Virginia State Senator Adam Ebbin (D-39) lights the first candle on the candelabrum donated to the city by Charlene Schiff, a Holocaust survivor, and her husband Brig. Gen. Edwin Schiff during the Days of Remembrance ceremony for victims of the Holocaust April 24 at Market Square.
The Holocaust of World War II saw the genocide of six million Jews across Eastern Europe under the regime of Nazi Germany’s Adolf Hitler. On April 24, the City of Alexandria honored the memory of those victims during the 36th annual Days of Remembrance ceremony in Market Square.
“These are challenging times for our nation and our world no different than any generation before,” said Rabbi Steven Rein of Agudas Achim Congregation. “Eighty years after the liberation of Nazi concentration camps we stand here today to remember not only the immense tragedy but also the heroism that arose from it reflecting on the choices made in those dark times.”
During the ceremony, State Sen. Adam Ebbin led elected officials and dignitaries in lighting a candelabrum that was donated to the city by the late Charlene Schiff, a Holocaust survivor, and her husband, Brig. Gen. Edwin Schiff. The lighting of six candles represented the six million Jews who perished during the Holocaust.
The 54-inch high, solid brass candelabrum was donated in memory of Schiff’s parents and sister, and others who perished in the Holocaust.
Mayor Alyia Gaskins reflected on the significance of the city’s Days of Remembrance ceremony.
“We come together as a community because we want to remember, we want to recognize and we want to do the important work of preserving our freedom, promoting human dignity and confronting hate wherever and whenever it occurs,” Gaskins said.
Rabbi David Spinrad of Beth El Hebrew Congregation told the story of a young Hugo Gryn, a survivor of the holocaust who went on to become a prominent Rabbi. During his imprisonment Gryn witnessed his father's unwavering hope as they secretly observed Hanukkah in the concentration camps.
“Gryn understood that even in the midst of profound tragedy the flame of hope has to continue to burn,” Spinrad said. “The range of the extremes of human behavior that we are capable of both on the side of perpetrators but also on the side of the resilience of some of the victims who are lucky to survive shows the alarming results of anti-Semitism and racism carried to extremes.”
Other officials participating in the ceremony included Sheriff Sean Casey, Alexandria Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter, and the Hon. Greg Parks. Historian Richard Brietman, Distinguished Professor Emeritus at American University, was guest speaker.
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum leads the nation in the weeklong Days of Remembrance commemoration, in accordance with Congressional mandate.
“We are all faced with daily choices as individuals, as families and as citizens, Rein said. “This ability to exercise our own free will is not just the measure of our humanity is the very thing that makes life worth living.”