{"id":195370,"date":"2026-04-13T13:39:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T13:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/195370\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T13:39:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T13:39:09","slug":"at-nyc-event-ahead-of-yom-hashoah-holocaust-survivors-and-local-officials-talk-about-responsibility-of-memory-jns-org","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/195370\/","title":{"rendered":"At NYC event ahead of Yom HaShoah, Holocaust survivors and local officials talk about responsibility of memory – JNS.org"},"content":{"rendered":"

(
\n Apr. 13, 2026
\n \/ JNS
\n )<\/p>\n

Fred Schoenfeld told an audience of several hundred at Temple Emanu-El on New York City\u2019s Upper East Side that he stood before them both as a Holocaust survivor and as \u201csomeone who carries the memory of many who are no longer here to speak.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI speak because memory matters,\u201d he told the audience on Sunday. \u201cNow that responsibility is shared with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schoenfeld was one of several speakers at the Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial to the Holocaust\u2019s annual remembrance event ahead of Yom HaShoah, which begins April 13.<\/p>\n

The event drew Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), city comptroller Mark Levine, City Council speaker Julie Menin and Manhattan borough president Brad Hoylman.<\/p>\n

Menin told JNS that \u201cwe need to be remembering the memories of those who were killed in the Holocaust\u2014my grandfather being one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important that we remember what happened,\u201d the council speaker told JNS. \u201cParticularly now, more than ever, with this rise of antisemitism not only in the city but across the globe.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Holocaust<\/p>\n

City Council speaker Julie Menin attends a Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial to the Holocaust remembrance event at Temple Emanu-El, New York City, April 12, 2026. Credit: Gerardo Romo\/NYC Council.<\/p>\n

Menin said that younger generations know less about the Holocaust.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudies are showing 34% of young people in New York City believe the Holocaust was a myth or exaggerated. That\u2019s shocking,\u201d she told JNS. \u201cThe only way we\u2019re really going to counteract that is through education.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goldman, who is running for reelection against anti-Zionist, former city comptroller Brad Lander, told the audience that \u201cwe all have a responsibility to educate the next generation of Americans about the atrocities inflicted upon the Jewish people by the Nazis.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a member of Congress, I have always and will continue to fight to strengthen protections for Jewish students, organizations and houses of worship and to eliminate the scourge of antisemitism from our society,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A child survivor from Slovakia, Schoenfeld told attendees that normal life unraveled \u201cstep by step.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a home, a family, routines, small comforts,\u201d he said. \u201cThen, not all at once but gradually, everything changed. Neighbors turned away. We became something less than human in the eyes of others.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Holocaust<\/p>\n

City Council speaker Julie Menin attends a Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial to the Holocaust remembrance event at Temple Emanu-El, New York City, April 12, 2026. Credit: Gerardo Romo\/NYC Council.<\/p>\n

Schoenfeld\u2019s testimony underscored the central message of the ceremony\u2014that remembrance is an active responsibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Holocaust did not begin with camps,\u201d he told attendees. \u201cIt began with words, with small acts of exclusion, with people looking away.\u201d<\/p>\n

The annual gathering featured performances by the Jewish teen choir HaZamir, remarks from public officials and a candlelighting ceremony honoring victims of the Holocaust.<\/p>\n

Jack Kliger, president and CEO of the Museum of Jewish Heritage, told attendees that the museum is \u201cdedicated to making sure there will always be a place in New York where our grandchildren\u2019s grandchildren can come to learn the lessons of the Holocaust.\u201d<\/p>\n

Menin told the audience that she is proud to have launched a partnership with the museum to bring every eighth-grade student at a city public school to the museum to see its Holocaust exhibit.<\/p>\n

\u201cEducation is truly the antidote to hate,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Holocaust<\/p>\n

City Council speaker Julie Menin attends a Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial to the Holocaust remembrance event at Temple Emanu-El, with Rabbi Amy Ehrlich of Temple Emanu-El pictured, New York City, April 12, 2026. Credit: Gerardo Romo\/NYC Council.<\/p>\n

The council speaker also highlighted legislation<\/a> that the body passed to fight Jew-hatred, including protest-free buffer zones around religious institutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese bills protect the right to enter and exit synagogues and schools without fear, intimidation or harassment,\u201d she told attendees. \u201cThis is not about limiting free speech. It is about ensuring safety and dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Levine, the city comptroller, told survivors in the audience that \u201cyou built families where families had been torn apart. You built communities where communities had been erased.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn doing so, you helped shape this city into something stronger, more vibrant and more compassionate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Levine described survivors\u2019 willingness to share their stories as a \u201cform of heroism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is the meaning of this day,\u201d he said. \u201cNot only remembrance but resolve.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"HaZamir\"<\/p>\n

The Jewish teen choir HaZamir performs at a Holocaust remembrance event at Temple Emanu-El in New York City, April 12, 2026. Photo by Rebecca Szlechter.<\/p>\n

Denise Miranda, commissioner of the New York State Division of Human Rights, told attendees that \u201ctoo often, we speak of the Holocaust as if it is \u2018ancient history,\u2019 a black-and-white chapter in a textbook.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the Holocaust ended only 81 years ago. It is a distance so short we can still reach out and touch the hands of those who witnessed it,\u201d she said. \u201cThat is a stark reminder that the rise in antisemitism today poses a profound and immediate danger, and it demands an equally urgent response.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ceremony culminated with survivors lighting six memorial candles, with each flame representing a million Jews murdered during the Holocaust.<\/p>\n

As the room fell silent, generations stood together in reflection, bound by a shared responsibility to remember, to bear witness and to ensure that the lessons of history endure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI stand here today because I survived,\u201d Schoenfeld told the audience. \u201cBut survival comes with responsibility. The responsibility to bear witness.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"( Apr. 13, 2026 \/ JNS ) Fred Schoenfeld told an audience of several hundred at Temple Emanu-El…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195371,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,56,63,65,64],"class_list":{"0":"post-195370","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-ny","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-nyc-headlines","12":"tag-nyc-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}