Holocaust Remembered With Ceremonies, Documentaries

Varied ceremonies marking “Yom HaShoah,” a day of remembrance for those killed in the Nazi Holocaust, will begin tonight with an interfaith forum on “Courage and Compassion During the Holocaust” in Newport Beach, and telecast of the documentary “Genocide” on KOCE (Channel 50).

Irene Opdyke of Yorba Linda, a native of Poland who saved 12 Jews during World War II, will be the featured speaker at 7:30 p.m. at Shir Ha-Ma’alot Harbor Reform Temple, which shares facilities with St. Mark Presbyterian Church, a co-sponsor of the forum.

At 9:30 p.m. KOCE has scheduled a broadcast of “Genocide,” a 90-minute, Academy Award-winning documentary from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, narrated by Elizabeth Taylor and Orson Welles.

Many synagogues throughout Orange County will be observing the Holocaust at regular evening services on Friday.

On Sunday, a countywide gathering sponsored by various Jewish community organizations but open to the public will be held at 2:30 p.m. at Temple Beth David in Westminster. Memorial ceremonies will include candle lighting for the 6 million Jews who died during the Holocaust and a performance by vocalist Rosalie Gerut, of the Klezmer Conservatory Band, who wrote “We Are Here,” another documentary on the Holocaust.

An ecumenical service also is scheduled for Sunday at Temple Judea in Laguna Hills, which maintains a permanent Holocaust garden. Speakers include Orange County Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, the Rev. David Beadles of neighboring United Methodist Church and Father Theodore Olson of nearby St. Nicholas Catholic Church.

KOCE will begin showing the 9 1/2-hour documentary “Shoah” on Monday, screening the four-part film at various times in the evening through April 30. On April 29, an afternoon and evening conference for Orange County educators, titled “A Time to Remember: The Tragedy of the Holocaust,” will be held at the Anaheim Hyatt Hotel, sponsored by the Orange County regional office of the B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation League. The program, which is aimed at classroom teachers, includes Holocaust survivors and educators.

The major countywide interfaith meeting on the Holocaust is scheduled for the evening of May 3 at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove. Among the sponsors are the Catholic Diocese of Orange, National Conference of Christians and Jews, the Orange County Board of Rabbis and the Interfaith Peace Ministry.