Temple Sholom Presents Yom HaShoah: A Service of Remembrance and Hope

The evening will feature Allan Chernoff, who will share the remarkable story of his mother, Rena Margulies Chernoff, one of only four children from the Polish town of Tomaszow-Mazowiecki to survive the Holocaust. Rena endured the destruction of Jewish Tomaszow and imprisonment in the slave labor camps of Blizyn and Auschwitz-Birkenau. Her story is one of extraordinary endurance, courage, and resilience.

In 2014, Rena and Allan Chernoff published the memoir The Tailors of Tomaszow, which recounts the vibrant prewar Jewish community of Tomaszow-Mazowiecki and the devastation it suffered during the Holocaust. Before World War II, nearly 14,000 Jews lived in the town, many of them tailors and seamstresses. Only 250 survived, in part because their sewing skills were exploited for forced labor. In addition to sharing his mother’s personal history, Allan Chernoff will speak about the destruction of Polish Jewish life and culture.

The program will conclude with Temple Sholom’s special Yom HaShoah service, which honors both those who perished and those who survived. As part of the service, six candles representing the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust will be lit by Temple Sholom members who are Holocaust refugees or the children or grandchildren of survivors.

Those unable to attend in person may join the event via Zoom. To request the Zoom link or inquire about accommodations, please contact the Temple office at (908) 889-4900. This program is presented through the generous support of the Rabbi Sidney Nathanson Fund and the Ruth Rutenberg Fund for Lifelong Learning.