April 8, 2014 | by Valerie Bonk

MC Holocaust Commemoration Ceremony (Photos)

Students at Montgomery College took turns stepping up to the mic April 8 to tell the stories of victims of the Nazi persecution during the school’s annual Holocaust Commemoration Ceremony at the Rockville Campus.

The Commemoration paid tribute to the millions who died as well as to Holocaust survivors both near and far.

“I’m very proud to be part of an institution that recognizes the importance of educating our community on the history of our ancestors,” said Dr. Judy Ackerman, Vice President and Provost of the Montgomery College Rockville Campus.

The evening opened with student-read narratives and photographs of people from many diverse backgrounds who experienced Nazi persecution. Local Holocaust survivors also participated in a candle-lighting ceremony.

Montgomery College music students, under the direction of Professor Dawn Avery, performed live music.

A partial exhibit of “Portraits of Life: Holocaust Survivors of Montgomery County,” a documentary project created to tell the stories of survivors who have lived in and around Montgomery County, was on display in the theatre.

The complete exhibit includes 40 panels displaying photo portraits with narrative documenting the local survivors. The traveling exhibition, sponsored by the Paul Peck Humanities Institute of Montgomery County, tells the story of people who survived the Holocaust and rebuilt their lives.

The program provides for the exhibit to be displayed at schools and community art spaces.

The ceremony also featured Bernice Steinhardt, founder of “Art & Remembrance” who showed the Paul Peck Humanities Institute’s award-winning film, “Through the Eye of the Needle: The Art of Esther Nisenthal Krinitz.” The 30-minute film features the story of Steinhardt’s mother, Esther, a fifteen year-old girl saved her and her sister from the Nazis who killed the rest of their family and most of the other Jews in their small Polish village.

We will not forget what happened and we have to believe we will never have this happen again,” Ackerman said.

To learn about the Portraits of Life: Holocaust Survivors of Montgomery County traveling exhibit and educational program as well as other events organized by the Paul Peck Humanities Institute, visit its website here.

See photos from the ceremony below: