Holocaust Remembrance Day event commemorates lives lost and the spirit of survivors
Temple Beth Abraham and Rivier University hold annual event commemorating Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Sonia Ascher, daughter of Holocaust survivors
In collaboration, Temple Beth Abraham and Rivier University welcome Sonia Ascher, daughter of Holocaust survivors, to their annual Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day observance on April 8. This event, which will be held on Zoom, commemorates the lives and heroism of Jewish people who died in the Holocaust.
Ascher will chronicle her parents’ journey from Europe to Manchester, NH, where they established a furniture business. Growing up, Ascher understood that Alfred and Edith Ascher were Holocaust survivors, but it was not until she began delving into their history that she learned the nuances of their multi-layered narratives. Her research is detailed in a 75-page, self-published memoir, “Surviving the Holocaust: One Family’s Journey.” The book chronicles the horrific night of Kristallnacht in 1938 when soldiers smashed the Aschers’ elegant shoe store in Chemnitz, Germany, her father’s internment at Buchenwald, her parents’ nine-month exile in Belgium, and their eventual journey by ship to America in 1940.
Ascher, who lives in Nashua, is currently writing a second book describing the impact of parental trauma on children of Holocaust survivors and their descendants. She is a local business owner and retired leadership and management consultant for the banking industry.
Sister Paula Marie Buley, IHM, Rivier’s President, will speak at the event, in addition to Ascher’s presentation and question-and-answer session. A candle-lighting ceremony will be held memorializing the Holocaust victims, and Temple Beth Abraham’s Zimria Choir will perform with the Nashua Community Interfaith Choir at this observance.
The event is free and open to the public. To join the Zoom event, please register at https://bit.ly/31busNO.