More than 40 residents from around the state — mainly Holocaust survivors or their descendants — were honored at an April 13 ceremony on the floor of the California Assembly.
Held in connection with Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remem-brance Day, marked on April 16, the ceremony included remarks and a prayer by Rabbi-Cantor Elana Rosen-Brown of Congregation Rodef Sholom in San Rafael. She was invited to participate by Assemblyman Marc Levine (D–North Bay).
The state Assembly has honored Holocaust survivors for more than a decade during California Holocaust Remembrance Week, which coincides with Yom HaShoah. This was the first time the 15-month-old Legislative Jewish Caucus, chaired by state Sen. Marty Block (D–San Diego) and vice-chaired by Levine, organized the event.
Speaker Toni Atkins opened the ceremony on the Assembly floor, after which Rosen-Brown spoke. Before delivering a prayer, she talked a bit about a visit she made to Auschwitz eight years ago.
“I wondered, what can I, born 35 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, possibly have to say to the next generation that will give honor to the millions whose lives were stolen from them?” said Rosen-Brown, who leads Rodef Sholom in many community social action programs and is active with the Marin Interfaith Council. “It is an enormous responsibility that we all share. In the aftermath of the Holocaust each one of us is tasked with this same question: How do we live lives of meaning and action that honor the past and ensure a peaceful future for all?”
As part of the program, Californians from 42 of the state’s 80 legislative districts were honored; most were survivors or their children, but two camp liberators were also recognized. The Sacramento Interfaith Youth Choir (with singers from Congregation Beth Shalom, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral and the Shalom School, all in the Sacramento area) performed.
Honorees from the greater Bay Area included the following people, all listed as survivors: Ruth Turner, Betka Kohut, Bronislava Shteyn, Ludmila Babich, Agnes Rothblatt, Monique Schonberger, Michael Lorincz and Leon Vermont. Other local honorees included several children of survivors and Irving Baum, a former prisoner of war. Longtime San Francisco resident Susanne Weiss Goldsmith, who was part of the Kindertransport, was also honored; she now lives in Southern California.