Monday, April 20 - 8:00 PM Tuesday, April 21 - 8:00 PM
Fred Gross' Biography Fred’s parents, Agi and Andi Grosz lived in Beregszasz, a small town in Czechoslovakia. They lived ordinary lives in the small town of 30,000 people of many different backgrounds. Unfortunately, they returned to Europe in 1938 and were quickly engulfed by the spread of Nazi racial laws and persecution. Fred’s father became a slave worker in Hungary and was forced to build roads and fortifications for them closer to the Russian border. Fred’s mother and other Jews in town were segregated and sent to ghettos throughout the town. She was eventually sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau with other family members in May of 1944. She was selected as a slave laborer and by June of that year was transported to a munitions factory in Germany and then to another factory in Sommerda.
Ruth Mermelstein's Biography Ruth was born in Sighet, part of northern Transylvania in Romania, and was one of six siblings. Ruth’s family was forced into a ghetto until they were sent to Auschwitz. She and her sister, Elisabeth, were the only family members to survive. Together they worked as slave laborers in Auschwitz and were then transported to another camp working at an ammunition factory in IG Farben. As the Russian army approached, Ruth was sent on a 5-week death march to Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp. On April 18, 1945 Ruth was liberated by British troops. Suffering from Tuberculosis, Ruth and her sister were transported to Sweden by the Red Cross. After several years in Sweden she met her husband, a survivor who lived in the U.S. They married and moved to the U.S.
Yom Hashoah - 24 hour Vigil
Memory plays an important role in our observances and we need your help to remember the 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. It is our responsibility to remember those we have lost and to educate the future generations about this horrible period of our history.
In past years we have invited individuals to sit in the synagogue sanctuary with 6 candles representing the 6 million. This year, we are adjusting to our new environment and are asking people to sign up for a 1-hour time-slot to sit with a candle at home, on a zoom call. When the next person enters, they will take over sitting with their own candle.
We will have a 24-hour vigil where you will not only stand up for the victims with your presence, but you will recite their names as well. It is a time for silent contemplation, reading the names, and learning about the Shoa.
We need at least one person per time slot and we need people to take late and early morning hours.
Affiliated with United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism