YORKTOWN, N.Y. —Yorktown will host its annual Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony on May 1, bringing the community together to reflect on the lessons of one of history’s darkest chapters. This year’s ceremony will feature a firsthand account from a Holocaust survivor who endured one of history’s most tragic voyages.
The ceremony, which will commemorate the victims and survivors of the Holocaust, will take place at 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 1 at Town Hall.
According to a press release from the town, this year's keynote speaker is Sonja Geismar, a Holocaust survivor who will tell the story of her voyage on the German ocean liner St. Louis in 1939 with her parents, grandparents and aunts. The voyage of the St. Louis highlighted Western nations' reluctance to accept Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany. After departing Hamburg, Germany, the ship was denied entry to ports in Cuba and the United States and was forced to return to Europe. Many of its passengers later died during the Holocaust.
“The presence of a Holocaust survivor who experienced the tragic rejection of the St. Louis adds a profound and deeply personal dimension to our Town’s remembrance ceremony,” Town Supervisor Ed Lachterman said in the release, adding that Geismar's personal account "will serve as a powerful reminder of the devastating consequences of indifference and the urgent need to stand against all forms of hatred and discrimination."
Talia Pierson, a Yorktown High School student who has worked to raise awareness about the Holocaust among her peers, is also set to speak.
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