers, violin, piano, accordion, bass, and percussion. This concert features repertories of Jewish song from the Holocaust, gathered from the cabarets, camps, ghettos, theater, and films.  Lecture at 6:30pm, concert at 7pm at the Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16 St.  Ticketed event, $15 general admission, $10 for students/seniors.

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Chronicle of Return: Life Histories of Jews in the GDR  – Film screening and panel discussion. Made in 1989-90, at a decisive historical moment for Germany and Europe, this film  documents the lives of German Jews who left Germany under the Nazi regime and returned to what would become the German Democratic Republic. Exiled in Allied countries (the United States, England, and the Soviet Union), two generations of Jews tell the compelling stories that reveal their complex identities as Germans, Jews and Communists. Above all, they explain their personal reasons for choosing to come back to the Soviet occupied zone that became East Germany. For the postwar Western powers, this country was on the frontline of the “Iron Curtain,” but for these refugees it represented the anti-Fascist alternative to the West. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the subsequent unification of Germany a year later seem to be the final chapter in their sagas of exile and return. These monumental historical events reshape again how they understand and define themselves under the unexpected circumstances of a new united Germany.  FREE at 6:30PM at Baruch Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Avenue. RSVP recommended to ensure space.

Panelists:

• Jeff Peck, Director, Europe, AKA I Strategy
• Albert Scharenberg, Co-director, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung’s New York office
• Frank Mecklenberg, Director of Research and Chief Archivist at Leo Baeck Institute
• Kathy Pence, Associate Professor and Chair, German and Women’s History, Baruch College
• Moderated by Jessica Lang, Associate Professor of English, Director, Wasserman Jewish Studies Center

FREE at 6:30PM at Baruch Performing Arts Center, 55 Lexington Avenue. RSVP recommended to ensure space.

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Holocaust Survivor Testimony – First-hand testimony by a Holocaust survivor living in NYC, and a special tour of the exhibition of The Lost Children of Kloster, at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.  FREE, at 6pm.

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Witness Theater – Local high School students re-enact critical moments from the lives of local Holocaust survivors.  This is a unique inter-generational journey of sadness and joy. Bring tissues. FREE, at 6:30pm at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.  Reservations recommended to ensure space.

Personal note from NYCOTC Editor Evelyn Kanter

• Many members of my father’s family perished in the Holocaust, including in Auschwitz.

#StoriesSurvive