In the wake of anti-Semitic violence, New Yorkers remember the Holocaust

Queensborough Community College will host a Yom Hashoah Commemoration on May 5. Photo by Rolf Schweizer Fotografie via Wiki Commons.

By Victoria Merlino

Across the city Thursday, New Yorkers remembered the 6 million Jewish people who were murderd during the Holocaust on Yom Hashoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day. The April 27 attack on a synagogue in California, when a gunman killed one person and injured three others on the last day of Passover, was fresh in many minds.

“The Holocaust reminds us of the worst that can happen when people turn their backs to hatred, racism and oppression, instead of confronting them head on. More than seven decades after the last concentration camp was forcibly closed, the vile evil of anti-Semitism is still ever present in our city and throughout the world,” said City Council Speaker Corey Johnson in a statement.

U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who represents Western Queens, also remarked on the shooting. “Today, on Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, we honor the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust. It is in their memory that we say ‘Never Again,’” she said.

“Yet, this promise rings hollow as incidents of antisemitism continue to rise around the country. Just this past Saturday, on the final day of Passover, a gunman entered Chabad of Poway synagogue and killed Lori Gilbert Kaye and injured three others,” Maloney continued. “Six months before, another gunman attacked Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue, killing eleven worshippers and injuring 7 more.”

In February, Maloney introduced a bill called the Never Again Education Act, which would create a grant program to help fund the research and training necessary to teach students about the horrors of the Holocaust.

The commemoration will continue throughout the week.

On Sunday, May 5, Queensborough Community College will host a discussion with three second-generation survivors of the Holocaust at the Kupferberg Holocaust Center, located at 222-05 56th Ave., on May 5 at 1 p.m.

On May 8 at 6 p.m., the Brandies Association will host its annual Holocaust Remembrance Program, featuring testimony from Irving Roth, a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

The remembrance and memorial candle lighting ceremony will take place at the Queens County Civil Court Jury Room, located at 89-17 Sutphin Blvd. in Jamaica.

There will be a complimentary Light Kosher Supper at 5:30 p.m. Registration is required at brandeisassociation.org.