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Neighbors Observe Holocaust Remembrance Day With Two Local Events

Ned Berke

Ned Berke

— 3 min read
Neighbors Observe Holocaust Remembrance Day With Two Local Events
A neighbor holds a photo of a victims at the Holocaust Remembance Event organized by the Stop Anti-Semitism Foundation.
A neighbor holds a photo of a victims at the Holocaust Remembance Event organized by the Stop Anti-Semitism Foundation.

Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, passed last week and was observed on Sunday with two local events remembering the victims of the Nazi atrocities.

Ruth Lichtenstein, a daughter of Holocaust survivors and founder of Project Witness, a survivors’ resource center, and Dr. Richard Tomback, Kingsborough Community College’s director of Holocaust Studies, spoke to students from several area schools at a ceremony organized by Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz.

Guest speaker Ruth Lichtenstein, Founder of Project Witness, displays a photo of her mother, a Holocaust survivor, at the Holocaust Memorial Creative Arts Contest. (Source: Cymbrowitz's office)
Guest speaker Ruth Lichtenstein, Founder of Project Witness, displays a photo of her mother, a Holocaust survivor, at the Holocaust Memorial Creative Arts Contest. (Source: Cymbrowitz’s office)

The event honored the winners of the assemblyman’s Holocaust Memorial Creative Arts Contest, an annual competition that inspires hundreds of children to contemplate the brutal lessons of the Holocaust through essays, artwork, music and interactive displays. More than 500 entries were submitted this year by students from third to 12th grade in public and private schools.

The kids from Bay Academy, who tied for first place in the intermediate school division. (Source: Cymbrowitz's office)
The kids from Bay Academy, who tied for first place in the intermediate school division. (Source: Cymbrowitz’s office)

Cymbrowitz said he hopes the lessons the children learned will “stay with them throughout their entire lives, tucked away in their memory, and passed on to their own children and their children’s children.”

Hours after the ceremony ended, the Stop Anti-Semitism Foundation held its second annual Holocaust Remembrance Event at Holocaust Memorial Park on Emmons Avenue and Shore Boulevard.

The dual language event included a candle-lighting ceremony, poetry, musical performances, prayers and a solemn march around the park.  The event aimed to raise awareness about current anti-Semitic sentiments around the world in addition to remembering the victims of the Holocaust.

About 100 people gathered for the Stop Anti-Semitism Foundation's Holocaust Remembance Event on Sunday.
About 100 people gathered for the Stop Anti-Semitism Foundation’s Holocaust Remembance Event on Sunday.

“Anti-Semitism is not sleeping. It’s alive, it’s not dead. And today is one of those occasions where we remember everyone who lost his or her life just because he or she was born Jewish. And today is the day when we say no more,” said Yelena Makhnin, the executive director of the Brighton Beach Business Improvement District, in remarks to the crowd.

Senator Golden speaks at the Holocaust Remembance Event organized by the Stop Anti-Semitism Foundation.
Senator Golden speaks at the Holocaust Remembance Event organized by the Stop Anti-Semitism Foundation.

The event was attended by several elected officials, including State Senator Marty Golden, Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny and Councilman Alan Maisel.

“This gathering today is mindful of the many lives lost during the time that extreme hatred tried to take over the world. But here today, 70 years since the end of World War II and the fight against Nazism, we stand in Brooklyn united to say we will not tolerate hate, bigotry, racism or discrimination,” said Golden.

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