[Archived from March 20, 2009]
[by Phyllis Shaikun]
Each year, Jewish communities around the world set aside one special day, Yom HaShoah, to come together to remember and acknowledge the loss of 6 million Jews and 5 million others, including 2 million children, murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust, and also to teach the lessons of the Shoah that tolerance and understanding must defeat bigotry and hatred in our world.
This year’s Louisville commemoration, entitled “Remember for Life,” will be held on Monday, April 20, 7 p.m., at Bellarmine University’s Frazier Hall. Keynote speaker will be Rabbi Bradley Hirschfield, president of CLAL – the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership. CLAL stimulates lay, professional and rabbinic leadership to help build inclusive, responsive Jewish communities, makes individuals aware of new Jewish possibilities and develops insights from Jewish wisdom to share with the American Jewish community.
An acclaimed author, lecturer and commentator on religion, society and pop culture, Rabbi Hirschfield offers a unique perspective on the American spiritual landscape and political and social trends to audiences nationwide. Ranked two years in a row as one of Newsweek’s “Top 50 Rabbis in America,” he was the only rabbi featured on ABC’s “Nightline UpClose” and is a frequent commentator on CNN, PBS, MTV and NPR. He has a regular spot on WWSB-TV (Florida ABC affiliate) as well as PBS-TV’s “Frontline: Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero” and “Religion and Ethics Newsweekly.”
Rabbi Hirschfield recently wrote a book entitled Remember for Life, in which he pairs each week’s Torah portion with a related story about the Holocaust. His address on Yom HaShoah will acknowledge that Jewish communities around the country are losing the survivors who lived among them, like Ernie Marx and Ilse Meyer, and soon they all will be gone. People will not have the opportunity for a tangible experience with someone who lived through the Shoah, so we need to build a dynamic from their stories that will allow us to be proactive in commemorating them and making the lessons of the Holocaust relevant for future generations.
The Louisville Youth Choir will provide a musical accompaniment. The text for the lyrics from their song was found carved on a cellar wall in Cologne, Germany, where Jews were hiding from the Nazis.
“I believe in the sun, even when it is not shining. And I believe in love, even when there’s no one there. And I believe in God, even when He is silent. I believe through any trial, there’s always a way. But sometimes in this suffering and hopeless despair, my heart cries for shelter even when there’s no one there. But a voice rises within me, saying hold on, my child. I’ll give you strength. I’ll give you hope, just stay a little while. May there someday be sunshine. May there someday be happiness. May there someday be love. May there someday be peace.”
While there are still some Holocaust survivors among us to tell the stories and bear witness to the suffering, their numbers decline each year. We come together to resolve, in their names, that such a tragedy will never happen again. Each year the names of Holocaust victims are recalled at the program. The current list of names is available on the Federation’s website at www.jewishlouisville.org. If you have relatives or friends, not already on the list, whose name you would be interested in having remembered that evening, please send them to Scott Goldman, 459-0660; e-mail sgoldman@jccoflouisville; submit them by clicking here.
Jon Klein is chairperson of the Yom HaShoah 2009 Planning Committee. Committee members include Peter Anik, Helene Banks, Jeff Bar, Craig Friedman, Gila Glattstein, Fred Gross, Michael Gross, Ann Klein, Cantor David Lipp, Keith Meador, Keiron O’Connell, Daniel Penner, Daniel Streit, Dr. Melanie-Prejean Sullivan and Fred Whittaker.
The program is sponsored by the Jewish Community Center and the Jewish Community Federation. The Jewish community is grateful to Bellarmine University for hosting the event and to its staff for their support of the Yom HaShoah program.
