The Chicago area’s 72nd annual collective Holocaust memorial observance will be held Sunday, April 23, at Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob Synagogue, 8825 East Prairie Road, in Skokie.

The service, which begins at 1:30 p.m., is traditionally the largest gathering of Holocaust survivors in the Midwest and one of the largest in the United States.

“Unfortunately, anti-Semitism continues to increase around the world, to the point where it is acceptable in some countries to equate Israel with Nazi Germany,” said Charles Lipshitz, president of Sheerit Hapleitah of Metropolitan Chicago, the umbrella organization for the area’s Holocaust survivor groups and sponsor of the memorial service. The commemoration is co-sponsored by the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago.

“Those of us who experienced the horror of Auschwitz and the other camps know better, which is why we hold this service every year. Some of the European countries that claim that they, too, suffered under the German Nazi regime still tolerate marchers chanting ‘Death to Jews’ in their countries — and they are supposed to be our allies.

“We also will observe the 72nd anniversary of our liberation from the concentration camps,” Lipshitz said.

“The number of Holocaust survivors is dwindling to a precious few as we approach the 72nd anniversary of the end of World War II,” said event chairman David Levine, of the Association of Children and Grandchildren of Holocaust Survivors. “We, as children and grandchildren of survivors, are taking an active role in reminding the world that the crimes of Nazi Germany can happen again if we do not maintain vigilance.

“The legacy of the Holocaust survivors will be sustained and enhanced through our dedication and outreach efforts,” Levine said, “for we shall never forget the sacrifices of the six million Jews who did not live to see the Nazi war machine defeated.”

Speakers at the 2017 service will include Jeffrey Gingold, author of “Tunnel, Smuggle, Collect: A Holocaust Boy;” Israel’s Consul General to the Midwest, Aviv Ezra; Skokie Mayor George VanDusen; Jewish United Fund President Dr. Steven B. Nasatir; Lipshitz and event co-chairman Henry Jelen. Officials of the Jewish War Veterans – Skokie Post 318 and Boy Scout Troops #69 and #243 also will participate.

As part of the ceremony, a grandchild of survivors will pay tribute to the enormous contribution that Holocaust survivors have made to the Chicago community in passing their legacy of courage to future generations.

A high point of the service is the candle lighting ceremony honoring the six million victims, including 1.5 million innocent children, who perished in the Holocaust. The ceremony will be conducted by Sherry Rubinstein Warsaw of Dor Ledor, the Young Leadership Division of Sheerit Hapleitah, assisted by David Levine, with the participation of children and grandchildren of local Holocaust survivors. Proclamations by Gov. Bruce Rauner and Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago will be published in the memorial book.

The Village of Skokie is symbolic to Sheerit Hapleitah’s efforts to sustain the memory of the Holocaust. When, in 1978, the American Nazi Party chose Skokie as the site of its infamous proposed demonstration, Sheerit Hapleitah helped lead the opposition, with the assistance of former Mayor Albert J. Smith and the village trustees.

That struggle was portrayed in a made-for-television movie starring Danny Kaye. Sheerit Hapleitah later led the movement to construct a monument in memory of the Holocaust victims on the Skokie Village Green, on land donated by the village and using funds collected from area individuals and synagogues and the Jewish United Fund.

The sculpture by Edward Chesney, depicting three generations, prayer books, a menorah, and other items symbolizing the destruction of European Jewry, was unveiled on May 31, 1987. That night, the memorial received worldwide attention after it was desecrated with spray paint, including the epithet “Jew liars” and other messages of hate.

“This insidious act made the message on the dedication plaque even more meaningful,” said Lipshitz. It reads, “This monument will remain in perpetuity as a reminder of what hate can do to mankind if decent people are not vigilant to forestall such a calamity in the future.”

Sheerit Hapleitah includes the following groups: Association of Descendants of the Shoah – Illinois, Inc.; Hofesh Chapter — NAAMAT; Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois; Jewish Lithuanian Club of Chicago; Laor Organization; Midwest Chestochover Society; New Citizens Club; Workman’s Circle; The United Chicago Jews of Hungarian Descent, Inc.; Dr. Janusz Korczak B’nai Brith Lodge; and Dor Ledor – a group of children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors who will play an important role in carrying on our legacy.