A Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony was held at Aloha Jewish Chapel onboard Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, May 2.

The ceremony was led by Daniel Bender, a lay leader and Jewish educator at the chapel. As Bender led with prayers, and received readers for the ceremony, he offered a moment of reflection to those in attendance which seemed to resonate with this year’s theme, “Beyond religious boundaries: Learning from the Holocaust.”

The Holocaust was a devastating and systematic campaign carried out by the Nazi regime and its allies between 1933 and 1945. Jews were mainly targeted, however other groups and those who conflicted with the regime’s political, ideological, and behavioral stances, were also persecuted. The result of this persecution was the killing of six million Jews and millions of other groups.

“We count on you to be who you are; to be the tremendous giving participants who are not indifferent to what you see going on in the world,” said Bender. “It is not okay to be indifferent to another’s suffering. This makes us more sensitive and more ready to help others.”

Holocaust Remembrance Day, also known as, Yom HaShoah, is a presidential proclamation that encourages all people of the United States to observe the Days of Remembrance of Victims of the Holocaust and the liberation of the Nazi death camps. They are urged to remember the lessons of this atrocity so it is never repeated.

“With absolute devotion, we will continue to advance human rights, combat anti-semitism, and dispel all forms of hatred in every part of the world,” states the 2019 proclamation made by President Donald J. Trump.
Notable songstress and author, Laurie Rubin, performed a classical piece during the ceremony. Her calling to perform and teach is a great example of how she is trying to carry out the efforts stated in this years proclamation and connect the world.

“There is something very unifying about music in particular, that it gets to your heart,” said Rubin. “Through our organization, Ohana Arts, we try and foster peace through the universal language of the arts. We feel the arts can do that [bring people together] above anything else.”

Holocaust Remembrance Day is one of the special observances the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute supports that are established by law, bill, or resolution of Congress. The exact dates for the Days of Remembrance vary each year according to the Hebrew calendar. This year the observance was held April 28 - May 5, 2019.

Get more information about the Navy from US Navy facebook or twitter.

For more news from Navy Public Affairs Support Element, visit www.navy.mil/.