The Jewish Community of Greater Stowe (JCOGS) in conjunction with the Vermont Holocaust Memorial are planning their annual Yom HaShoah Holocaust Remembrance Day with a tribute to the spirit of resistance—and a solemn commemoration of the many millions of Jewish and other victims of the Holocaust, the unprecedented genocide perpetrated by Nazi Germany and its allies during World War Two. 

The remembrance program will be held at JCOGS, 1189 Cape Cod Road, Stowe, at 4PM on Sunday, April 16.

Featured as part of the commemoration will be a concert entitled Whispers From the Past, performed by Temple Trio, musicians from the Vermont Symphony Orchestra: Laura Markowitz, violin; Ana Ruesink, viola; and John Dunlop, cello. Musicologist and child of Holocaust survivor, Berta Frank, will host the event.

“For many of the ill-fated inmates of the Theresienstadt (Terezín) concentration camp in Czechoslovakia, and other sites of murder and horror, composing and performing music helped to preserve their souls,” said Debora Steinerman, president and cofounder of the Vermont Holocaust Memorial, an organizer of the event. “These compositions are vital historical records of a painful time and afford us a glimpse of some of the feelings experienced by many of these prisoners.”

“This concert is testimony to the power of music which served as a source of comfort, of resistance, and as entertainment during the Holocaust,” said Steinerman. “We are grateful to have these Vermont musicians bring back, if only for a few minutes, the sounds and feelings from those who dared to compose such astonishing music, and those who dared to listen and, in their way, fight back.”

Besides music of composers who perished in the camps, there will be music of composers who lived through the Holocaust, as well as some Yiddish songs. The commemoration will also include memorial prayers and a candle lighting ceremony.

This Holocaust Remembrance Day program at JCOGS, is co-sponsored by Vermont Holocaust Memorial, Beth Jacob Synagogue, Greater Stowe Interfaith Coalition, and the Vermont Symphony Orchestra. It is free, accessible, and open to the public. A live stream link will also be available via registration at https://www.jcogs.org/event/yom-hashoah-2023

For more information on the Holocaust commemoration or the Jewish Community of Greater Stowe please visit www.JCOGS.org or call the office at 802-253-1800.