Area residents sought who know of individuals who put their lives at risk to save Jews.
Celine K. Ehrlich, of San Diego, Calif., and formerly of Springfield, lights a candle in memory of her entire extended family who perished under the Nazi regime in the Netherlands during the 2006 Yom HaShoah Holocaust Memorial Observance at Temple Beth El in Springfield. Area residents are being sought to share stories of rescues related to the Holocaust, as part of the annual Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day on April 18 at 7 p.m. at Congregation B’nai Torah, 2 Eunice Drive, Longmeadow. This year’s memorial service will carry the theme designated by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, “Choosing to Act: Stories of Rescue.”
Jeffrey Rembrandt, assistant executive director of the Springfield Jewish Community Center, said the commemoration will focus on stories about heroes who helped and risked their lives for Jews.
Rembrandt said most people are familiar with the story of the German-born teen Anne Frank, whose family and four other Dutch Jews lived for two years in a secret annex provided for them by friends and colleagues in the Netherlands before being arrested by the Gestapo, occupying Nazi Germany’s secret state police. Although Frank would become one of the more than one million Jewish children to die in the Holocaust, she left behind a diary that chronicles how the family was hidden through the kindness of those opposed to the Nazis.
Rembrandt said others took similar actions to try to save Jews and others targeted by the Nazis for extermination. “Maybe they didn’t hide people, but they stood up to the Nazis so their neighbors wouldn’t be taken away,” Rembrandt said. “Many of those people or their children are still around today. They deserve a lot of credit; they saved a lot of lives. We thought it would be exciting to publicly thank them.” The Yom HaShoah Committee would like to include any stories shared with them in a remembrance book in the lobby of the center that has a display dedicated to area survivors and their families. Anyone sharing a story is invited to the event. Contributors can, however, request that their stories not be included in the service.
Rembrandt said the emphasis has shifted a bit for this annual service.
“So often the Holocaust Memorial Day focuses on the memory of those who perished, and we teach our children about the sad parts and the despicable acts that took place,” he said. “There is some humanity that comes through as well, and that’s what we want to focus on.”
The Springfield area has been home to many Holocaust survivors and their descendants over the years, but stories continue to be unveiled for the first time, many decades after the tragedies took place, he said.
“It might have been their grandfather who was a rescuer,” Rembrandt said. “Maybe they heard the story when they were little but didn’t think twice about it because it was just another grandfather’s story, until someone has asked them to share it.”
The service, which lasts about an hour, will include solemn music, a performance by the youth choir from Heritage Day School in Longmeadow, prayers, candle-lighting and readings from the rescuers’ stories. Everyone of any faith is welcome at the service.
“It’s a very moving event that really hits your heart,” Rembrandt said. “If we don’t teach history, we’re doomed to repeat it. There have been a number of genocides that have happened since, but we want to make sure genocide doesn’t happen again.”
Lawrence E. Smolarz of Springfield, who is the chairman of the Yom HaShoah Committee, is the child of survivors, who came to the U.S. in the late 1940s. His family story is part of the exhibit, “A Living Memorial: Holocaust Survivor Families,” now housed for future exhibition at the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History.
Smolarz said from a Jewish religious perspective, it’s important to honor the memories of lost loved ones, but there’s another motivation to hold this memorial event every year.
“In the face of a world where Holocaust deniers continue to get publicity, it’s another reason to continue this on a regular basis to refute those deniers,” Smolarz said.
Smolarz said he hopes that more people with stories to share come forward.
“It’s not just a Jewish issue; it’s a human thing,” he said. “When there are people that are willing to risk their lives to save someone, it deserves to be honored and recognized as well.”
This event is held in conjunction with other Holocaust remembrance events across the country. Congress established the Days of Remembrance in the U.S. more than 60 years ago to remember the approximately 6 million Jewish people and 5 million others who died in the Holocaust.
Anyone with information about area rescuers to share may contact Rembrandt at (413) 739-4715 or via email to jrembrandt@jcca.org.