Still remembering after 66 years

ENDURING legacies and the memory of the six million Jewish lives lost during the Holocaust will be the theme at this year’s Yom Hashoah community commemoration in Melbourne.

Organised by the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, the memorial is an opportunity to pause and reflect on the enormity of the Holocaust, on the 66th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

“As a community, we must remember those who perished and ensure that their legacies endure. This is our communal responsibility. Attending the commemoration is one way of doing this,” convenor Anton Block explained.

“The Holocaust reminds us how fragile life can be, that madmen can be given a platform from which they can wreak extreme havoc.”

He added that the legacy of the Holocaust is the lessons it teaches to the whole world about the impact of racism and anti-Semitism.

To be held on Sunday, May 1, the evening will include testimonials from survivors Genia Tigel and Philip Maisel.

Maisel will, in part, speak of his friendship with Hirsh Glick, who famously wrote the Partisan Song.

Survivor Simon Michalowicz will sing a piece he wrote after the Holocaust. A combined schools choir will also feature, along with a youth ensemble.

“We will reflect on the world that was before the Holocaust, focusing on the rich tapestry of Jewish life in the areas of religion, culture, education, family life, music and communal life,” Block said.

“Notwithstanding that destruction, the legacy endures as Jewish life was reborn in Europe and continues to thrive in other parts of the world.”

The candle-lighters for 2011 will be Simon Michalowicz, Hanka Siegreich, Siegmund Siegreich, Irma Hanna, Fred Steiner and Elka Eckstein.

The Yom Hashoah communal event will commence at 7.30pm at Robert Blackwood Hall, Monash Clayton. Enquiries: (03) 9272 5566.

DALIA SABLE