On Sunday, April 15, the Van Cortlandt Jewish Center held its annual Holocaust Memorial Observation.

The program consisted of the lighting of six candles, one for each million of the six million Jewish martyrs.  The VCJC holds an annual Holocaust High School Essay Contest. The winners, all from the Bronx High School of Science, were Janet Lee (first place), William Mesnick (second place), and Julia Haberfield (third place).  William Mesnick read his second-place winning essay. The first and third place winners were unable to attend. Larry Hartstein gave a lecture about Collaborators and the Holocaust. The program ended with Kaddish and a reading of the names of the concentration camps. The event was well-attended, with several of our own community’s Holocaust survivors or next generation family members.