NYMC Observes Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day
Remembering the Holocaust, Restoring Jewish Heritage and Making Sure That ‘Never Again’ is Given Meaning
New York Medical College (NYMC) observed Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, on April 29 with a presentation, “One Man’s Quest: Remembering the Holocaust, Restoring Jewish Heritage and Making Sure That ‘Never Again’ is Given Meaning,” presented by guest speaker Michael Lozman, D.D.S., third from left, founder of the Restoration of European Jewish Cemeteries, Inc., and the Capital District Jewish Holocaust Memorial, LLC.
Dr. Lozman, an orthodontics practitioner in Latham, New York, was moved to undertake the preservation of Jewish cemeteries in Eastern Europe in 2001, after he visited the village in which his father was born. “The state of the cemetery was appalling. These cemeteries, which are all located on their village outskirt were slowly disappearing into the forest,” he remembers. “Most of the synagogues were destroyed during the Holocaust by Nazi invasion and we were at risk of losing what was almost the only evidence that the Jews had been there.”
Since that visit to his father’s village, Dr. Lozman has restored 15 cemeteries, ten in Belarus and five in Lithuania, with more restorations planned. In addition, preserving Jewish heritage along with the names and resting places of those Jews murdered in the Holocaust, Dr. Lozman’s unique program brings college students from across the U.S. to engage in these projects.
Dr. Lozman emphasized that simply remembering the Holocaust is not enough. “History has a nasty habit of repeating itself. And there is so much to learn so this doesn’t happen,” he said. “Remembering has to bring action; I appeal to you, our young people—the leaders of tomorrow—to undertake the actions brought forth from remembering,” he said.
Dr. Lozman, was joined by, from left: Rabbi Moshe D. Krupka, M.S., executive vice president, Touro College and University System; Anne Bayefsky, M.A., L.L.B., director, Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust; Jay P. Goldsmith, D.M.D., founding dean, Touro College of Dental Medicine at New York Medical College; Marie T. Ascher, M.S., M.P.H., the Lillian Hetrick Huber Endowed Director, Health Sciences Library; and Edward C. Halperin, M.D., M.A., chancellor and chief executive officer.
