The Chicago area’s 70th annual collective Holocaust memorial observance will be held at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, April 19, at the Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob Synagogue, 8825 East Prairie Road, Skokie. The event, which draws hundreds of participants, traditionally is the largest gathering of Holocaust survivors in the Midwest and one of the largest in the United States.

“Seventy years after the liberation of the concentration camps, we face a world of hatred and injustice against the Jewish people,” said Charles Lipshitz, president of Sheérit HaPleitah of Metropolitan Chicago, the umbrella organization for the area’s Holocaust survivor groups and sponsor of the memorial service.

“Less than two generations after the Holocaust, we see a rapid escalation of anti-Semitism around the globe and, of particular note, throughout much of Europe.”

Some countries actually believe they will be “protected” by selling out the Jews and Israel, Lipshitz said. Unfortunately, they will learn, the hard way, that letting tyrants loose without constraint will cause millions of people to pay the price of appeasement.

“This annual memorial honors our 6 million martyrs, including 1½ million innocent children who perished only because they were Jews,” he said. “We cannot let the world forget that a modern society, Nazi Germany, was capable of committing such atrocities. Many reactionary forces are hard at work to change history and deny that the Holocaust ever happened. We must be vigilant to not allow this to occur.”

“The number of Holocaust survivors is dwindling to a precious few as we approach the 70^th anniversary of the end of World War II,” said Larry Schwartz, president of the Association of Descendants of the Shoah – Illinois, Inc. “We, as children and grandchildren of Holocaust 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 education and outreach efforts, for we shall never forget the sacrifices of the Six Million Jews who did not live to see the Nazi war machine defeated.

I M Hubscher, representing the Sheérit HaPleitah memorial committee, said “We will not remain silent in the face of the Iranian, Arab, ISIS or any other wish to destroy Israel. This circle of violence must stop, and we, as children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of survivors will continue to lead the effort to eradicate hate, death and destruction.”

Speakers at the 2015 service, which is cosponsored by Chicago’s Jewish United Fund, will include the Honorable Roey Gilad, Consul General of Israel; Mayor George Van Dusen of Skokie; and Prof. Shlomo H. Resnikoff of the DePaul College of Law. Officials of the Jewish War Veterans – Skokie Post 328 and Jewish Boy Scout Troops #69 and #243 will present colors. As part of the ceremony, the winners of the 2^nd annual Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Memorial Day) essay contest will be announced by David Levine, chairman of the event. A grandchild of survivors will pay tribute to the tremendous contributions Holocaust survivors have made to the Chicago community in passing their legacy of courage to future generations.

A high point of the service each year is the candle lighting ceremony honoring the six million Jewish victims who perished. The ceremony will be conducted by Sherry Rubinstein Warso of Dor L’Dor, the Young Leadership Division of Sheérit HaPleitah, with participation by children and grandchildren of local-area Holocaust survivors. Proclamations from Gov. Bruce Rauner, Mayor Rahm Emmanuel of Chicago and Mayor George Van Dusen of Skokie will be published in our memorial journal.

The Village of Skokie is supportive of Sheérit HaPleitah’s efforts to sustain the memory of the Holocaust. When the American Nazi Party chose Skokie in 1978 for its infamous demonstration, Sheérit HaPleitah helped lead the opposition, with the assistance of former Mayor Albert J. Smith and the village trustees. The struggle was portrayed in a made-for-television movie starring Danny Kaye. Sheérit 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, using funds collected from area individuals and synagogues and the Jewish United Fund.

The monument’s sculpture by Edward Chesney, depicting three generations, torn 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.”

A documentary by Todd Whitman, about the days leading up to the infamous 1978 demonstration, aired on PBS in January 2013. The film featured many Jewish survivors of the Holocaust, as well as activists from the next generation who stood ready to protect the survivor community.

Sheérit HaPleitah includes the following groups: Association of Descendents of the Shoah – Illinois, Inc.; Hofesh Chapter – Na’amat USA; the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center; Jewish Lithuanian Club of Chicago; Laor Organization; Midwest Chestochover Society; New Citizens Club; Workman’s Circle; the United Chicago Jews of Hungarian Descent, Inc.; Association of Child Survivors; Dr. Janusz Korczak B’nai Brith Lodge; and Dor L’Dor – a group of children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors who will play an important role of carrying on our legacy.