Mayor Scott D. Jackson has proclaimed the week of May 1^st through May 8th 2011 as Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust.  The Town will host a Holocaust Remembrance Day observance on Friday, May 6th at noon in Thornton Wilder Hall, Miller Library Complex.  The ceremony is open to all members of the public.  This year’s theme is Justice and Accountability in the Face of Genocide.   2011 marks the 65^th anniversary of the verdicts at the first Nuremberg trial and the 50^th anniversary of the trial of Adolf Eichmann.  A light lunch will be served following the ceremony.  

Keynote speaker is Jim Messina, a teacher of religion and history at St. Martin DePorres Academy in New Haven, one of 25 teachers from across the United States selected for a three-week intensive seminar sponsored by the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors.  The seminar began in Washington DC at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the group then traveled to Yad VaShem, Israel; Berlin, Germany; Warsaw and Krakow, Poland visiting exhibits and museums  dedicated to the Holocaust, as well as several of the camps and other historic sites.                                   

 A short video entitled “Justice and Accountability in the Face of Genocide: What Have we Learned?” will be shown, followed by a flute solo by Meri Fleischman.  Chaya Blitzer will tell her story titled “Finding Dina:  A Holocaust Miracle” and Hamden High School Student Alexandra Shuttleworth will present her original song.  Rabbi Alison Adler will introduce 7^th grade students from Congregation Mishkan Israel, who will present essays.  A candle lighting ceremony will be accompanied by a responsive prayer led by Rabbi Herbert Brockman of Congregation Mishkan Israel.  Audience members will be invited to make brief comments. 

    This year’s observance is the Town’s ninth Holocaust Remembrance Day.