This past Saturday, January 27, was UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day. As we have done for the past six years, our Jewish Federation brought the community together for our Sixth Annual Every Person Has a Name – our 25-hour Holocaust Commemoration and Vigil that the City of Pasadena once again co-sponsored.

 

As we have done in the past, we returned back to the steps of Pasadena City Hall while simultaneously live streaming so those who were not able to attend in person were able to experience it. Our event began with a commemoration ceremony that featured remarks from:

 

* Jason Moss, Executive Director, Jewish Federation

* Pasadena Vice Mayor Steve Madison

* Carmel HaLevy, Consul for Public Diplomacy from the Israeli Consulate

* Congresswoman Judy Chu

* Vicky Paul, Field Deputy for LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger

* State Senators Anthony Portantino and Susan Rubio

* Assemblymember Blanca Rubio

* Jennifer Tang, District Director for Assemblymember Mike Fong

* Rev. Mik Kinman, Rector for Pasadena All-Saints Church

 

The ceremony also included a powerful performance by our Jewish Youth Orchestra (with members of the UCLA Music Department), under the direction of Janice Markham, of Eili Eili, Cantor Paul Buch (Temple Beth Israel of Pomona) singing Lechol Ish Yesh Shem (Every Person Has a Name) with Janice Markham playing violin, Rabbi Alex Weisz (Temple Beth Israel of Highland Park and Eagle Rock) shared an important perspective and lead us in the Mourner’s Kaddish, and Jason Moss concluded the ceremony by offering some closing remarks.

 

Immediately following the ceremony, Vicky Paul, Sasha Renée Perez (Vice Mayor, Alhambra City Council), Jennifer Tang, and the founders of Anne Frank LA started the name reading. Over the course of the next 24 hours, more than 130 community members read the names of well over 8,000 Jews, along with countless family members our name readers were remembering who were murdered during the Holocaust.

 

With support from Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center’s Sisterhood, this year’s exhibition from Yad Vashem was entitled The Righteous Among the Nations. This exhibition shares the stories of 30+ people who willingly sacrificed their own freedom, and sometimes their own lives, to save Jews during the Holocaust.

 

Thank you to everyone who attended and participated in this event. Together, we made sure that we remembered not only the people's names that we read but also the people whose names did not get read. We helped keep their memory alive.

 

Check out the news coverage the event got in the local press:

 

ABC 7 – “Every Person Has a Name” Holocaust Vigil

Pasadena Now - Holocaust Victims Honored in Annual 25-Hour Vigil at Pasadena City Hall

Crescenta Valley Weekly – Remembering Every Person Has a Name