The 2011 Twin Cities Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) Commemoration will be held this Sunday at Bet Shalom Congregation in Minnetonka.
The commemoration will reflect the theme, "Legacy: The Writing of Survivor Stories," which will illustrate the importance of Holocaust survivors sharing their stories with future generations.
This year, the commemoration will feature Christos Nicola, author of "The Secret of Priest's Grotto: A Holocaust Survival Story." The story details a team of experienced cavers that discover in the Ukraine artifacts belonging to a Jewish family that survived the Holocaust living in the caves known as Priest's Grotto.
The commemoration will also feature "Transfer of Memory," a photographic exhibit of Holocaust survivor portraits. The exhibit is a collaboration between the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas (JCRC) and local photographer, David Sherman. Israel Defense Forces soldiers and participants from Talmud Torah of Minneapolis' Adopt-a-survivor program will also participate in the program.
The annual Yom HaShoah Commemoration remembers the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust. As is tradition at Yom HaShoah, Holocaust survivors are invited to light candles in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. Members of the Children of Holocaust Survivors Association in Minnesota (CHAIM) will assist in the lighting of candles.
For the past 31 years, the JCRC has organized and hosted the Twin Cities Yom HaShoah Commemoration. The 7 p.m. commemoration is free of charge and open to the public.
The Yom HaShoah Commemoration is co-sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas, CHAIM, Bet Shalom Congregation, Minneapolis Jewish Federation and United Jewish Fund and Council of St. Paul.
