The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of Greater Washington will be leading community-wide Holocaust Observances for suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia on Sunday, May 1. More than 70 synagogues, houses of worship, and nonprofits, including the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia, support this effort each year that brings together over 1,000 diplomats, elected officials, Holocaust survivors, interfaith clergy, teens and adults in recognition of Holocaust Remembrance Day, which occurs Thursday, May 5.
The program includes artifact exhibits; teen dialogues; intergenerational discussions with survivors; original readings, music and dance created for the commemorations; a community choir; keynote speakers; the intergenerational candle lighting ceremony and Pledges of Remembrance. Founded in 1938, the JCRC has maintained a decades-long commitment to Holocaust commemoration, advocacy for survivors and education for future generations. All activities are free of charge with details available at www.jcouncil.org/Holocaust.
In Northern Virginia, the program will be held Sunday, May 1, 4:30–8:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia, 8900 Little River Turnpike, Fairfax. “Justice Dispensed/Justice Denied” is a mock trial workshop for teens running from 4:30–6 p.m. Professional and youth original art exhibits will be on display and film from the original Nuremberg trials will be screened. B’nai B’rith International’s “Unto Every Person There is a Name,” reading of those who were martyred during the Holocaust will occur from 5-6:30 p.m. with special VIP and youth segments. From 6-7 p.m., Dr. Peter Black will be joined by Holocaust survivor and ADL “Champion Against Hate,” Irene Weiss in their presentation of “Seeking Justice – 70 Years After Nuremberg.” Irene testified in a Nazi war crime trial in Germany in 2015 and will be doing so again this year. The evening culminates in the Community Commemoration, with originally created music, dance and readings as well as the multi-generational candle lighting by survivors and children of survivors.