YIR: Atlanta Gathers for Yom HaShoah Memorial

In May, an estimated crowd of more than 500 participated in the 59th anniversary of the Yom HaShoah ceremony at the Memorial to the Six Million at Greenwood Cemetery.

This year’s Holocaust speaker was George Rishfeld, a child survivor from Poland, who was saved by a Catholic family that put their own lives at risk. Later in life, Rishfeld coordinated efforts to have this family recognized by Israel as “Righteous Among the Nations.” To this day, Rishfeld wears his St. Christopher’s medallion alongside his Star of David.

U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff brought greetings from Congress and shared his family’s account of navigating the Holocaust with the loss many relatives.

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Sen. Ossoff told the story of his cousin, Nathan, who survived the Holocaust and spoke to the importance of hearing from Holocaust survivors and keeping their stories alive for future generations.

This 59th anniversary was particularly meaningful as those that attended could see the freshly completed restoration of the Memorial on both the exterior and the interior. A major part of the restoration of the memorial was the extensive cleaning of the 150 plaques which were taken down to be hand washed and rewaxed. The six large torches that hover over the memorial were refinished and required new gas lines to be installed as well as a redesign to accommodate a new electronic lighting system.