PEABODY — Holocaust survivor Janet Singer Applefield returned to the stage Monday night, joined by her adult children, to share the story of her survival and the legacy it continues to shape—across generations.
Held at Higgins Middle School, the city’s annual Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony marked the 80th anniversary of the May 5, 1945 liberation of a Nazi concentration camp by the U.S. Army’s 26th “Yankee” Infantry Division. Survivors, students, clergy, and community members gathered to honor the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust, along with millions of others persecuted by the Nazi regime.
The event began with the national anthem and reflections from Dr. Chris Mauriello, Director of Salem State University’s Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, who highlighted rising global and domestic threats to democracy.
“When the rights of one group are eroded, the rights of all are endangered,” Mauriello said, drawing historical parallels to the rise of authoritarianism in Nazi Germany and concerns in the U.S. today.
Veteran Bob Coleman of the Yankee Division Veterans Association spoke about the unit’s role in liberating a Nazi camp on May 5, 1945, saving more than 20,000 lives. “We must never forget what we witnessed,” he said.
Following remarks and a candle-lighting ceremony led by members of the North Shore Rabbinical Council, the Salem State University Chorus performed a series of solemn songs before students from Higgins placed white flowers in glass vases onstage, symbolizing remembrance.
Congressman Seth Moulton appeared via video, thanking Peabody’s veterans and commending the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. “Democracy is fragile,” Moulton said. “It’s our shared duty to remember, to educate, and to act.”
The evening’s keynote featured Applefield, a Kraków-born child survivor whose 2024 memoir Becoming Janet recounts her experience hiding under a false Christian identity during the Nazi occupation of Poland. Now in her 90s, she described being separated from her parents at age four and sheltered by a Catholic farm family. She was later reunited with her father thanks to Lena Kuchler, a Jewish woman who opened orphanages for hidden children.
“My father looked like a skeleton,” Applefield recalled of their reunion after the war. “But I know when I’m no longer here, my legacy will continue because my daughter and my grandchildren will continue to tell my story.”
Applefield’s children, Deb and Jonathan, joined her onstage—Deb in person, and Jonathan via a prerecorded video—for a panel about intergenerational trauma, healing, and identity.
Deb described feeling an early connection to her mother’s story after attending the first U.S. gathering of Holocaust survivors in 1983. “It was a pivotal point for me,” she said. “I’ve always been incredibly close with my mother, but this was something deeper—a shared conversation of loss, fear, and resilience.”
Jonathan said he first encountered the family’s Holocaust history not from his mother, but from the diary writings of his grandfather. “There was a lot of fear in my house,” he said. “My mother’s survival strategy was to keep her head down.”
The siblings had differing views on whether they feel a responsibility to speak publicly about the Holocaust. Jonathan said he values the legacy but doesn’t see himself as an advocate. “It’s too nuanced,” he said. Deb, by contrast, has accompanied her mother to countless events over the past 15 years. “She speaks to thousands of students each year,” Deb said. “Watching her reach them—I know I have to carry this torch.”
The panel closed with Applefield’s quiet, steady voice. “I’m a witness to history. The Holocaust didn’t start with gas chambers—it started with words,” she said. “As long as I can speak, I will speak.”
The ceremony also recognized student activists with the Sonia Schreiber Weitz Student Upstander Award, named after the late Holocaust survivor and author. Four eighth-grade students from Ephraim Curtis Middle School in Sudbury—Charles Chused, Benjamin Scanga, Michael Day, and Theo Adams—received the award for leading a project to combat antisemitism and educate their peers. Haylee Duffy of North Reading Middle School received an honorable mention.
The evening ended with a prayer service led by the North Shore Rabbinical Council, including the Mourner’s Kaddish and a rendition of “Hatikvah,” Israel’s national anthem.
In his closing remarks, Mauriello thanked the staff and students of Higgins Middle School, the Applefield family, and partners including Preston Productions, Salem State’s ITS Digital Media team, and Combined Jewish Philanthropies. “This is not just a ceremony of remembrance,” he said. “It’s a call to conscience.”
