April 24, 2015
2015 Days of Remembrance
On April 13, 2015, Governor Nathan Deal signed a proclamation declaring April 12-19, 2015, as "Holocaust Days of Remembrance" in Georgia. On behalf of the State, the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust hosted a commemoration ceremony in the State Capitol on April 17. The 2015 theme was "Witness to Liberation: 70 Years Later".
Six candles were lit by Holocaust survivors, liberators, and witnesses in memory of the six million Jews that were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators. The 2015 Candlelighters were:
- Manuela Mendels Bornstein
Introduced by Denis Barbet, Consul General of the Republic of France
- George Aigen
Introduced by Representative Wendell Willard
- Norbert Friedman
Introduced by Thomas Wülfing, Deputy Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany
- Edith Benson
Introduced by Kenneth DeSimone, Chief of the Sandy Springs Police
- Paula Neuman Gris
Introduced by Andreas Maager, Consul General of Switzerland
- Hilbert Margol
Introduced by Representative Tom Taylor
- Elizabeth Lefkovits
Introduced by Genevieve Verbeek, Consul General of Belgium
- Howard Margol
Introduced by Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul
- Murray Lynn
Introduced by Peter Taylor, Consul of Political and Economic Relations for Canada
- M. Alexis Scott
Introduced by Attorney General Sam Olens
- Ben Walker
Introduced by Ron Brummer, Deputy Consul of Israel
- Representative John Yates
Introduced by Representative Sharon Cooper
In addition to the lighting of the candles, Ambassador Opher Aviran, Consul General of Israel to the Southeast U.S. received the 2015 Chairman's Lifetime Achievement Award from Michael Altman.
Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul accepted the 2015 Humanitarian Award on behalf of Eva Galambos, the first mayor of Sandy Springs.
First Lady Sandra Deal presented Gretchen Abernathy of Dalton Middle School as the Distinguished Educator of 2015.
The student winners of the 2015 Creative Arts Student Contest were also recognized.
The Atlanta Young Singers of Callanwolde closed the program with "Hymn of the Jewish Partisans" by Hirsch Glick.
The 2015 Days of Remembrance commemoration and 2015 Creative Arts Student Contest are made possible through the generous support of Gary Alexander, Michael Altman and Michael Morris.
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