Mayor Scott D. Jackson has proclaimed the week of May 1 through May 8 as Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust.

The Town will host a Holocaust Remembrance Day observance on Friday, May 6 at noon in Thornton Wilder
Hall at the Miller Library Complex. The ceremony is open to the public.

This year’s theme is Justice and Accountability in the Face of Genocide. This year marks the 65th anniversary of the verdicts at the first Nuremberg trial and the 50th anniversary of the trial of Adolf Eichmann. A light lunch will be served following the ceremony.

Our keynote speaker this year will be Jim Messina, a teacher of Religion and History at St. Martin DePorres Academy in New Haven, one of 25 teachers from across
the United States selected for a three week intensive seminar sponsored by the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors.

The seminar began in Washington DC at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the group then traveled to Yad VaShem, Israel; Berlin, Germany; Warsaw and Krakow, Poland, visiting exhibits and museums dedicated to the Holocaust, as well as several of the camps and other historic sites.

Jackson will provide a proclamation and remarks and introduce master of ceremonies Dr. Barry Herman. Rabbi Menachem Piekarski will provide an invocation. A short video entitled “Justice and Accountability in the Face of Genocide: What Have we Learned?” will be shown, followed by a flute solo by Meri Fleischman.

Chaya Blitzer will tell her story titled “Finding Dina: A Holocaust Miracle” and Hamden High School student Alexandra Shuttleworth will present an original song.

Rabbi Alison Adler will introduce 7th grade students from Congregation Mishkan Israel, who will present essays. A candle lighting ceremony will be accompanied by a responsive prayer led by Rabbi Herbert Brockman of Congregation Mishkan Israel. Audience members also will be invited to make brief comments.

This year’s observance is the town’s ninth Holocaust Remembrance Day. The U.S. Congress established the Days of Remembrance as our nation’s annual civic commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust, and as a time for reminding Americans of what can happen to civilized people when bigotry, hatred and indifference reign.