State government officials and Jewish community leaders from across Illinois gathered for the 34th annual State of Illinois Holocaust Memorial Observance on Thursday, April 16.

Keynoted by Governor Bruce Rauner , the event included words from Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago Government Affairs Committee Chair David Golder, State Representative Will Guzzardi , Holocaust survivor Magda Brown , and rabbis and other religious leaders from throughout the state. Read remarks from all the speakers.

“Let us take this day of remembrance to reaffirm our conviction to fight for human rights, to fight against anti-Semitism in all its forms, and make good on our generation’s pledge to those that came before us, never again,” Gov. Rauner said. Golder shared a similar reflection, “We hope and pray that anti-Semitism, bigotry and terrorism will one day be things of the past and that we will soon usher in an era of peace and prosperity for all.”

Brown, who survived Auschwitz and a death march, vowed to always speak out about the Holocaust, “so it will never, ever happen again.” Rep. Guzzardi echoed that commitment, “Today, and every day, we demand that the world never forget the horrors that befell our people.”

Students from Wilson School in Pekin, Ill. joined the program to experience “living history” in our state’s capital. Read local news coverage of the event.

Gov. Rauner also joined JUF and Sheérit HaPleitah of Metropolitan Chicago, the umbrella organization for the area’s Holocaust survivor groups, for the Chicago area’s 70th annual collective Holocaust memorial observance. JUF Chairman Bill Silverstein urged attendees, “let us join in remembering the past, in appreciating the present, and in re-dedicating ourselves to building a safe and flourishing future for our children, for our grandchildren, and for the Jewish people.”

Other speakers included Israeli Consul General Roey Gilad, Skokie Mayor George Van Dusen, keynote Prof. Shlomo Resnikoff of DePaul University College of Law, and survivors and their children and grandchildren. Also present were a survivor and staff from Holocaust Community Services, a partnership of the Jewish Federation, CJE SeniorLife, and Jewish Child & Family Services dedicated to providing a range of support services and financial assistance to the most economically vulnerable members of the Chicago survivor community.