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More than 40 Holocaust survivors are expected to attend the ceremony, which is set to begin at 2 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
John Emerson will discuss how Germany is addressing its past in light of the current political climate in Europe, according to Jill Brown, communications and outreach coordinator for the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, which is organizing the commemoration.
Emerson was ambassador from 2013 until Jan. 20.
Kimberly Marteau Emerson “will add her perspective as a human rights activist,” Brown told City News Service. She is a member of the board of directors of the nonprofit, nongovernmental human rights organization Human Rights Watch and promoted integration efforts in Germany when her husband was ambassador.
Israeli Consul General Sam Grundwerg and Holocaust survivor Renee Firestone will also speak. Los Angeles City Controller Ron Galperin will sing the Kaddish, the traditional Jewish prayer recited to commemorate those who have died.
A string quartet from Los Angeles County High School for the Arts will perform a piece composed by a high school student in the museum’s music composition workshop.
The piece was inspired by and written in honor of Holocaust survivor Armin Goldstein and expresses his life through music, Brown said.
Under a 1953 law passed by the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, Yom HaShoah is annually observed on the 27th day of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar, which will begin at sundown and end at sundown Monday.
“As fewer Holocaust survivors remain, it is more important than ever for the younger generations to hear firsthand from the survivors and take on the responsibility for retelling their stories in the future,” Brown said.
“Everyone has an obligation to remember this dark chapter in human history, to memorialize those who died and to make sure that history does not repeat itself. This is especially important at this time of rising intolerance and polarization.”
–City News Service