Holocaust Memorial Day

Elie Wiesel once said, “To forget the victims means to kill them a second time. So I couldn’t prevent the first death. I surely must be capable of saving them from a second death.”

This echo opinion was published in the Baltimore Jewish Times written by Howard Libit*

Every spring as we approach Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, I am reminded how profoundly affected I am by each survivor’s story. Those who bore witness to unspeakable horrors, and those who lost everyone and were forced to start over again, suffered tremendous pain that no group of people should ever have to endure.

• Seventy-four years ago, as the extent of the Nazi atrocities became known, we vowed that the world would never forget. 

• Seventy-four years ago, we made a commitment that the Holocaust would never become a mere page in the annals of world history.

Yet, this May, as we commemorate Yom HaShoah, it’s hard to believe the horrors of the Holocaust are fading from the public consciousness. It hasn’t even been a century, yet already there are strong indications that memories of this atrocity are slipping – particularly among the younger generation.


A survey by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany found that 41 percent of millennials believe that substantially less than six million Jews were killed, and 70 percent say fewer people seem to care about the Holocaust than in the past. A similar study conducted with the Azrieli Foundation found that 52 percent of millennials in Canada cannot name one concentration camp or ghetto. Similar polls in Britain echo these findings.

Today anti-Semitism is on the rise and anti-Semitic hate incidents are surging around the world. That is why our agenda to educate and commemorate the Holocaust and remember its victims is becoming all that more urgent.

Over the years, the Baltimore Jewish Council (BJC), the advocacy arm of The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore, has been central to this effort. In addition to our annual community commemoration of Yom HaShoah – this year the program will be held on Sunday, May 5 – we engage in countless educational programs, run a Holocaust survivors speaker’s bureau and partner with the Jewish Museum of Maryland on teacher workshops. The BJC provides speakers for programs like this year’s events to mark Anne Frank’s birthday.

Last year, the BJC sent speakers to 54 public, private and parochial schools and organizations, including churches and military facilities. We know we made a difference when we hear from teachers, such as the John Carroll School’s Louise Brink Géczy, who said that the speaker’s bureau and teacher workshops have had a “greater impact on me and the students … than any other resource I have encountered in my 45 plus years as an educator.”

As Elie Wiesel once said, “To forget the victims means to kill them a second time. So I couldn’t prevent the first death. I surely must be capable of saving them from a second death.”

The stakes are high. We cannot fail.

*Howard Libit is executive director of the Baltimore Jewish Council.

Deadliest attack on Jews in American history

Marc Shapiro echo opinion published in the Baltimore Jewish Times newspaper November 1, 2018

This has been the hardest paper to put out in my more than five years at the Baltimore Jewish Times, for the unthinkable has happened. Eleven Jews were brutally murdered, on Shabbat of all days, in the United States of America, in 2018.

Names of the eleven victims of the racist massacre are at this link in USAToday.

As you’ll read in this issue, devoted to the deadliest attack on Jews in American history, Susan C. Ingram and I attended two community gatherings on Sunday, the first at Baltimore Hebrew Congregation and the second at Baltimore’s Holocaust Memorial in the afternoon. 

The Baltimore Jewish Council, in 1976, adopted the project to construct the major monument to Holocaust victims.

Hundreds turned out for both. In the morning, the crowd sang “Oseh Shalom” led by a large group of area clergy. Politicians sang and swayed with their arms around each other. Those who spoke emphasized the need to mourn, but the need for action when mourning is over.

While politics wasn’t widely mentioned during the morning’s speeches, some, such as BHC congregant Tracie Guy-Decker, called out white nationalism when they spoke to the JT. U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, who spoke at the event, told the JT that President Donald Trump’s comments “give space for hate.”


The afternoon gathering was a similar show of solidarity. There were several priests in attendance, a Muslim community leader and Jews of all stripes. Rabbi Ariana Katz of Hinenu: The Baltimore Justice Shtiebel read the names of the 11 victims and two African-Americans who were killed in Kentucky last week, to which the crowd responded “may their memory be for a blessing” after each name.

While both occasions were obviously solemn, solidarity and community unity were on full display. Jonah ben Avraham, a social justice organizer who helped put together the Holocaust Memorial gathering, spoke of how many groups there are that can stand together.

“Muslims, people of color, queers, Jews, people with disabilities, trans folks, immigrants — the list is a really long one and that means that the list of potential allies (opposing racism and antisemitism) is also very long.”

Connor Graham attended a gathering held at Beth Shalom Congregation in Columbia, MD where the building was overflowing with people standing elbow-to-elbow, and where clergy, after taking part in a program inside, held court in the parking lot for the hundreds who couldn’t get inside.

It’s abundantly clear that Baltimore stands strong with Pittsburgh in the face of hate and anti-Semitism. 

But it’s also clear that something needs to change to stem the tide of hate crimes, anti-Semitism and homegrown terror in our country. Our survival depends on it.

As BHC Rabbi Elissa Sachs-Kohen said, “Today we mourn. Tomorrow, let us stand up strong together.”


mshapiro@midatlanticmedia.com