[Archived] City of Alexandria Observes Days of Remembrance for Victims of Holocaust

City Press Release


	For Immediate Release	For More Information, Contact
	April 3, 2007 PIO# 084-07/rdo	Steve Mason, Director of Communications, at 703.838.4300 Raynard Owens, Communications Officer, at 703.838.4300

City of Alexandria Observes Days of Remembrance for Victims of Holocaust
Ceremony Part of National, Weeklong Commemoration
Guest Speaker is Ina Levine Scholar at Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies

The City of Alexandria will observe the Days of Remembrance, Yom HaShoah, for the victims of the Holocaust at noon on Wednesday, April 18, in Market Square, 301 King St. The Alexandria City Council hosts the annual ceremony as part of the weeklong commemoration of the national Days of Remembrance, which occurs this year from Sunday, April 15, through Sunday, April 22. The guest speaker for the ceremony will be Monika Adamczyk-Garbowska, the 2006-2007 Ina Levine Scholar at the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Her topic will be “Children of Majdanek and Auschwitz: Remembering the Youngest Victims of the Holocaust.”

The event is open to the public, and, in case of inclement weather, will be held in the Vola Lawson Lobby, located on the first floor of City Hall, 301 King St., on the Cameron Street side of the building.

During the ceremony, Alexandria Mayor William D. Euille and City Council members will light the candelabrum that Holocaust survivor Charlene Schiff and her husband, Ed, donated to the City. The 54-inch-high solid brass candelabrum was presented to the City in memory of Charlene Schiff’s parents, sister, and six million Jews and millions of others who perished in the Holocaust.

The Schiff Candelabrum remains under the care of the City’s Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities and is made available to schools and civic groups studying the Holocaust, as well as to the City’s annual observance of the Days of Remembrance.

Before assuming her role as the 2006-2007 Ina Levine Scholar, Monika Adamczyk-Garbowska was awarded the Jan Karski and Pola Nirenska Prize for her research and teaching on Jewish culture and Yiddish literature and language in 2004. As the Ina Levine Scholar at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, she is preparing an anthology of texts from Yizkor books and conducting research for her project, entitled “Landscapes After the Khurbn: Survivors’ Returns to Poland After WWII as Depicted in Jewish Memorial Books.”

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, in accordance with its Congressional mandate (Public Law 96-388, 10/7/80), is leading the nation in the weeklong Days of Remembrance commemoration.

This is the twentieth consecutive year that the City has held the Days of Remembrance ceremony.

City Hall is served by DASH transit bus lines #AT 2, 4, 5, and 7. For DASH schedule information, call 703-370-DASH or visit www.dashbus.com. For Metrobus schedule information, call 202-637-7000 or visit www.wmata.com.

The City of Alexandria is committed to compliance with the City’s Human Rights Code and the Americans with Disabilities Act. To request a reasonable accommodation or to request materials in an alternative format, call Jack Browand of the Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities at 703-838-4343 (TTY 703-838-4902) or e-mail jack.browand@alexandriava.gov.

For additional information on Alexandria’s Days of Remembrance ceremony, call the Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities at 703-838-4343.

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