Remembrance Events
The Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center pays tribute to the memory of Survivors and the victims of the Holocaust and reaffirms our unwavering commitment to honor their legacy.
International Holocaust Remembrance Day
The Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center pays tribute to the memory of Survivors and the victims of the Holocaust and reaffirms our unwavering commitment to honor their legacy.
Yom HaShoah
Yom Hashoah was inaugurated in 1953 as a day for the citizens of Israel to remember those murdered during the Holocaust. It is scheduled in the Jewish calendar on the 27th of Nisan, which falls in April or May. It marks the beginning of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943 when Jews learned the Germans planned to deport all the people who remained in the Warsaw ghetto to Treblinka. A group of mostly young people formed an organized resistance. The leader of the resistance Mordecai Anielewicz issued a proclamation calling for the Jewish people to resist going to the railroad cars. Finally, in a desperate last stand, the remaining Jewish inhabitants of the walled-in enclave began a hopeless month-long battle against the Nazis. It was the first time during the war that resistance fighters in an area under German control had staged an uprising. It would end in the complete destruction of the ghetto.
All in all, several thousand Jews had been buried in the debris, and more than 56,000 had been captured. About 30,000 of them were either immediately shot or transported to death camps. The remainder were sent to labor camps. Anielewicz said shortly before his death. “My life’s dream has been realized,” he said. “I have lived to see Jewish defense in the ghetto rally its greatness and glory.”
Yom Hashoah may seem similar to International Holocaust Remembrance Day, but they are two distinct events. Yom HaShoah is the Jewish community’s day for internal reflection. It provides an opportunity to educate children; to unite in passing on the torch of remembrance; to honor the victims of the Holocaust, and to recognize the achievements of its survivors and refugees who have given so much to our society.
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht is the german word meaning “night of broken glass.” Over a period of 48 hours on November 9th and 10th, 1938, violent mobs, spurred by antisemitic exhortations from Nazi officials, destroyed hundreds of synagogues, burning or desecrating Jewish religious artifacts along the way. Acting on orders from Gestapo headquarters, police officers and firefighters did nothing to prevent the destruction. All told, approximately 7,500 Jewish-owned businesses, homes, and schools were plundered, and 91 Jews were murdered. An additional 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps. Nazi officials immediately claimed that the Jews themselves were to blame for the riots, and a fine of one billion reichsmarks (about $400 million at 1938 rates) was imposed on the German Jewish community. Kristallnacht is regarded an essential turning point in Nazi Germany’s persecution of Jews and stands as a reminder of the importance of standing up against all forms of prejudice and hate. That terrifying night marks the beginning of Hitler’s ‘Final Solution.” It was the moment that should have erased any doubt about Hitler’s intentions. Jewish lives were in jeopardy, and clearly there would be further tragedy. Yet, the world stood by in silence.
Event Recordings
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The community gathered with us to observe Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), which commemorates the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the largest act of resistance to Nazi aggression during the Holocaust. The event included a candle lighting ceremony and live music from Mati Braun & Holly Small, teen members of Congregation of Reform Judaism, and Rebecca Kira & Eric Levine. Plus recognition of the students and teachers who won the White Rose Essay Contest.
This program focused on the importance of L’Dor Vador – the passing along of memories and traditions from generation to generation and include survivor testimony from Thomas Laufer and second generation survivor, Susan Bach, whose parents were members of the famed Bielski Partisans.
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The community gathered as we commemorated International Holocaust Remembrance Day and heard renowned author and educator, Matthew Rozell, share the story behind A Train Near Magdeburg.
On April 13, 1945, two tank commanders of the 743rd Tank Battalion and their major overran a train transport near Magdeburg, Germany, filled with 2,500 Jewish concentration camp victims from Bergen-Belsen. This set into motion a chain of events that would culminate in survivors and liberators being reunited six decades later by a dedicated educator and reflecting on what happened.
Matthew Rozell’s presentation touched on his efforts to reunite his Holocaust survivor friends with their actual American soldier liberators, but more importantly will focus on the moral lessons imparted by the soldiers’ actions in those closing days of World War II, and the disturbing underlying question of the Holocaust – just how did humanity allow six million Jews to be murdered?
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The community gathered with us to commemorate Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass) also called the November Pogrom which marks the intensification of a regime of terror against the Jews of the Third Reich. The event included commemorative songs and prayers followed by a survivor panel of local Holocaust survivors: Harry Lowenstein, Hal Gotschall, and Suzanne Schneider, and moderated by our new CEO, Talli Dippold.
Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass) is the name given to the violent attacks (pogroms) against the businesses, places of worship and homes of the Jews throughout Germany and in the annexed countries (Austria and Sudetenland) on November 9 and 10, 1938. This violence was implemented by the Nazi leaders. The sound of broken glass heard during this attack explains the name given to the event.
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Gather with us to observe Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), which commemorates the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the largest act of resistance to Nazi aggression during the Holocaust. The event will include a candle lighting ceremony, live music, and special guest speaker, Anna Salton Eisen, who will talk about her book Pillar of Salt. Book signing and refreshments to follow the event.
Anna Salton Eisen was a founding member and the first president of Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas. In January, at this congregation, her rabbi and friends were taken hostage in an anti-Semitic attack that received international attention. She has conducted extensive research into the Holocaust and spoken on that topic to school and community groups. She served as a docent for the Dallas Memorial Center for Holocaust Studies (now the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum) and conducted Holocaust survivor interviews for the USC Shoah Foundation. Anna was an adult when she finally broke her parents’ silence about their Holocaust experiences. In her book, Pillar of Salt, she combines the meticulous work of an archaeologist with the compassion of a daughter, courageously embracing her legacy as a second-generation survivor. This memoir completes the story told in The 23rd Psalm: A Holocaust Memoir, which Salton Eisen wrote with her father about his experiences.