Holocaust Memorial Committee of Long Island

PRESS RELEASE

Holocaust Memorial Committee of Long Island, Inc. 449 Bunker Drive Oceanside, New York 11572
(516) 536-9227 Fax: (516) 536-3464

For Immediate Release

Date:               October 23, 2006
Contact:          Ira M. Birns, President
Phone:            Day - (631) 847-1657; Evening - (516) 536-9227

HOLOCAUST COMMITTEE ANNOUNCES ANNUAL
KRISTALLNACHT COMMEMORATION

LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK – The Holocaust Memorial Committee of Long Island will hold it’s annual Kristallnacht** Commemoration in remembrance of the beginning of the Holocaust at the Long Beach City Hall located at 1 West Chester Street in Long Beach on Sunday, November 5, 2006 at 1PM.

This year’s Keynote Speaker will be Ms. Sally Frishberg. Sally, born in Poland, remained in hiding in a barn with 15 relatives for nearly two years during the Holocaust. In 1987, she returned to Poland with family members and took part in the filming of “Voices in the Attic”, a unique and deeply affecting documentary that allows one to explore an overwhelming subject in an intimate and complexly meaningful way.

“We are pleased that Mr. Frishberg will be delivering the keynote address at our upcoming Kristallnacht Commemoration,” said Ira Birns, President of The Holocaust Memorial Committee of Long Island. Ms. Frishberg’s miraculous story of survival has already touched many lives, including thousands of children with whom she has connected so well. The opportunity to hear her powerful story first-hand should not be missed”, added Birns.

The commemoration will also include a tribute to local Holocaust survivors and a candle lighting ceremony during which local survivors together with their families will light six candles in memory of the six million men, women and children who perished during the Holocaust.

New York State Senator Dean Skelos, Nassau County Legislator Denise Ford, New York State Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg and Long Beach city officials will also participate in the program.

All are welcome to the Commemoration, especially students. We urge students to take advantage of the opportunity to hear the miraculous story of Ms. Frishberg’s survival. “Her natural teaching abilities have helped her to be extremely successful in reaching out to children with her story. Her message teaches children that their actions can clearly influence the world around them”, said Ira Birns.

The Holocaust Memorial Committee of Long Island works to keep alive, through educational and public information programs, the memory of the six million Jews and their Christian brothers and sisters who perished during the Holocaust.

** On November 9, 1938, the Nazi’s unleashed a wave of pogroms against Germany’s Jews. Within a few hours, hundreds of synagogues and homes were razed, 7,500 Jewish businesses were damaged or destroyed and over 25,000 Jewish men were rounded up. This event came to be called Kristallnacht (“the Night of Broken Glass”) for the shattered store windowpanes that carpeted German Streets. Kristallnacht is considered by many, as the actual beginning of the Holocaust.

The Holocaust Memorial Committee is a not-for-profit organization as described in section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

The Holocaust Memorial Committee of Long Island, Inc., 449 Bunker Drive, Oceanside, New York 11572 (516) 536-9227.