LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION commemorating International Holocaust Remembrance
Day with L'dor Vador: From Generation to Generation on January 27, 2016

WHEREAS, From 1933 to 1945, 5.8 million Jews were murdered in the Nazi
Holocaust as a part of a systematic program of genocide, and millions of
other people also perished as victims of Nazism; and
WHEREAS, Jews who fell under German control in Eastern and Central
Europe were quickly stripped of their rights and property; and
WHEREAS, The Jews who perished at Nazi hands comprised two-thirds of
all European Jewry, and in countries such as Poland, which before the
Second World War included parts of the Ukraine and Belarus, the Jewish
death toll surpassed 90 percent; and
WHEREAS, The year 2016 marks the 83rd Anniversary of the beginning of
the genocide of European Jews, the bleakest, most murderous moment in
history; and
WHEREAS, The Holocaust represents the darkest period in the civiliza-
tion of mankind and must always be remembered in order to prevent its
reoccurrence anywhere else in the world; and
WHEREAS, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is observed on
January 27th each year, is a day set aside for remembering the millions
of victims of the Holocaust; this date was designated by the United
Nations General Assembly on November 1, 2005, as it marks the date when
Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp, was liberated by Soviet
Troops; and
WHEREAS, To commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the
Holocaust Museum & Center for Tolerance and Education, located in the
Library Media Center, at Rockland Community College, Suffern, New York,
is proud to present L'dor Vador: From Generation to Generation, an
opportunity for the families of local Holocaust survivors to exchange
their experiences and listen to a lifetime of stories told by their
elders on Wednesday, January 27, 2016; and
WHEREAS, The Executive Director of the American Jewish Committee,
David Harris, served as the keynote speaker for this auspicious event,
speaking eloquently on the Contemporary Meaning of the Holocaust; and
WHEREAS, The Holocaust Museum & Center for Tolerance and Education was
founded in 1984, and is dedicated to commemorate human suffering during
the Holocaust and educate future generations about this unprecedented
catastrophe; its lessons of tolerance and respect for all peoples are
taught in hope of preventing oppression and future genocides; and
WHEREAS, The idea of a permanent Holocaust Museum & Center for Toler-
ance and Education originated with the Rockland County Holocaust Commis-
sion, which was appointed by the County Legislature on May 15, 1979; two
years later, the newly formed Holocaust Museum & Center for Tolerance
and Education and the Finkelstein Memorial Library signed a historic
agreement giving Holocaust education a permanent home on South Madison
in Spring Valley, New York; and
WHEREAS, A new museum will be located on the campus of Rockland Commu-
nity College, Suffern, New York; the college serves a diverse population
of almost 8,000 students, and is visited by 200,000 people a year; the
museum will be easily accessible by more than 2.5 million residents of
Rockland, Orange, Bergen and Westchester Counties; and
WHEREAS, The Holocaust Museum & Center for Tolerance and Education
strives to educate, examine and explore the lessons of the Holocaust
with authenticity, dignity and compassion; old and young alike may learn
from these lessons to create a society of mutual respect and understand-
ing devoid of the hatred of the past; the Museum is committed to paying
tribute to those who perished and those who survived; and

WHEREAS, Knowing that the events and root causes of the Holocaust must
not be forgotten and that, particularly as survivors diminish in number,
links must be forged to educate future generations; now, therefore, be
it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day with L'dor Vador:
From Generation to Generation on January 27, 2016; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to the Holocaust Museum and Center for Tolerance and Education
at Rockland Community College.