YOUNGSTOWN — Rabbi Joseph Schonberger told the people who attended Tuesday’s Holocaust commemoration in the rotunda of the Mahoning County Courthouse that “Antisemitism begins with attitudes and remarks that seem quite harmless,” but “history shows that it leads to dehumanization and genocide.”

The event was organized by the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation.

The Holocaust was the “systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of 6 million European Jews by the Nazi German regime and its allies and collaborators” between 1933 and 1945,” according to the Holocaust Encyclopedia.

Schonberger said, “Today, as in every generation, souls are being tested. We are being tested. I pray that this generation will succeed where others have failed to embrace the holiness of life, to oppose antisemitism and stand appropriately vigilant, to be the people of God that God meant us to be.

“Remember never again to let time stand still on the dark side of humanity,” he said. “We look to you to rise above the evils that have gripped human history and to make a difference now and for the future.”

Schonberger called antisemitism “the longest genocidal hatred in history.” He said people can see in the world today the precursors that “enable inhumanity,” including “obvious discrimination, growing disrespect for the sanctity of life with increasing euthanasia … diminishing traditional faith in God, disrespect for Jewish and Christian values.”

Schonberger, co-chairperson of the Jewish Community Relations Council’s Holocaust Commemoration and Education Task Force, called himself a “child of a Holocaust survivor family.”

He welcomed the audience to “Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, a time to honor the millions of sacred souls who suffered and died unspeakably, just for being Jewish and being associated with being with Jews.”

He said that, sadly, few survivors and liberators of the Holocaust are still alive today, “which makes it easier for antisemitic darkness to grow and eclipse God and humanity.”

The program for the event contained a letter home from Sid Jacobson, an American “liberator of World War II” at the end of World War II, who wrote a letter home April 30, 1945, from Germany. Jacobson is related to the Froomkin family of the Youngstown area. The letter was recently discovered.

It states that the American government “found out there were ‘refugees’ buried in large holes in the woods, so they had the German people of the town dig up the bodies, and let me tell you, it was some sight.”

It stated that 184 bodies were removed — “184 dead refugees, Polish, Russian, Jewish and all the others,” and four people carrying each coffin. They were taken to the German cemetery.

One Jewish man spoke as prayers were said at the cemetery, stating that 80,000 of the refugees “left a Polish city and only 5,000 reached Germany.”

MAYOR MCDOWELL

Youngstown Mayor Derrick McDowell said the reason for remembering the Holocaust is to “come and learn from these atrocities, that we never repeat them again.”

He said the commemoration “reminds us that there is strength measured by” how a community comes together. “There is a measurement in how we treat one another, especially in times when it is easier to turn away. We can turn a blind eye to these moments. We are at our best, I believe, when we choose respect for one another over division, to see someone for who they truly are, though they disagree, I still respect.”

CONTEST

Suzyn Schwebel Epstein, past president of the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation, announced the winners of the 33rd annual Holocaust Writing, Art & Multimedia Contest, which is open to all students in grades 7 to 12 in the area.

The students were asked to write on this year’s topic, “When Time Stood Still: The Fate of Jewish Families and Communities During the Holocaust.” She said the theme “reminds us that the Holocaust was not only about numbers. It was about families, relationships and communities torn apart.

“Behind every statistic was a person, a mother, a father, a child, a sibling, a friend. This year, students were asked to reflect on local survivor stories to ensure that these voices from our own community continue to be heard.”