Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts gathers for Holocaust Remembrance Day

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts is honoring the memory of people who died in the Holocaust with two community gatherings for Yom HaShoah in Springfield and Amherst.

Yom HaShoah is Israel’s day of commemoration for the roughly six million Jewish people murdered by Nazi Germany.

“The echoes of these events continue today, and really continue to have an impact on our communities,” said Nora Gorenstein, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts. So in the events for Yom HaShoah, we’re commemorating the people who survived and also those who did not.”

Gorenstein said it’s important to keep their memories alive, and to hear stories from Holocaust survivors directly.

Each year, fewer and fewer Holocaust survivors are around to share their experiences, and Gorenstein said it’s important to listen and reflect.

“That’s a very hard personal history to share, and one of the the ways that we continue to do that is through the relatives of those survivors, when they’ve heard the stories from their parents or their grandparents,” Gorenstein said. “Having those next generations continue to educate others and to share this information is also really important.”

Earlier this year, a demographic study by the Claims Conference found there are approximately 245,000 Holocaust survivors still living across more than 90 countries.

Gorenstein said it’s important to continue to learn from history so mistakes from the past aren’t repeated.

“We can learn to stand up for one another, our neighbors, and our communities,” Gorenstein said.