Volunteers Available To Help With Holocaust Names Project

SOUTHBURY — Donald Garber of Heritage Village in Southbury is an avid student of Jewish history and genealogy who feels passionately that it is important to record the names of those who perished in the Holocaust in order to preserve their memory. He recently approached staff at the Federation, Jewish Communities of Western Connecticut about getting the word out about the Names Recovery Campaign of Yad Vashem, which helps register names of Jewish Holocaust victims.

In fulfilling its mandate to memorialize and preserve the legacy of each individual Jew who died at the hands of the Nazis and their collaborators, Yad Vashem has been collecting Pages of Testimony since the mid 1950s. Submitted by survivors, relatives, or friends of victims, Pages of Testimony are preserved in the Hall of Names at Yad Vashem, Jerusalem.

In November 2004, the Page of Testimony collection was integrated into the Central Database of Shoah Victims Names, where brief histories and photographs of more than three million Holocaust victims may be accessed online.

Like many others, Mr Garber is concerned that the names and life stories of millions more victims are in danger of being forgotten, and he has formed a committee to assist community members who would like to submit a Page of Testimony. These volunteers have learned how to help fill out the simple one-page form as well as the Shoah Survivors Registration Form.

The Jewish Federation’s Holocaust Survivors and Second Generation Group will meet on Sunday, October 5, at 10 am, in the federation’s library at 444 Main Street North. Volunteers from this newly formed Yad Vashem Names Recovery Project Committee will be there to help survivors, their children and grandchildren fill out the different forms. Anyone with an interest in the project is invited to join the Federation group for the program.

Reservations for the breakfast meeting can be made with Debby Horowitz, Brownstein Jewish Family Service Director, at 267-3177, extension 105.

For more information on the Yad Vashem Names Recovery Project, Don Garber can be reached at 262-8606 or woken5230@mypacks.net.