Lynn remembers victims of Holocaust

LYNN – Framed black-and-white photographs perched on tables in the City Hall lobby Thursday told the story.The disturbing images offered a glimpse into Nazi Germany during World War II, when six million Jews were methodically exterminated in what became known as the Holocaust.To help make certain such horrific events are not repeated, Jan. 27 is designated International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and despite Thursday’s snowstorm, a small crowd gathered at City Hall to recognize it.”Sixty-five years ago today, the concentration camp at Auschwitz was liberated,” said Lynn restaurateur Juan Gonzalez, the event organizer and a member of AmIsrael, the sponsoring world peace organization. “We are here today to commemorate all the Holocaust victims.”Police Chief Kevin Coppinger, speaking at the event, said the day of observation jogged his memory of a trip to the concentration camp at Dachau several years ago. “It was one of the most moving experiences of my life,” he said. “I’ve heard people say since that the Holocaust never occurred. Nothing could be further from the truth.”Coppinger recalled the visit to Dachau, where squalid living conditions, cramped barracks, torture chambers and ovens have been preserved as a reminder of Nazi butchery. He also made reference to the unprovoked, racially motivated beating of a Guatemalan man in Lynn last year.”The gentleman was beaten to within inches of his life just because he was Guatemalan,” the police chief said. “Whether it’s one victim in Lynn or six million in Germany during World War II, hate crimes will not be tolerated.”State Sen. Thomas McGee pointed to an inspirational message about democracy and freedom, carved into the wall in the City Hall lobby. Vowing not to forget what occurred in Nazi Germany is what helps make America great, he said, sadly noting genocide since WWII has plagued Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda and the Sudan.”We must vow to never let it happen again,” McGee said. “We must remember to live our lives in their memory.”The local ceremony, titled “The Torch of Memory,” was highlighted by candle lighting and music, which included the singing of the national anthems of the United States and Israel by Berklee College of Music student Tutti Druyan, accompanied by fellow Israelis Amir Milstein on flute and Eyran Katsenelenbogen on keyboard. Among their songs was one written by the late partisan Hannah Szenesh, captured and slain by the Nazis after parachuting into Hungary to rescue Jews in 1944.Throughout the ceremony, many people entering City Hall paused to look at the images on display, some made by Nazi documentary photographers, others by American photojournalists like the late Margaret Bourke White.Gonzalez, a Guatemalan immigrant and owner of Fernando’s restaurant on Munroe Street and New England delegate to AmIsrael, said the news media must keep people aware of what occurred during the Holocaust. “We cannot forget. Together we can make a difference,” he said.Unable to attend the ceremony in Lynn, U.S. Rep. John F. Tierney said in a prepared statement, “We must honor the six million Jews who lost their lives in the Holocaust not just today, but every day, by living this simple but powerful message: Today, we say ?never again.'”