Alexandria Honors Holocaust Victims at Yom HaShoah Ceremony
Alexandria, VA – In a quiet place filled with the words of history—one that bears witness to memory and testimony—Alexandrians came together April 14 at the Beatley Central Library’s Reading Gardens to mark the City of Alexandria’s 37th annual Ceremony of Commemoration.
Observed as part of the national Days of Remembrance, the annual event honors the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust. Alexandria holds the distinction of being the first municipality in the DMV to formally commemorate the observance—a tradition that continues to draw residents, faith leaders, and city officials together in collective remembrance. The location moved from Market Square, which is under renovation.
Interim Rabbi Jennifer Weiner of Beth El Hebrew Congregation called upon the audience to remember, framing the Holocaust’s legacy in both sorrow and moral urgency.
“Although 81 years have passed since the end of World War II and the liberation of the camps, the Holocaust is not a distant history. With each passing year, we lose more survivors; the living witnesses whose voices have carried the truth of those atrocities into our sanctuaries, classrooms, and communities. Their absence places a greater moral burden on us. When eyewitnesses are gone, memory becomes our responsibility.”
The ceremony’s keynote speaker, historian Dr. Elizabeth “Barry” White, recently retired from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, spoke to The Zebra about the forces that allow hatred to take root. Drawing from decades of work investigating Nazi crimes and genocide, she described how fear and instability can make societies vulnerable to dehumanizing rhetoric. Hate, she explained, becomes dangerous when amplified by influential voices and accepted by an audience willing to blame “the other” for its struggles.
Vice Mayor Sarah Bagley, together with elected officials, lit the ceremonial 54-inch brass candelabrum, its glow flickering in memory of those lost. The piece was donated by Holocaust survivor Charlene Schiff and her husband, Ed, in honor of Schiff’s parents and sister, as well as the millions who perished.
Bagley, visibly emotional, reflected on her own family history, recalling her “Alteh Zaidy,” great-grandfather Morris Kutch, who immigrated from Ukraine in the early 20th century and with whom she developed a close bond. “When I stand here today at this ceremony as an American, as a Jewish person with the rights and freedoms and all the comfort that entails, I’m always touched by how this ceremony connects me to him and to that work of storytelling and history and family.”
Personal testimony formed the heart of the program. Rabbi Steven Rein of Agudas Achim Congregation recounted the life of his grandfather, Benjamin Weltman, who survived multiple Nazi death camps, including Birkenau and Dachau. Weltman passed away five months ago. The rabbi described his grandfather’s harrowing journey—from forced labor and starvation to a desperate escape during a death march, hiding in a haystack as German soldiers searched nearby.
“The story of my grandfather is nothing short of a miracle,” Rabbi Rein said. “A story of survival in the face of unimaginable horror. Long before the Holocaust, Jews well understood that who we are as individuals and as a community is defined by memory.”
Liberated in May 1945, Weltman eventually immigrated to the United States, where he rebuilt his shattered life and family. His story, like so many shared that day, served as both testimony and warning.
As the ceremony concluded, attendees lingered in the Garden, some in conversation, others in silence. In a world where the number of living witnesses continues to dwindle, Alexandria’s annual gathering stands as a stark reminder to never forget.
