Cambridge's Annual Holocaust Commemoration with Survivor Esther Adler at Tremont Street Shul, Wed. May 8

Recalling all who perished during the Holocaust, this year's commemoration program will be held on Wednesday, May 8, from 7-9 at the Tremont Street Shul (also known as Temple Beth Shalom), 8 Tremont St., Cambridge. The event features an evening of music, candle lighting, and remembrance..

Our speaker will be Canton resident and Holocaust Survivor Esther Adler, who celebrated her 100th birthday in February 2024. Her life was described with the following way when she was the speaker at Northeastern University's Survivor lecture series in 2021:

Esther Adler was born in Germany to Polish parents and escaped as a teenager after experiencing the events of Kristallnacht [The Night of Broken Glass in 1937, where Nazi paramilitary gangs rampaged across Germany destroying Jewish schools, businesses, and synagogues]. Her story includes years of separation from and reunification with her parents and brothers. She eventually graduated from the Teacher's Institute of the Jewish Theological Seminary of New York and has spent many decades as a teacher in both formal and informal settings. She has published a collection of poetry and an autobiographical novel, Best Friends: a Bond that Survived Hitler"

Music will be provided by cellist Alan Toda-Ambaras, the Cambridge Community Chorus, and A Besere Velt: The Yiddish Chorus of Boston Workers Circle. The program will also include the testimony of a Roma survivor, shared by Marian Mandache, a Romani human rights attorney and executive director of Romani CRISS.

The program is free, open to all, and wheelchair accessible. It welcomes all communities of Cambridge - including children and adults and people of all faiths and traditions.

Tremont Street Shul (also known as Temple Beth Shalom) is located just off Broadway at 8 Tremont St., between Hampshire St. and Broadway (Tremont St. is one block east of Prospect St., between Central and Inman squares). Limited free parking is available.