Yom Hashoah Commemoration
Sonoma County’s Yom Hashoah Observance - Sunday, April 7, 2013
“The Future of Holocaust Memory”
How will the memory and lessons of the Holocaust be transmitted when there are no longer living survivors? What role and responsibility do future generations have in preserving the legacy? Can historical and cultural reminders transmit the memory and messages of this catastrophic event?
Sonoma County’s annual Yom HaShoah observance, will take place on Sunday, April 7 from 2:00 – 4:00 PM. The event is designed to remember those who experienced the Holocaust. The commemoration will take place at the Friedman Center, 4676 Mayette Ave. Santa Rosa.
The theme for this year’s commemoration is “The Future of Holocaust Memory”. The guest speaker will be Jack Weinstein, San Francisco Bay Area Director of Facing History and Ourselves, a world-wide organization that combats racism, anti-Semitism, and prejudice and nurtures democracy through education. The program will include a panel of respondents from three generations sharing their personal perspectives on the role and responsibility of their generation in ensuring Holocaust memory. Music, candle lighting by Sonoma County’s Holocaust survivors–each escorted by a teen, and a reading of the winning essay of the Susy Raful Student Essay Contest will also be part of the observance. Special yellow Holocaust memorial candles will be available for attendees for lighting at home.
The event is free and open to the public. The commemoration is co-sponsored by Sonoma County synagogues, Jewish Community Center of Sonoma County, Jewish Family & Children’s Services, The Alliance for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide, and the Jewish Community Relations Council, North Bay Region. For information, visit www.jccsoco.org.
