Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony

Please join the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Salem State University (CHGS) for its annual Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony. This year’s program will feature a memorial service and prayers, the Salem State University Community Chorus, and a conversation with Karen Kirsten, an Australian-American author and Holocaust educator. She is the author of Irena’s Gift, a 2025 National Jewish Book Award finalist and winner of two Zibby Awards.

Karen Kirsten grew up among refugees who didn’t talk about the past. Determined to understand the generational trauma that cloaked her family in silence, and to help heal her mother’s pain, Karen meticulously reconstructed an extraordinary saga. After several research trips to Poland, Karen reunited her mother with the heroes who had hidden her as a child and then facilitated awarding them Righteous Among the Nations medals. She also uncovered love and betrayal, countless brushes with death, and her grandmother's astounding negotiation with an SS officer who saved her mother’s life. 

This ceremony is supported by the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston.

The ceremony is free and open to the public. It will take place in person, and it will also be live-streamed on zoom. We encourage you to attend in person. Please email us at chgs@salemstate.edu if you have any questions. 

Registration is required.