Liberation: Life After Loss

From the desk of Lori Shepherd, Executive Director , Tucson Jewish Museum & Holocaust Center

On Sunday, April 27th, at this year’s Southern Arizona Yom HaShoah Commemoration, we will come together as a community to commemorate eighty years since the end of the Holocaust. As in years past, we will gather to memorialize the more than six million Jews, including one and a half million children, who were murdered and lost during the Holocaust, and to honor the legacy of those who survived.

For some, the passing of eight decades can seem unfathomable but for survivors, these many years have simply been their lives. From great suffering and devastation, they forged new lives after loss. They emigrated to new homes, built careers, fostered communities, and raised loving families. Their most enduring legacy, their embodied resilience, is the lives that they created.

The theme of this year’s commemoration is Liberation: Life After Loss. During the program, six of Southern Arizona’s local survivors will share their personal stories of brutality and inhumanity. Each story offers a unique perspective on reclaiming their dignity and beginning to rebuild their lives.

The program will also feature a public promise, where Jewish communal leaders will pledge to keep the legacy of the survivors and the memory of those who were murdered alive. Public commemorations like Yom HaShoah are only one of the many ways that we safeguard their memories, retell their stories, and encouraging Holocaust remembrance for years to come.

This event will take place on Sunday, April 27th at 2:00 pm in the Ballroom at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, 3800 East River Road, Tucson, AZ.

Please note thayt Yom HaShoah is free and open to the public, and registration is required. You can register at: https://www.tjmhc.org/programs-and-events/yom-hashoah-25