HOLOCAUST EVENTS - NEVER TO FORGET
Dedicated as an institution of Jewish culture and as a memorial to the six million Jews who perished under Nazism.
December, 1960.
Text on the plaque on the front of The Winchevsky Centre
In keeping with this dedication, we believe in the importance of programming various Holocaust-themed events throughout the year to ensure that we "never forget".
Holocaust Education Week Events
Every fall the Winchevsky Centre sponsors a program as part of Holocaust Education Week. Recent programs have addressed such topics as "The Legend of the Lodz Ghetto Children" and "Yiddish Songs of Resistance", and screenings of the films "Sobibor, October 14, 1943", "Daring to Resist" and "The Cry of Memory: The Need to Speak".
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Commemorations
In the spring, the Winchevsky Centre commemorates the historic 1943 Uprising of the Warsaw Ghetto. A tribute to the brave men and women who stood up to the Nazis, our moving ceremonies are an exploration of resistance, survival and continued struggle against fascism and hate through music, poetry, readings and a special candle-lighting ceremony.
"Toronto Jewish Folk Choir Honours Resistance Fighters"
By Lisa Rothman
It was an empowering sight – 75 people gathered on one stage, their voices raised in song and strength, paying tribute to the resistance fighters and partizaner (partisans) who fought for freedom and survival during the Holocaust. I felt privileged to be in the audience at the newly renovated Al Green Theatre of the Miles Nadel JCC on November 6, 2004. The program, entitled "Yiddish Songs of Resistance", featured talented musical artists Lenka Lichtenberg, Mitch Smolkin, the Miles Nadel JCC Community Choir, and our own Toronto Jewish Folk Choir, as well as readings in both English and Yiddish by National UJPO President David Abramowitz and Hindy Nosek-Abelson. Hauntingly interspersed throughout the evening was a candle-lighting ceremony honouring the six million Jews and others who perished in the Holocaust.
What stood out most for me about the event was the voice of the youth of the Holocaust, and their words of hope and courage: "Gather wings, my verse, and soar to some distant peaceful land", an excerpt from the poem "Rosa", written in the Vilna Ghetto by 12-year old Cayla Efron; "Yisrolek", written from the perspective of a teenage boy in the ghetto and lovingly sung in Yiddish by Mitch Smolkin, a performer in his 20's; "... it seems to me that the ruins are weeping – as though lives were hidden here", an excerpt from 14 year-old Itzchak Rudashevsky's diary describing ghetto life, and finally the famous excerpt from Anne Frank's diary, "... in spite of everything, I still believe that people are good at heart."
As a grandchild of Holocaust survivors, and a lover and speaker of Yiddish, I felt a surge of vindication and pride wash over me as I sat through the program. To think that a mere 60 years ago, the Nazis arrogantly thought that they could wipe out an entire people, culture and language, and instead there we were, some 200 people, Jews and Gentiles, seniors and youths, gathered for one of over 100 Holocaust Education Week programs, triumphantly singing the words from the anthem of the partizaner "Zog Nit Kein Mol": "Mir zeinen do!" - "We are here!"
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