The Chicago area’s annual collective Holocaust memorial observance, traditionally the largest gathering of Holocaust survivors in the Midwest and one of the largest in the United States, will have a new home this year. And a new partnership. And a message that has endured for nearly three-quarters of a century.

The service, sponsored by Sheerit Hapleitah of Metropolitan Chicago, the umbrella organization for local Holocaust survivor groups, will be held at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, May 5, at Congregation Beth Hillel B’nai Emunah, 3220 Big Tree Lane in Wilmette. The Jewish United Fund co-sponsors the event.

The move from the service’s traditional home in Skokie is to accommodate a larger turnout, expected because this year’s program is being conducted jointly with the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, which is marking the 10 ^th anniversary of its opening.

Since April 2009, the museum has served more than one million visitors through world-class exhibitions, education and public programming.

Leaders of the museum and Sheerit Hapleitah decided a joint program would underscore the service’s critical themes of remembrance, recognition of survivors, and education to stem the rising tide of antisemitism.

A poignant moment in each year’s service is the candle lighting ceremony honoring the six million martyrs, including one and a half million innocent children, who were murdered only because they were Jews. Each candle is lit by survivors or their children and grandchildren, who represent the failure of the Nazis’ ultimate goal of exterminating the Jewish people.

“We are living in a time when antisemitism yet again is on rise in the whole world,” said Henry Jelen, president of Sheerit Hapleitah. “74 years after the liberation of the concentration camps, the world appears to have forgotten the history of what hatred can do. Sheerit Hapleitah was founded by survivors who have horrendous histories or stories of survival to tell. The mantra we must forever reinforce is “NEVER AGAIN.”

This year, the memorial service – which has been held annually since the camps were liberated in 1945 – will feature remarks from Fritzie Fritzshall, president of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, and a performance by violinist David Lisker.

Other scheduled speakers include Israel’s Consul General to the Midwest, Aviv Ezra; Consul General of Germany, Herbert Quelle; Jewish United Fund Board Chair Andrew S. Hochberg; Skokie Mayor George Van Dusen; and Henry Jelen.

As part of the ceremony, Dr. Eric Silberman, grandson of four survivors, will share what the legacy of his grandparents means to him and other descendants of Holocaust survivors, and will reinforce his commitment to carry on their stories and lessons to future generations.