Holocaust Memorial Program Will Feature Author Lois Lowry

MIDDLEBURY — Jewish Communities of Western CT, Inc. will hold a community-wide Yom HaShoah Commemoration (Commemoration of the Holocaust) on Wednesday, April 18, beginning at 7 pm, at Long Meadow Elementary School. The annual program honors those who survived the Shoah (Holocaust) and honors the memory of those who perished during the Shoah. The program, which attracts more than 200 people annually, is open to the public and free of charge.

Rabbi Eric Polokoff of B’nai Israel Synagogue in Woodbury will lead area rabbis as they conduct a special memorial service. Survivors, children of survivors and community leaders will come forward to light yellow memorial candles.

Jennifer Frenkel, a senior at Watertown High School who lost family members during the Shoah, will accompany ceremony on the piano.

The award-winning author Lois Lowry will be the featured speaker at this year’s program. Her presentation is entitled “How We Teach Our Children about the Shoah.” Her remarks will focus on her best-selling Holocaust book, Number the Stars.

Number the Stars won the National Jewish Book Award and the coveted Newberry Medal for the most distinguished contribution to literature for children. It is a story written for young people about a Jewish girl rescued and hidden by a Christian family in Nazi occupied Denmark. It tells of the Danish and Swedish fishermen who risked their lives to save Jews during a time of horror in history.

Number the Stars is being read by young people around the world as they struggle to understand the reality of the Shoah. It is one of the most highly regarded pieces of literature teachers share with students in their classroom lessons of the Shoah.

Lois Lowry’s list of published fiction numbers 27 books for young people. Her books have been translated into 17 languages. She is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the distinguished Newberry Medal, the National Jewish Book Award, the Regina Medal, the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award, the Mark Twain Award, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award and the Bank Street College Award.

Ms Lowry has traveled around the world, sharing her message of the importance of literature in young people’s lives. She will be available following the program to sign books.

The community-wide Yom HaShoah program is made possible through a generous grant from the Rabin Society Fund of The Jewish Federation Foundation of Jewish Communities of Western Connecticut, Inc.  Reservations are not necessary.

Long Meadow Elementary School is at 65 North Benson Road in Middlebury, off Route 188, near the Southbury Hilton. For more information, contact Abby Greenwald at 203-263-5121, extension 308 or jfedoutreach@aol.com.