Third Annual Glastonbury Holocaust Remembrance Evening Planned for April

By Peter Marteka

 Editor

Last October, dozens of people gathered around the Riverfront Community Center and planted hundreds of daffodils to honor the memory of children who died in the Holocaust. By the time the third annual Holocaust Remembrance Evening is held in April, those blooms will help symbolize hope for the future.

The second annual Holocaust Remembrance Evening last year drew more than 300 people. (Submitted)

The theme for the April 23 evening event will be “Righteous Among the Nations,” a historical term taken from Jewish tradition that is used to describe non-Jews who came to the aid of Jewish people in times of need.

“Each year, we focus on a different aspect of the Holocaust to bring a deeper understanding of how genocide happens and how people respond,” said Carol Fishman, one of the co-chairs of the Glastonbury Holocaust Remembrance Project. “By focusing on this topic, we will see an opposing side of the Holocaust where human morality, responsibility, and resistance prevail in the face of pure evil.”

The evening, co-hosted by First Church of Christ Congregational, memorializes the horrors of the Holocaust and unites the community. The event will be held at 7 p.m. at a location announced during registration.

The keynote speaker will be Manfred (Manny) Korman. Korman will share his firsthand experiences as a child refugee separated from his family as the Nazis undertook a systematic genocide that resulted in the deaths of six million Jews from 1933 to 1945. He will discuss their last-minute rescue on the Kindertransport, and the fate of his parents who had dramatically different experiences during the war.

According to organizers, Righteous Among the Nations are those who stood up for humanity in a time of total moral collapse. They rescued Jews because they believed Jews were still within their universe of obligation and felt they had a responsibility to protect.

Hundreds of daffodils were planted around the Riverfront Community Center last October as part of the Daffodil Project, a global effort to build a worldwide Living Holocaust Memorial. (Submitted)

Most rescuers were ordinary people that made the moral choice to care, organizers noted. They risked their lives, living in fear that they would be denounced by their neighbors and executed. The most common ways the Righteous rescued Jews were by hiding Jews in their homes or on their property, providing Jews with false papers or visas for them to flee the country, smuggling or assisting Jews to escape persecution, and being a part of rescuing a child.

“This topic sheds light on what a small but powerful subset of society did when faced with a moral dilemma. It restores hope in the kindness of mankind. It also forces people to ask themselves if they would make the same righteous decision today,” said fellow chair Debra Glass.

As in years past, this year will feature a contest open to all Glastonbury High School students. Students will have the opportunity to address a thought-provoking question in an essay contest that will launch on Feb. 23.

Six candles were lit to honor the memory of the six million Jews who died. (Submitted)

“Each year we strive to get our youth involved and reflect on the importance of moral courage in connection to the Holocaust and how they can apply this to their own lives,” said co-chair Elizabeth Berman.

For the first-time, Glastonbury Holocaust Remembrance Project  will also offer a scholarship to a high school senior in May. More details about the contest and scholarship will follow.

The event is free, but registration is required. Last year’s event drew more than 300 people of all ages and religious denominations. This year’s venue will allow for a larger attendance as the group “strives to involve as many members of the community as possible.” Details will be available at https://ghrp.net, including how to register, sponsor the event, or make a donation.

 On Oct. 26, more than two dozen members of the community took part in The Daffodil Project, a global initiative that aspires to build a worldwide Living Holocaust Memorial by planting 1.5 million daffodils in memory of the children who perished in the Holocaust. The project celebrates the resilience of those who survived and supports children today who continue to suffer around the world.

The three chairs of the event: Elizabeth Berman, Carol Fishman and Debra Glass. (Submitted)

“The daffodil flower itself serves as a tangible reminder of the yellow star the Jews were forced to wear identifying them as subhumans and separating them from the rest of the population,” co-organizer Amy Holt said. “We plant to educate. We plant to remember and reflect. We plant to create a space of beauty and hope into the future. We come together to stand up against injustice.”

Organizers said the project came to fruition through the contributions of many in the community. Greg Foran, Parks Superintendent helped with the selection and preparation of the location; Lisa Zerio, Director of Parks and Recreation, for spreading the word; and Ronda Guberman, Senior Center Supervisor, for welcoming and embracing the project. Town Manager Jonathan Luiz was instrumental in his support and Pam Eudowe from Glastonbury Partners in Planting provided encouragement, advice, and the donation of safety vests.

The Glastonbury Daffodil Project was the second of its kind in Connecticut. So far, 1,146,787 bulbs have been planted all over the world.

“We are so proud that so many individuals came to plant and stand in solidarity with our mission of combating hate and discrimination,” Glass said. “We learn from history the importance of taking responsibility and the need to look out for one another as valuable members of society. The Holocaust has taught us what terrible things can happen if we lose sight of this. If we do not learn from the past, we are destined to repeat it.”

Details about the national Daffodil Project can be found at: www.daffodilproject.net.