Holocaust Survivor Day 2025
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Holocaust Survivor Day 2025

June 27, 2025, 9:14 am Edit
Holocaust survivor Anna Druyan of Maplewood, standing left, poses for her photo while Ruth Ramsfelder of Whippany walks in to have her photo taken.
Holocaust survivor Anna Druyan of Maplewood, standing left, poses for her photo while Ruth Ramsfelder of Whippany walks in to have her photo taken.

On June 4, Jewish Family Service of MetroWest NJ and Jewish Family Service of Central NJ joined organizations around the world to commemorate Holocaust Survivor Day. More than 80 survivors and their families attended a celebration at Congregation Oheb Shalom in South Orange, honoring the survivors’ strength, resilience, and enduring legacy.

The ceremony included a musical performance in English and Russian by American opera singer Gennady Vysotsky and an intergenerational sing-along with students from Oheb Shalom’s Mickey Fried Nursery School.

When they arrived at the shul, survivors were welcomed on a symbolic blue carpet and were presented with a framed photo to commemorate the day.

Each survivor received a framed photo of him or herself walking the blue carpet.

“Today, three generations of survivors filled the room, representing the strength of our community, l’dor v’dor — from generation to generation,” Liz Levy, LCSW, JFS MetroWest’s director of Holocaust services, said.

Holocaust Survivor Day was established as an international initiative to shift from focusing only on the atrocities to honoring the living survivors among us, highlighting their stories of both horror and survival, and celebrating their contributions to our communities. 2025 Holocaust Survivor Day was sponsored by Seed the Dream Foundation and made possible by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.

For information about Holocaust survivor services in Essex, Morris, and Sussex counties, call JFSMW at (973) 637-1704 (English) or (973) 637-1716 (Russian).

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