The Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus (HMCZFC) in Farmington Hills and co-sponsor Shaarit Haplaytah announce their 2009 Yom HaShoah Commemoration event. The event will be held at 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 19, just prior to the international recognition that takes place this year on April 21. The Center is located at 28123 Orchard Lake Road.
The HMCZFC event is held in cooperation with World Federation of Jewish Child Survivors of the Holocaust, C.H.A.I.M. (Children of Holocaust Survivors Association of Michigan) and B’nai B’rith Great Lakes Region.
Yom HaShoah, also known as Holocaust Remembrance Day, is observed as a commemoration for the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust.
B’nai B’rith International, Great Lakes Region will conduct a program, “Unto Every Person There Is A Name.” Volunteers from several area organizations will read aloud names of Holocaust victims.
The event will feature a keynote speech by Cpl. Tibor Rubin, a Nazi concentration camp survivor and bearer of the Congressional Medal of Honor. He will speak about his liberation from Mauthausen by American troops and his subsequent fight for America as a U.S. soldier.
Rubin joined the U.S. Army following his liberation by American forces from Nazi concentration camps, pledging to show his appreciation for his liberators. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroism during the Korean War. He repeatedly risked his life to protect his fellow soldiers from enemy attacks. He also brought food and supplies to U.S. prisoners of war, while himself a captive in Korea.
The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in action against an enemy force which can be bestowed upon an individual serving in the Armed Services of the United States.
“We are honored to have such a distinguished speaker and decorated war veteran speak at our Yom HaShoah event,” said Dr. Guy Stern, Interim Director, Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus. “We encourage the entire community to attend this commemoration, so that we may never forget those who died in the Holocaust nor forget the lessons learned from this terrible period in history.”
Other April 19 activities include a candle lighting ceremony by members of Shaarit Haplaytah in memory of the Holocaust victims and fallen Israeli soldiers, musical selections of Cantor Meir Finkelstein and an original reading by Shari Ferber Kaufman. The service will conclude with closing remarks from Stern, followed by the recitation by attendees of the Kaddish memorial prayer led by Cantor Meir Finkelstein of Congregation Shaarey Zedek. All events are free of charge and open to the public.
The Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus is the first freestanding Holocaust museum in North America.
The Holocaust Memorial Center's stated objectives are:
* To preserve the memory of the 6,000,000 Jews murdered in the Holocaust.
* To preserve the history of the 5,000 Jewish communities wiped out by the Nazis.
* To record the apathy of the many who did nothing and to honor those who risked their lives to save Jews.
* To recall the cultural, social, and religious richness of Jewish life in Europe prior to the Holocaust.
* To record the terror of the Nazi Holocaust and the events that led to it.
* To help future generations understand and direct their lives to the maintenance of an open, free society.
* To nourish a social consciousness whereby the righteous acts of the few become the standard of the many.
The facility is wheelchair accessible and free parking is available at both the North and South entrances.
For more information about the Holocaust Memorial Center, visit www.holocaustcenter.org, or call 248-553-2400, extension 12.
