On a solemn Thursday evening, the Knoxville Jewish Alliance and the Tennessee Holocaust Commission gathered the community to honor Yom HaShoah—Holocaust Remembrance Day, marking the valiant Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The event, as reported by WBIR, featured Dr. Alex Kor, who shared the harrowing accounts of his parents’ survival during the Holocaust. Dr. Kor also dedicated time to encouraging continuing remembrance and education to prevent future atrocities.
During an interview with WVLT, Dr. Kor emphasized the importance of his role in preserving history, “I think I’m doing the right thing by continuing to tell her story and my dad’s story and hopefully inspiring others to you know, learn something from this terrible past so that hopefully future mistakes will not happen.” The urgency to keep recounting these survivors’ stories cannot be underestimated, especially as the number of living Holocaust survivors drearily dwindles.
The commemoration, hosted at the Arnstein Jewish Community Center, also included a memorial candle-lighting ceremony—a poignant moment to reflect on those lost and to honor the strength of those who endured one of history's darkest chapters. The night wasn’t simply about recalling the past, but also about firmly cementing this chapter in our collective memory, as the Knoxville Jewish Alliance shared on Facebook, alongside the news that Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon would be presenting a proclamation in observance of Jewish American History Month.
Larry Leibowitz of the Tennessee Holocaust Education Commission elucidated the significance of this shared history, “After the Holocaust, the slogan was never again. You cannot have never again if you don’t remember what was going to on,” he told WVLT. In step with this mission, the Knoxville Jewish Alliance currently hosts The Perpetrator Exhibit, bringing to light the individuals responsible for the heinous acts of the Third Reich.
These acts of remembrance ensure that as generations pass, the voices and stories from a time marked by incomprehensible suffering continue to resonate, offering lessons that are vitally critical to uphold in our present and guide our actions for the future. Anna Iroff-Bailey with the Knoxville Jewish Alliance summed up the essence of the event in an interview with WVLT: “Being together as a community in the hard times is just as important as being there, as in the happier times too.”
