U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, appointed by former President Donald J. Trump, is rallying his staff and colleagues to join him in the upcoming 32nd Annual Federal Interagency Holocaust Remembrance Program. The remembrance event, as highlighted in a recent press release, is set to take place on May 14, between 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. at the Great Hall of the Robert F. Kennedy Main Building.
Under this year's theme, "Courage Cannot Be Silenced," the program features Holocaust survivor Eugene Bergman as the keynote speaker. Bergman's life is a testament to survival against seemingly insurmountable odds. A native of Poznan, Poland, he was a victim of Nazi ghetto policies and brutality as a child and ended up in coma for five days following a violent encounter with a German soldier, according to a story shared by Martin. Despite the ordeals, Bergman emerged as a linguist and an academic, becoming the first deaf individual to earn a PhD in English.
The Federal Interagency Holocaust Remembrance Program began at the U.S. Department of Education in 1994, coinciding annually with the Congressional Days of Remembrance. This remembrance acts as a national and civic moment of reflection on the atrocities of the Holocaust. This year's program aligns with Jewish American Heritage Month and the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi concentration camps by U.S. troops, adding a layer of historical significance to the occasion.
Martin underscored the importance of the event, saying, "Bergman’s life story is full of sorrow and survival, but always in the context of his own courage that could not be silenced." His statement captures the resilience embodied by Bergman and light it can shed on the current and future generations' perspectives surrounding the Holocaust and the human spirit.