The following is the current list of names of Holocaust victims (also available online at www.jewishlouisville.org) to be recalled during the program:
Rosalie Kaufman
Asneh Engelman
Minka Engelman
Estraya Menashe Capelouto
Leonora Capelouto
Serena Shemarya Fis
Joshua Fis
Zoltán Klein
Erzsébet Guttman Klein
Béla Löw
Frieda Weisz Löw
Gyorgy Löw
András Löw
Janos Wiesshaus
Judit Kemény
Siegmund Marx
Moshe Marx
Isidor Marx
Theresa (Toni) Heumann Marx
Salomon Marx
Yette Steinberger
Herman Steinberger
Ruth Steinberger
Jonas Gruenebaum
Else Gruenebaum
Hanni Gruenebaum
Herman Eiseman
Edmund Steinberger
Meinhardt Lichtenstein
Kaethe Lichtenstein
Inge Lichtenstein
Leo Meyer
Sophie Meyer
Bertha Meyer
Minnie and David Epstein and their Grandchildren
Moses Roth
Viktor Roth
Eva Roth, daughter of Joseph Roth and Borishka Blau Roth
Pinkas Grunstein
Shari Roth Grunstein
Miriam Gluck Roth
Malie Gross
Lotta Gross
Naftali Gross
Hermann Gross
Frieda Kraemer
Leopold Kraemer
Dora Kraemer
Eva Kraemer
Ina Kraemer
Arthur Kopf and Family
Josef Goldfarb
Sarah Goldfarb
Pearl Goldfarb
Brine Sheiness
Esther Gittel Perkal
Chaim Josef Jacubowicz
Nacha Jacubowicz
Mosze Jacubowicz
Shulim Roth
Sidonie Roth
Joseph Bernstein
Josef Lowenhek
Scheindl Lowenhek
Ethel Roth Dank
Saul Dank
Frimet Dank
Israel Dank
Josef Schmidt
Frieda Schmidt
Ludwig Schmidt
Helene Kuhn
Phillip Kuhn
Ruth Shapero
Boruch Mezheritsky
Rachel Osser
Yoseph Osser
Morris Osser
Harry Osser
Sonya Medaisky
Cerka Farber
Joseph Farber
Alex Eurbach
Silvia Fredenika Eurbach
Etka Glanz
Frieda Weiskopf
Moishe Glanz
Sofie Schloessinger
Helen Loewenstein
Jacob Loewenstein
Betty Loewenstein
Arthur and Selma Baer, their son and daughter
Edward Bensinger
Simon Bensinger and children
Max Bensinger
Augusta Valfer and husband
Regina Mannheimer
Rose Schlisser
Bernard Halpern
Anna Halpern
Yitzhak Bronzstein
Rachel Bronzstein
Zelda Malka Bronzstein
Shlomo Bronzstein
Nochim Gavi
Rachel Poly
Kiva Poly
Chiena Poly
Baile Gavi
Shai Gavi
David Gavi
Mania Gavi
Fania Gavi
Polia Gavi
Miron Gavi
Aron Gavi
Isaac Gavi
Sara Gavi
Soly Gavi
Fira Gavi
Frida Gavi
Helene Kanter
Hugho Gross
Etta Gross
Keila (Redlich) Waldman
Leib Waldman
Nissan Redlich
Devorah (Lederman) Szlenczynski
Abraham Szlenczynski
Max Szlenczynski
Morris Szlenczynski
Meir Szlenczynski
Syra Shteinberg
Feiga Shteinberg
Mikhail Shteinberg
Sheiva Rakhman
Joseph Rakhman
Chava Rakhman
Mariya Rakhman
Esther Rakhman
Raisa Rakhman
Yllya Rakhman
Ethel Rakhman
Alfred Baruch
Gertrude Baruch
Bertha and Isidor Lion
Hedwig and Bernhard Boehm
Ida Frank
Jenny Wertheim
Jacob and Martha Moritz
Benjamin Scheer and family
Josef Broniatowski,
his wife Sally Broniatowski, and their son Sascha Broniatowski.
Moniek Merin
Lea Merin
Motel Merin
Rose Merin
Chaim Merin
Romek Merin
Srulek Merin
Izy Merin
Mila Grandapel
Channa Grandapel
Pinchus Grandapel
Israel Grandapel
Romek Grandapel
Feiwel Schubert
Mala Schubert
Hermann Jamner
Julie Wertheim
Sigmund Einstein
Martha Silvermann Einstein
Thelma Sara Rothschild
Julia Rothschild
Frederick Rothschild
Heinz Wolfsohn
Trude Wolfsohn
Mario Wolfsohn
Else Wolfsohn
