Yom HaShoah Commemoration April 7
Hundreds of South Floridians will gather at the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation on Sunday, April 7, at 6:30 p.m., to remember the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust in observance of Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day.
A highlight of the event will be the U.S. debut of eight works of art painted by renowned Belgian artist Carol Deutsch, who perished in the Holocaust. The panels depicting various biblical scenes are on loan from the permanent collection of Yad Vashem, Israel’s renowned Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem. They remained hidden throughout World War II and were discovered by Deutsch’s daughter and mother-in-law in 1945, less than a year after the artist died in the Buchenwald concentration camp.
Beginning at 6:30 p.m., a multi-generational group — including elderly Holocaust survivors, families and school children — will assemble at the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach to observe this annual occasion with a solemn commemoration. The program will feature prayers, songs, a candle-lighting ceremony and other presentations, memorializing the men, women and children who died in the Holocaust and paying tribute to those who survived. The Second Avenue Jewish Chorale will perform as part of the observance.
Yom HaShoah also will present a tribute to Jewish American soldiers who were captured by the Nazis during World War II and held in concentration camps. Fred Rosenkof, a U.S. Army veteran, will testify about witnessing Jews being brutalized in the Mauthausen Concentration Camp while he was a prisoner of war.
Earlier in the day, the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach will host a screening of director Claude Lanzmann’s acclaimed film Shoah, an examination of Nazi extermination of the Jews at Treblinka and Auschwitz-Birkenau. Presentation of the nine-hour film will begin at 7:30 a.m. with breaks for discussion and lunch.
The Yom HaShoah observance is being presented by the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation in partnership with a coalition of civic, cultural, educational and charitable organizations. It is supported by the City of Miami Beach Cultural Affairs Program, Cultural Arts Council.
The Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach is located at 1933-45 Meridian Avenue. Free parking is available south of the Memorial. In case of rain, the program will be held at Temple Emanu-El, 1701 Washington Avenue. For additional information, call the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach at 305-538-1663.