Remembering the Holocaust on Sunday
The Jewish Congregation of Oak Ridge and the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church have partnered to present the annual community Holocaust Remembrance Program from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday, April 24, on Zoom and in person at JCOR, 101 W. Madison Lane near the hospital.
The program will feature a candle-lighting ceremony, songs, readings, prayers, and a special closing speaker. The city of Oak Ridge has proclaimed April 24 to be Holocaust Remembrance Day for 2022. Mayor Warren Gooch will present the proclamation during the program.
Mira Kimmelman, a local Holocaust survivor who died April 17, 2019, initiated the Holocaust Remembrance Program many years ago. She is the author of "Echoes From the Holocaust: A Memoir" (1997) and "Life beyond the Holocaust: Memories & Realities" (2005). She spent many years lecturing to various community groups and classes about her experiences.
Mira’s children, Benno and Gene, partnered with the Tennessee Holocaust Commission to establish the Mira Kimmelman “Learning From the Holocaust” Contest in 2021. This year, two individuals who were winners in that essay contest will participate as Readers in the Remembrance Program, Emily Salko from Oak Ridge High School and Chloe Collins from Oakdale School in Morgan County.
This year the closing speaker for the program, Robert Fortney, is a part of the “next generation,” who continues the Greatest Generation’s legacy with the responsibility of educating others about the Holocaust.
One of Oak Ridge’s beloved physicians, Dr. Thomas Guy Fortney, Jr., passed away in January. What was surprising to many was to learn that he had not only fought in World War II, but he also participated in the liberation of Ohrdruf and Buchenwald concentration camps. Later in his life, he became passionate about sharing his story, first with his grandchild’s classroom and then at numerous high schools and universities. His oldest son, Robert Fortney, has graciously agreed to participate in this year’s Remembrance Program and speak in honor of his father’s experiences and legacy.
Each year there is a Mira Kimmelman Holocaust Study Group held in the weeks prior to the Holocaust Remembrance Program. The study group is currently led by Julie Kinder-McMillan, eighth-grade English Language Arts teacher at Robertsville Middle School, and Steve Reddick, retired eighth-grade Social Studies teacher from Jefferson Middle School. The study group is designed to explore the events leading up to and including the Holocaust, along with the roles of the international community, religious groups, propaganda, and our own self-reflection in response to hate and intolerance.
Kinder-McMIllan won the Belz-Lipman Award for Excellence in Holocaust Education from the Tennessee Holocaust Commission this year. She will be presented with the Award by Tennessee Holocaust Commission Chair Larry Leibowitz .
The JCOR Men’s Club donated yellow memorial candles for anyone attending the service to take home and light with their family after the program. The memorial candles are in memory of the 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. The candle is modeled after a traditional Jewish memorial Yahrzeit candle that burns for 24 hours during periods of mourning and on the anniversary of death of a loved one.
If you prefer to attend virtually and have not yet received the Zoom link, obtain the link fby sending an email to events@jcor.info.
This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Holocaust Remembrance Day event set Sunday
