Holocaust Remembrance Planned in Teaneck

The following is a press release submitted by the event organizers: 

The Jewish Community Council of Teaneck will hold its 33nd annual observance of Yom Hashoah, Annual Holocaust Commemoration Event on Monday, April 8th at 7:30pm at the Teaneck High School auditorium. This year’s keynote speaker is Moshe Baran, Holocaust survivor from Poland and Partisan Fighter.

Moshe Baran, grew up in the village of Horodok, in what was then Poland. In the spring of 1942, at the age of 22, Moshe and others were sent to Krasne, site of the region's last ghetto. Moshe escaped the ghetto by digging his way under a fence and walking 15 miles where he joined the Partisans resistance group. For the next three years, he worked with the Partisans to sabotage and fight German troops. In a displaced persons camp in Linz, Austria, Baran met his future wife, Malka, who had survived Treblinka. Moshe travels extensively sharing his holocaust experiences. There will be a special musical presentation by Avram, Elisha and Zalmen Mlotek at the main event.

This annual event is one of the most well attended cross denominational events in Teaneck. It is an opportunity to honor those survivors who are living in our community and memorialize those who perished during the shoa. The program touches not only survivors, but second generation, many of whom reside in Teaneck, grandchildren of survivors and others.  The commemoration itself takes almost a year to plan.  The many facets of the program include identifying a compelling keynote speaker, arranging for various musical elements including securing a singer for our national anthems, pianist, and the music presentation at the pre-event reception and at the main event. We invite selected community rabbis to participate in components of the program and try to be inclusive of all denominations.

One of the most important yet challenging parts of the program has become the identification of 6 local families, each of whom have three living generations including a survivor to participate in the candle lighting segment. These families are an integral part of our program as they participate on stage while the names of those loved ones who perished in the Holocaust are read out loud by Rabbi John Krug and Arline Duker.  Over the last few years, it has become increasingly difficult to find families that still have living survivor and second and third generation family member all of whom live locally.

If you know of a survivor who has a child and grandchild (over 10) who might be interested in participating in our program, contact Reggie Koenig at regimk325@aol.com or 201-838-5466.

There will also be a pre-event Reception honoring all local Survivors and their families which will begin at 6pm at THS, in the Media room, next to the main auditorium. We invite all Teaneck area Survivors to join us for this reception.  

To RSVP for the reception, contact Dena at 917-334-0937. For more information about the event, go to www.teaneckyomhashoa.org.