The Youngstown Area Jewish Federation hosted its annual Yom Hashoah Community Commemoration at the Mahoning County Courthouse April 18 and its Shoah Memorial Ceremony at the Jewish Community Center of Youngstown April 23. The theme this year was “Stars without Heaven - Children of the Holocaust,” which was also the title of the exhibit provided by Yad Vashem, The World Holocaust Remembrance Center, that was on display in the Thomases Family Endowment of the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation Art Gallery.
Mayor Jamael Tito Brown was in attendance at the Yom Hashoah Community Commemoration and presented a proclamation to recognize the week of April 16 to 23 as Days of Remembrance in memory of the victims of the Holocaust and in honor of Survivors, rescuers, and liberators. Brown also remarked on the importance of bringing the community of Youngstown together to fight hate of all kinds.
During the ceremony, candles were lit by the children, grandchildren, and even some great grandchildren of Survivors. Rabbi Joseph Schonberger reminded those in attendance to also remember the liberators who also played a crucial role in saving those Survivors’ lives.
The winners of the 30th Annual Student Holocaust Writing, Art, and Multi-Media Contest were also announced.
The first place winners of each of the poetry divisions, Vincent Michael Detamore, Savannah Moorman, and Olivia Maldonado, read their poems to the audience. There were also remarks made by Nannette Jacobs, Grady Long, and Barry Kimpel who participated in the Summer 2022 Teachers without Borders Poland Travel Seminar. All three educators remarked on the impact visiting concentration camps during the seminar influenced the way that they will teach about the Holocaust in the future.
The annual Shoah Memorial Ceremony also offered opportunities for reflection on the role of children. Dr. Mark B. Cole, executive director of the Holocaust & Genocide Education Network (HGEN) and lecturer at Cleveland State University, gave a presentation entitled “A Child, A Ghetto.”
The subject of the presentation was Dawid Sierakowiak, a teen from Lodz, Poland who journaled about his experiences in the Lodz Ghetto. Dawid left behind a series of notebooks; researchers have discovered five of them so far. Researchers at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum credit Dawid’s writing as a “rich and revealing account of life in the Lodz Ghetto.”
At the conclusion of the memorial, attendees were invited to visit the Holocaust Memorial “Last Embrace,” by Alfred Tibor, located outside the JCC.
During the week of April 17 to 24, the community was also invited to visit the display “Children in the Holocaust” provided by Yad Vashem, The World Holocaust Remembrance Center, that was on display in the Thomases Family Endowment of the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation Art Gallery. The 19-panel display discussed different aspects of children’s experiences from identity, to play, education, and even rights of passage.
Also, on display in the Schwartz Judaic and Holocaust Resource Center were the experiences of two local World War II veterans, Donald Levy and Albin P. Stiles.
Donald Levy of Youngstown, Ohio, served in the 113th Signal Radio Intelligence Company from February 1941 until his honorable discharge in October 1945. Many of Donald’s personal effects from his service were on display, including love letters to his wife June (Finesilver) Levy, photos from his deployments to Europe, and his copies of “Jewish Holy Scriptures” and “Passover Haggadah” issued by the U.S. Armed Forces.
Albin Paul Stiles, the father of Mary Zimmerman, was a War World II veteran. Albin was born on March 25, 1926 in a small town called Aberdeen, near Morgantown, W. Va. He enlisted in the Army at 18 years old in 1944. He served in the 102nd Infantry Division (Ozark). His division participated in the Rhineland and Central Europe Campaigns. During the war, his squadron raided Nazi outposts. By the end of his enlistment he had attained the rank of Sergeant. He was discharged from Fort Bennington, Ga. in 1947. After his time in the Army, he married Evalyn "Eva" Lucyk in 1951 and they moved to Farmdale in Trumbull county. Albin and Eva both died in 2005. After their deaths, their daughter Mary found items recovered during the raids in boxes in Albin’s basement. Mary didn’t want these items to fall into the wrong hands and donated them to the Holocaust Resource Center.