| A small postcard
with an invitation to a “Memory and Legacy” exhibit
which portrays the story of the New Haven Holocaust Memorial,
caught my eye in my daily voluminous mail. Wondering why I
was unaware of the memorial, I made arrangements to meet with
Doris Zelinsky, the volunteer president of the New Haven Holocaust
Memory.
Soon, over coffee, I listened spellbound to this vibrant,
attractive woman, an executive in the food industry who
is also a woman utterly committed and dedicated to a cause
to which she voluntarily gives much of her time.
The Greater New Haven Holocaust Memory, a nonprofit group
and her brainchild, was formed in 2006 with a mission: to
secure the memorial’s structure and history and to
unlock its rich educational potential.
The Holocaust Memorial, which was built in 1977 by a group
of Jews and non-Jews, was the first such memorial to be
built on public land and is the oldest Holocaust monument
in North America. It sits serenely in Edgewood Park, between
West Park and Whalley Avenues. But a closer look reveals
the base of the structure is a Star of David and rising
from its center are six iron shafts symbolic of the barbed
wire fences which surrounded the concentration camps and
of the 6 million Jews who were killed. At the ground-breaking
ceremony, a box containing ashes from Auschwitz was buried
at the site by local Holocaust survivors.
Fast forward to 2006, when Doris, discovering that both
the memorial site and the monument itself were in need of
repair and care, reached out to friends, former mayors Logue
and Daniels, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro and others to help in
the formation of the Memory Group as a nonprofit organization.
Since original Holocaust survivors are a diminishing group,
with most in their 80s and 90s, it is of utmost importance
that the lessons learned from the terrible Holocaust, not
be lost or forgotten. Our children must learn and be on
guard against hate and racism and know the unbelievable
cruelty it can foster.
Andy Horowitz, director of the New Haven Oral History Project
at Yale, and Michael Brown visited and recorded Holocaust
community members who told their stories. To further preserve
these important stories, in 1998, the Adopt A Survivor program
was started. This program invites young adults to become
witnesses for the future to the testimony of the survivors.
Over a period of a year, participants meet with and learn
of the survivor’s childhood, wartime experiences and
liberation. The interpretations of these young people are
part of this outstanding exhibit which brings us the story
of the New Haven community: survivors, educators, artists
and political leaders, architects and landscapers whose
combined efforts built the memorial.
The exhibit has already appeared at Southern Connecticut
University, the University of New Haven, Sacred Heart, the
State Capitol in Hartford and more recently at the Mercy
Center in Madison. Now Evergreen Woods, an outstanding shoreline
continuing-care community is hosting the “Memory and
Legacy” exhibit now through March 1. Evergreen Woods
is located at 88 Notch Hill Road in North Branford. Hours
for the free exhibit are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Contributions can be made out to the Greater New Haven
Holocaust Memory, Inc., 1366 Blvd., New Haven 06511. The
exhibit and the memorial are not just a remembrance, but
are also an important hope for the future ... the power
of community to effect positive change by overcoming racial
and cultural divides.
Jean Cherni is founder of Senior
Living Solutions, a retirement advisory service. Contact
her at jeancherni@sbcglobal.net or 15 The Ponds, Branford
06405.
H. Pearce Company REALTORS®
is a full-service real estate company with more than 100
agents and branch offices in greater New Haven and the Shoreline.
Corporate and & Commercial offices are located in North
Haven, where the company was founded in 1958. All listings
can be found in color on the web at: www.hpearce.com. |
