The Kansas City Jewish community and the State of Kansas will commemorate Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Community commemoration
This year’s annual community-organized Yom HaShoah commemoration has been scheduled for May 5 to honor victims of the Holocaust and the 81st anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
The commemoration will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 5, at The Lewis and Shirley White Theatre at the Jewish Community Campus (5801 W. 115th St., Overland Park, KS 66211).
The 2024 community Yom Hashoah service is chaired by Dr. Henry Kanarek, son of Holocaust survivor Dr. Joseph Kanarek (z”l). The Yom Hashoah commemoration is a free event open to the public. Anyone unable to attend in person is invited to watch a livestream event on the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education (MCHE) YouTube channel (youtube.com/@MCHEKansasCity) beginning at 1:30 p.m. that day.
“Preparing for Yom Hashoah and to honor my fathers memory has been difficult,” Dr. Henry Kanarek said. “My father never spoke of what happened to him in order to spare us the pain of knowing. My siblings and I wanted to spare him the pain of asking him to remember what he went through. Although it can be uncomfortable, we need to educate ourselves, we need to educate others, and we need to never forget what we learn from our past. We can do this by remembering to take a dedicated moment each year on Yom Hashoah, taking a class together at MCHE, using the many research resources on-line with growing databases. Together we must Never Forget.”
Community organizations involved with this year’s Yom HaShoah commemoration include Congregation Beth Shalom and its Sisterhood; Congregation Beth Israel Abraham and Voliner; Congregation Kol Ami; Hadassah, Greater Kansas City; Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Kansas City; Kansas City AIPAC; Kehilath Israel Synagogue; Menorah Heritage Foundation; MCHE; National Council of Jewish Women; Rabbinical Association of Greater Kansas City; The New Reform Temple; and The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah and its Sisterhood.
State commemoration
The Kansas Holocaust Commemoration service memorializes the victims of the Holocaust at the annual official state observance. This year, it will be held on May 6 at 1 p.m. in Topeka at the Downtown Topeka Ramada Inn (420 SE 6th St., Topeka, KS 66607).
Governor Laura Kelly will present the Kansas Proclamation for the Days of Remembrance which includes the following statements: “…the people of the State of Kansas should always remember the terrible events of the Holocaust and remain vigilant against hatred, persecution and tyranny…”
The theme of this year’s program is “Lives Lost and Stories Told,” with a keynote address by Micha Menczer, a retired attorney. He will tell the stories of his father, Mottel Menczer, who survived the Holocaust and was able to emigrate to North America.
Kansas clergy, political leaders and students will participate in the program. Holocaust survivors, World War II veterans and second-generation sons and daughters will be recognized.
The program, which will last for about an hour, is hosted by the Kansas Holocaust Commission. Commission members are appointed by the governor for the purpose of organizing the annual commemoration.
The event is free and open to the public. Registration is available at mchekc.org/kansas-holocaust-commemoration. Bus subsidy applications for Kansas schools are also available at that link.
For those unable to attend, the program will be available on the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education YouTube channel after the event.
More information is available by calling Topeka’s Temple Beth Sholom at (785) 272-6040.
