SACRAMENTO, CA — Today, the California State Legislature marked Yom HaShoah with special events at the State Capitol. The State Assembly and State Senate passed resolutions authored by the Jewish Caucus honoring the victims of the Holocaust and officially establishing April 8, 2021 as California Holocaust Remembrance Day.
In prior years, the Jewish Caucus has invited Holocaust survivors to Sacramento to educate lawmakers and staff about their experiences and to participate in a special memorial on the Assembly Floor. While it was not possible for survivors to participate this year due to COVID-19 safety protocols, every member of the State Legislature was given a personalized framed Tweet from the official Auschwitz Memorial Twitter feed (@AuschwitzMuseum) with a picture and information about a victim of the Holocaust who shares their birthday. The Jewish Caucus also encouraged members to follow the Museum on Twitter as a way to remember the six million Jews and countless others who were brutally murdered by the Nazi regime.
“While we cannot mark Yom HaShoah as we have in prior years, our obligation to recall the horrors of the Holocaust is more important than ever,” said Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D - Woodland Hills), Chair of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus. “In too many places, and especially for too many young people, the Holocaust is fading from view. At the same time, acts of antisemitism—and other forms of hatred and bigotry—are rising at an alarming rate. The Jewish Caucus is committed to strengthening Holocaust education in California, and we will continue to educate policymakers of all backgrounds about our shared responsibility to make sure nothing like the Holocaust happens ever again.”
“As Jewish legislators, we recognize that sharing the lessons of the Holocaust year after year serves as a vivid reminder of the impact of letting bigotry go unchecked,” said Senator Scott Wiener (D - San Francisco), Vice Chair of the Jewish Caucus. “Newly emboldened white supremacist groups are normalizing and spreading hate speech, leading to a sharp uptick in targeted attacks on American Jews, communities of color, immigrants, Muslims, and LGBTQ people. We know that fighting this hatred starts with education, and we’re proud to continue our annual Yom HaShoah tradition as a means to ensure that ‘Never Again’ remains a reality.”
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