The Town of Yorktown will commemorate the victims and survivors of the Holocaust at its annual Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony on May 1.
The guest speaker for this year’s ceremony 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 journey of the St. Louis marked a low point in Western nations’ unwillingness to accept Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany. The ship with Jewish passengers departing from Hamburg, Germany, was not allowed to dock in Cuba or in the United States, and it was forced to return to Europe. Many of the ship’s passengers subsequently died in 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,” said Supervisor Ed Lachterman. “Ms. Geismar’s firsthand 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 Pearson, a student at Yorktown High School, will also speak. Pearson has worked to raise Holocaust awareness among her peers.
The Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony is on Thursday, May 1 at 6 p.m. at Town Hall, 363 Underhill Ave., Yorktown Heights
