Remembering the resistance

Yom HaZikaron laShoah, Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day, is most often referred to as Yom HaShoah. It is observed as Israel’s day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust by Nazi Germany and its collaborators, and for the Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the largest act of resistance to Nazi aggression during the Holocaust.

The first official commemorations took place in 1951, and the observance of the day was anchored in a law passed by the Knesset in 1959. It is held on the 27th of Nisan (which falls this year on April 18), unless the 27th would be adjacent to the Jewish Sabbath, in which case the date is shifted by a day.

The Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center will host an event to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust and focus on the importance of L’Dor Vador —from generation to generation — and include a testimony from Holocaust survivor Thomas Lauferon and second- generation survivor, Susan Bach, whose parents were members of the Bielski Partisans. The event will be held Tuesday, April 18, from 6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m., at the Roth Family JCC.

This event will include candle lighting and live music from Mati Braun and Holly Small, teen members of Congregation of Reform Judaism, and Rebecca Kira and Eric Levine. The students and teachers who won the White Rose Essay Contest will also be recognized.

For more information and to register, visit bit.ly/yomhashoah23.