28th April 2022

By Marion Stone

It was another evening of learning and remembering, brought together by a joint committee of Hadassah-Israel and ESRA members.
Hedy Shron introduced Hadassah-Israel Levonah co-President, Zenia Cohen, who welcomed everyone in the audience and praised everyone on the joint planning committee for their cooperation and hard work.

Zenia then introduced Shlomo Pazzy, Deputy Mayor of Modi’in, who made it clear to the audience that from year to year fewer and fewer witnesses to what happened during the Holocaust are around to tell their stories, but the stories must continue to be told because they stand against the lies of deniers, as the truth.

There are still wars in the world, but even though innocent people are being killed mercilessly and suffering much loss they are not causing the same cruelty as the mass systematic widespread suffering and murder that targeted large Jewish populations. Pazzy said that Israel must continue to stand strong against any future threats to our nation, such as Iran, for in today’s world we can only depend on ourselves.

The Memorial Candlelighting ceremony was led by Ruchama Berkovitch, who introduced the 6 people who were to light a candle, one for each million Jews who were murdered during the second world war.

Bonnie Bachenheimer, Beverley Rockman Edel, Judy Rubin Golub, Yehuda Sapir, Lucy Schonbach, Florence Wiener all described their families and what happened to them, and each lit a candle. Each individual told about their family, grandparents, parents, aunts, and uncles who had lost their lives or suffered deep pain, and how those who survived rebuilt their lives in freedom.

El Maale Rachamim was then recited by Chazan David Apfel.

Chaim Sanders spoke about his connection to the evening’s main speaker, Charles Siegman, and told us of the illustrious career that he achieved after his horrific experiences as a child trying to survive in inhumane conditions. 

And then, Charles Siegman came onto the stage and kept the audience gripped as he told his story.

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE: Hadassah Israel Levonah Chapter ESRA - Yom HaShoah Memorial Event

Zenia Cohen, Co President	Shlomo Pazzy, Deputy Mayor, Modiin	Candle Lighters	Chazan David Apfel
Rita Katz, Co President & Charles Siegman	Rabbi Jeff Shron	Akiva Sprung	Carol Lipman