Rev. Heidi Heath

Director’s Blog: Holocaust Memorials in NH

In New Hampshire, people of faith dedicate April to Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah), observed on various days throughout the month. Below are the many occasions for prayer, music, speakers and more. Local interfaith councils and Christian congregations support and promote these programs.

Last month I visited a church in New Hampshire to preach. After worship, I stayed for coffee looking for a chance to talk to church members about the ministry of the NH Council of Churches. One church member took me aside and, as we chatted, he veered the conversation into explicit Holocaust denial. We should not close our eyes to the fact that antisemitism lives in New Hampshire and that it lives in our congregations.

Please personally participate in and publish and promote these events in our churches. Doing this will prepare us individually and as communities when we encounter antisemitism not only in our towns but also in our sanctuaries.

Drawing on the Bible, New Testament professor Dr. Clifton Black once wrote that the commandment to “Honor your father and your mother” (Deuteronomy 5:16) should urge Christians to do honor to their spiritual fathers and mothers in Judaism. This includes telling the truth about the Holocaust, participating in community remembrance to Never Forget and sharing in making Never Again a reality.

Yours in faith,

Rev. Jason Wells, Executive Director

  • Sunday, April 8, 3:00 pm, Temple Israel, Portsmouth (led by Cantor Shira Nafshi)
  • Monday, April 9, 7:00 pm, Genocide Awareness lecture by Dr. Tibi Galis, executive director of the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation, Keene State
  • Wednesday, April 11, 7:00 pm, Temple Adath Yeshurun, Manchester
  • Wednesday, April 11, 7:00 pm, Temple Ahavas Achim, Keene
  • Wednesday, April 11, 7:00 pm, Temple Beth Abraham, Nashua
  • Thursday, April 12, 7:00 pm, Manchester (address given with RSVP), hear Holocaust survivor Bodo Schrader; rsvp to info@jewishnh.org
  • Saturday, April 14, 7:30 pm, and Sunday, April 15, 2:00 pm, performance of I Never Saw Another Butterfly, Winnipesaukee Playhouse, Meredith
  • Saturday, April 14, 8:00 pm, Aryaloka String Quartet concert at Temple Adath Yeshurun, Manchester, featuring works by musicians killed in the Holocaust (please RSVP)
  • Sunday, April 15, 7:00 pm, Tad’s Place, Concord, screening of Persona Non Grata, about Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara, who saved 6,000 Jews in Lithuania during the Holocaust
  • Monday, April 16, 5:30 pm, Temple Beth Jacob, Concord
  • Friday, April 20, 7:00 pm, Temple Israel, Dover
  • Saturday, April 21, 7:00 pm, 30 Doe Run Lane, Stratham, hear Holocaust survivor Kati Preston