The annual Yom HaShoah Commemoration and State of Kansas Holocaust Commemoration are scheduled for April 12 and 20, respectively.
The two events will honor the memory of the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust and the legacy of survivors. They are supported by the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education (MCHE).
The Yom HaShoah Commemoration will take place at 1:30 p.m. on April 12 at The White Theatre at The J (5801 W. 115th St., Overland Park, KS 66211).
This year the commemoration is chaired by Geri Crain, daughter of Holocaust survivor Alice Kern, a survivor from Sighet, Romania, who was interned in Auschwitz-Birkenau and Bergen-Belsen. The commemoration will feature a special tribute to the survivors with the children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors — the second and third generation — singing “Zog Nit Keynmol” with the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy choir.
Reflecting on the importance of Yom Hashoah, Kern said, “Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and Nobel Laureate, wrote, ‘Because I remember, I despair. Because I remember, I have the duty to reject despair.’ My mother and Elie knew one another in Sighet, Romania, before they were deported. Yom Hashoah is a time to honor those who did not survive, and it is also a moment to come together — to reject despair in their memory and to affirm hope for generations to come.”
The Yom Hashoah commemoration is open to the public. Anyone unable to attend in person is invited to watch the livestream on the MCHE Kansas City YouTube channel.
The Kansas Holocaust Commemoration will take place at 1 p.m. on April 20 at the Topeka Civic Theatre (3028 S.W. 8th Ave., Topeka, KS 66606).
Dr. Judy Jacobs, a Hungarian survivor from Budapest, will deliver the keynote address. Dr. Jacobs left Hungary on the Kastner train and survived incarceration at Bergen-Belsen before reaching safety in Switzerland. Governor Laura Kelly will sign a proclamation declaring the Days of Remembrance.
The commemoration is open to the public and to school audiences.
Registration is requested at mchekc.org/kansas-holocaust-commemoration. A video of the commemoration will be available on the MCHE Kansas City YouTube channel in the days following the program.