April 9, 2002
CONDOLEEZZA RICE TO LEAD CAPITOL HILL COMMEMORATION FOR HOLOCAUST VICTIMS DURING DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The national week-long observance of the Days of Remembrance in memory of the millions of Holocaust victims will be marked by a special ceremony on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, April 9. The theme of this year’s observance is “Memories of Courage,” in remembrance of the attempted annihilation of Europe’s Jews, the loss of millions murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators, and in honor of those who resisted the Nazi onslaught.
Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (National Security Advisor) will deliver the keynote address. Members of Congress and the United States Holocaust Memorial Council will also participate in the ceremony. Founding Chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, Elie Wiesel, is also scheduled to speak.
The ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda includes the lighting of six candles – each one representing one million Jews who were murdered – by a Holocaust survivor accompanied by a member of Congress; the presentation of flags representing each division of the U.S. Army that liberated a concentration camp; speeches, traditional hymns and the Kaddish.
Also on Holocaust Remembrance Day, in a somber ceremony at the Hall of Remembrance at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the names of victims will be read aloud publicly throughout the day.
“Now, more than ever before, the heroism displayed by those acting alone or in unison with others during the Holocaust can inspire us as individuals and as a nation in our stand against hatred and inhumanity,” says Fred Zeidman, Chairman, United States Holocaust Memorial Council. “These memories of courage remind us that we—individually and collectively—also are called to make a difference in the fight against murderous oppression and hatred.”
As mandated by Congress, each year the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum leads the nation in memorializing the victims of Nazi Germany. Consequently, with the encouragement and help from the Museum, similar events are held in hundreds of communities across America during the week of April 7 – 14, 2002.
On Wednesday, April 10, the Museum will open a new special exhibition, The Art and Politics of Arthur Szyk. The exhibition examines the life and works of Polish-born Arthur Szyk who used his artwork to advocate U.S. and Allied intervention against Nazi Germany’s campaign of genocide against Europe’s Jews. After emigrating to the U.S. in 1940, he became a leading voice in calling for U.S. entry into the war. His works appeared on the covers of leading publications such as Time, Esquire and Colliers. The exhibition runs through October 14, 2002.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is America’s national institution for the documentation, study and interpretation of Holocaust history and serves as this country’s memorial to the millions of people murdered during the Holocaust. Since opening in April 1993, the Museum has welcomed more than 17.5 million visitors. The Museum’s primary mission is to advance and disseminate knowledge about this unprecedented tragedy; to preserve the memory of those who suffered; and to encourage its visitors to reflect upon the moral questions raised by the events of the Holocaust as well as their own responsibilities as citizens of a democracy.
