Sho’ah Memorial Service

On April 17, Christians and those from other faiths are invited to join Sydney’s Jewish community for a Sho’ah Memorial Service to be held in the Crypt of St Mary’s Cathedral in commemoration of the millions who died in the Holocaust of World War II and to ensure the brutal horror of the event is never forgotten.

Organised by the NSW Council of Christians and Jews, the service marks the 22nd year the Sho’ah Memorial Service has been held as a time for interfaith reflection and remembrance.

What began as a small interfaith service at Rookwood Cemetery in 1991 was initiated by the late Sister Leonore Sharry from the Sisters of Our Lady of Sion as a tribute to those who lost their lives in the Nazi concentration camps.

The following year the service was transferred to the Crypt at St Mary’s Cathedral where the Sho’ah commemoration has become an important tradition and a way to ensure the enormity of the horror of what occurred during World War II is never forgotten.

Christians and all people of goodwill who, for the sake of the present, do not forget the past, will gather, to reflect and pray as they remember the destruction of six million Jews in the Holocaust — the conflagration that swept up six million Jewish souls between 1938 and 1945.

At the same time, it marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising of 1943.

Guest speaker is Mr Irving Wallach, Director of the Human and Civil Rights Organisation, the New Israel Fund Australia.

Mr Wallach, the son of Holocaust survivors, is a barrister, former head of Betar, former Secretary-General of the World Union of Jewish Students, former executive member of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies and former chair of the Zionist Youth Council of NSW, and married to Ronni Kahn, the founder of Oz Harvest.

Musical accompaniment will be provided by Karen Finch (singing in Yiddish) and David Angell (viola).

To locate more educational resources, visit the Sydney Jewish Museum, which offers a diverse range of educational programs and opportunities for secondary and primary school students. All SJM student education programs are inquiry based, linked to NSW Board of Studies Syllabus outcomes and can be tailored to meet class needs. Alternatively, free resources can also be obtained by visiting the NSWJBD at www.nswjbd.org.

For more information regarding this event contact: interfaith.asst@sydneycatholic.org.