Teaneck Holocaust Commemoration Committee

A Division of the Jewish Community Council of Greater Teaneck

February 27, 2018 Press Release Annual Teaneck Holocaust Commemoration date is April 11, 2018 Contact: Amy Elfman [email protected] 917-576-7444 The Jewish Community Council of Greater Teaneck will hold its annual observance of Yom Hashoa on Wednesday, April 11, 2018 at 7:30pm at Teaneck High School. The keynote speaker this year will be Dr. Moshe Avital. Dr. Avital survived six different concentration camps and was eventually liberated at Buchenwald. Traveling illegally to Palestine, Dr. Avital fought in Israel’s wars from 1947 to 1956. A well known author and speaker, Dr. Avital’s harrowing journey from victim to victor is one you won’t want to miss. The program will once again feature vocalist Jonathan Rimberg accompanied by violinist Stephanie Kurtzman and the Yeshivat Noam Choir. A highlight of the event will be a multi-generational candle lighting ceremony led by holocaust survivors and their families during which the names of holocaust victims with ties to the community will be read. A pre-event reception for survivors and their families will take place in the high school’s Media room, beginning at 6:00pm. Light refreshments will be served and Hebrew and Yiddish music will be provided by Yitzy Glicksman. During the month of April, the Teaneck Public Library will feature a special Holocaust-inspired exhibit by students of Ma’aynot High School for Girls in Teaneck. This same artwork will be exhibited in Bergenfield’s Public Library during the month of May. The event is free to the public and handicapped-accessible accommodations are available. Teaneck High School is located on Cranford Place (off Queen Anne Road). For more information, go to teaneckyomhashoa.org or call Steve Fox at 201-362-6776. To attend the reception for survivors and their families, please Annette Prager 201-638-5621.

The Teaneck town council has approved a proposal that would place a Holocaust memorial in Paul A. Volcker Municipal Green, the park in front of its town hall, along with a memorial to Africans enslaved in America. This marks the conclusion of three years of discussions with the town over the memorial. Earlier proposals would have placed the memorial in other public parks, and perhaps built a freestanding educational center. Now, with the space and scope of the memorial set, the hard work of raising money and building it can begin. The township provided for two 35-foot-square areas to be allocated to the each memorial, with more space designated for possible future memorials to other groups. Overall, the space between Teaneck Road and the municipal building will become a “Garden to Nurture Human Understanding.” “We will be looking for foundations and organizations who find the concept of a Holocaust memorial as well as a memorial for enslaved Africans on the same township green appealing,” Steve Fox said. Mr. Fox is co-chair of the Teaneck Holocaust Commemoration Committee subcommittee working on the memorial. Mr. Fox said he hopes to have fundraising materials available for the group’s Yom Hashoah commemoration at Teaneck High on May 4. He said the group hopes to break ground on the project next spring. First, it will set up an advisory board. “These will be members of the greater community who may be actual survivors, or second or third generation, or other people who feel strongly about what we are doing and can help in our fundraising effort,” he said. While the memorial will be in Teaneck, the committee sees it as serving as a regional center for remembering the Holocaust, and hopes to attract support from neighboring towns. “We will be offering individuals the opportunity to memorialize a family member or friend who was killed during the Shoah on the memorial tablets that will line the memorial,” he said. “We will also be looking into Jewish philanthropic organizations who value Holocaust remembrance and education to work with us.” There is not yet a fundraising target. But the more money is raised, Mr. Fox said, the more the committee can advance its educational mission. “We are looking at this as not just a memorial but as a mini museum. We’re going to have an entire educational process.” This may take the form of an interactive app that would provide information beyond that given on the panels planned for the memorial. The committee also hopes to arrange with the library to provide an indoor extension of the memorial, “perhaps housing different artifacts or screens for education purposes.” The group also is considering producing a video featuring interviews with local Holocaust survivors. “Not to do a 90 minute interview like you see in a Spielberg thing, but to ask each one a few questions and put them together in one presentation,” Mr. Fox said.

The Jewish Community Council of Greater Teaneck will hold its annual observance of Yom HaShoah on Wednesday, May 4 at 7:30 p.m. at Teaneck High School. The keynote speaker this year is Helga Marx Silbermann. In 1938, 13-year-old Helga ran with her grandfather into their burning shul to rescue a Torah scroll. During the war, she was in a position to warn Jews destined for death, saving many lives. Her story and her will to survive with the Torah scroll she helped save are nothing short of a miracle. The musical presentation will once again feature Jonathan Rimberg on piano and singing, and Stephanie Kurtzman on violin. Jonathan will be joined by the Yavneh Academy Choirs, directed by Marsha Motzen, for the performance of the Hymn of the Partisans. The evening will commence with the Yavneh Academy Choirs’ performance of the American and Israeli national anthems. A pre-event reception for survivors and their families will take place in the high school’s Media room, beginning at 6 p.m. Light refreshments will be served and Hebrew and Yiddish music will be provided by Yitzy Glicksman. The event is free to the public and handicapped-accessible accommodations are available. Teaneck High School is located on Cranford Place (off Queen Anne Road). For more information, go to teaneckyomhashoa.org or call Steve Fox at 201-362-6776. To attend the reception for survivors and their families, please call Dena Levie at 917-334-0937. During the month of May, the Teaneck Public Library will feature Holocaust-inspired artwork by students at Teaneck High School and Yavneh Academy, past and present. The exhibit will include black and white pieces as well as those in color that are on loan from the schools’ Holocaust collections of student works. New this year, the artwork will be exhibited at the Bergenfield Public Library during the month of April.

Teaneck—The Jewish Community Council of Greater Teaneck will hold its annual observance of Yom HaShoah on Thursday, April 16th at 7:30 p.m. at Teaneck High School. The keynote speakers this year are Howard and Nancy Kleinberg who first met in Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp where Nancy saved Howard’s life. Their story of their survival and reunion is nothing short of a miracle. For up-to-date information on the event, visit www.teaneckyomhashoa.org. A Pre-Event Reception for Survivors and their families will be held before the event commencing at 6pm. The Committee is seeking six families for “candle lighters” to participate in the program. To qualify as a candle lighter, there must be three living generations (including a survivor) from each family who are willing and able to participate in the ceremony on stage. For more information and to participate, contact Regina Koenig at 201-387-1511 or [email protected] The Committee has also announced the launch of their a Facebook page and encourage all to visit the page and click on LIKE.Go to: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Teaneck-Holocaust-Commemoration/788249994586988?ref=hl Visitors will be able to see what is posted on the page including information about this year’s keynote speakers Howard and Nancy Kleinberg, other news about this year’s event and photos from past events. The Teaneck Commemoration Committee encourages everyone to Like the page and copy, paste and email the link to friends and family. The Committee is also currently seeking copies of pre-war and post-war European family photos to be shown at this year’s event. To send photos, pictures should be cropped before scanning (this can usually be done in the “preview mode” of the scanning software) and scanned at 300 dpi. Al photos can be emailed with Yom Hashoa Family Photo in the subject. Please include the family name in the body of email and mail photos to Steve Fox at HYPERLINK [email protected]