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April 19, 2009

Holocaust ceremony honors survivor

By Fred Pace

Max Lewin was a successful Beckley businessman. He was also a survivor of the Holocaust.

“Thanks to Max Lewin and his family, we’re able to come together each year to remember those who perished and those who survived,” said Tom Sopher, president of Temple Beth-El in Beckley.

The late Max Lewin and the message of “never forget” and “never again” were featured Sunday during the 16th annual Holocaust Day of Remembrance ceremony at Mountain State University.

“Before Max Lewin died, he started this ceremony we observe every year,” said Josh Franklin, student rabbi at Temple Beth-El in Beckley and also a guest speaker at the event. “Thanks to Mountain State University, we have been able to continue the ceremony that he created.”

The ceremony included the ringing of the Lewin Bell Tower at the university, which was built from a donation made by Lewin in remembrance of family members killed in the Holocaust.

Franklin said the event is particularly important today because the generation of Holocaust survivors is slowing going away.

“Remembering the legacy of the survivors today preserves their memories,” he said.

Franklin spoke about the meaning of Yom HaShoah.

“It is known as a day of commemoration for the approximately 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust,” Franklin said.

Yom HaShoah was inaugurated in 1951, anchored in a law signed by the prime minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion and the president of Israel Yitzhak Ben-Zvi. In Israel, it is a national memorial day.

“April 19 is also the 66th anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising,” Franklin added.

Candles were lit to remember those lost in the Holocaust and for those current victims of other genocide, Franklin said.

The ceremony also included local photojournalist Paul Corbit Brown, who spoke about genocide still happening today in Rwanda. Brown lit a seventh candle, which represented the approximately 1 million current victims of other genocide that has occurred following the Holocaust.

“Jews and non-Jews made a promise after the Holocaust, which was ‘never again’ and to ‘never forget,’” said Franklin. “Unfortunately, genocides are still ongoing around the world. Much more needs to be done.”

Margaux Siegel kept her childhood promise to Lewin by telling his Holocaust experience and how he survived it.

“His story is so important because it teaches the younger generation about the Holocaust,” she said. “The younger generation must hear these stories so that they will not be lost and we can keep the promise of never forgetting what happened during the Holocaust.”

— E-mail: fpace@register-herald.com

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