Holocaust Museum Houston will sponsor a citywide commemoration of Yom HaShoah on Sunday, April 27, 2014 in remembrance of the six million Jews who died during the Nazi atrocities of the Holocaust during World War II.
Yom HaShoah is an internationally recognized and respected event of solemn commemoration and will be observed in Houston beginning at 3 p.m. at Congregation Beth Yeshurun, 4525 Beechnut. The service is free and open to the public.
The Yom HaShoah service is coordinated by the Yom HaShoah Steering Committee and Holocaust Museum Houston. This year's event is co-chaired by Sandy Lessig and Tobi Cooper, with underwriting provided by the Morgan Family Endowment Fund and other community sponsors, with special thanks to United Airlines, official airline of Holocaust Museum Houston.
Speakers this year will include Ambassador Meir Shlomo, Consul General of Israel in Houston and Marc Mucasey, chair of Holocaust Museum Houston; with a welcome by Holocaust survivor Louise Joskowitz and daughter Pepi Joskowitz Nichols.
Cantor Vadim Tunitzsky of Congregation Emanu El, Cantor Meir Finkelstein of Congregation Beth Yeshurun, Cantor Daniel Mutlu of Congregation Beth Israel and Cantor Diane Dorf will provide music for the ceremony, along with choirs from the Beth Israel Religious School, the Shlenker School, Beth Yeshurun Zamranim and the Beth Yeshurun Friday Night Alive Singers.
Holocaust survivors from the Houston area will participate in a commemorative candle-lighting ceremony accompanied by narration from 2nd Generation member Tobi Cooper and Cantor Finkelstein.
Yom HaShoah corresponds annually to the historical beginning of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in 1943. In 1951, the Israeli Knesset formally established the date as the 27th day of the Jewish month of Nisan. On the solar calendar, that date falls between late April and early May. Yom HaShoah is recognized around the world as a time to remember the victims of the Holocaust, many of whose date and place of death is still unknown.