30th Annual Federal Inter-Agency Holocaust Remembrance Program

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland (fifth from the left), Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke (far right), and Counselor for War Crimes Accountability Eli Rosenbaum (second from the right) stand with the families who were honored at the 30th Annual Federal Inter-Agency Holocaust Remembrance Program.

The program began with the presentation of colors and national anthem.

Senior Attorney at the Justice Department and Vice Chair for the Federal Inter-Agency Holocaust Remembrance Committee Brant Levine is a grandson of two Holocaust survivors and expressed the need for leadership among federal employees to “ensure that nothing like the Holocaust can ever again cast a dark shadow over us.”

“Each of us came to the Department for different reasons. For me, it was to repay the debt my family owes to this country for our very lives. Before World War I, America gave my family refuge from religious persecution that allowed them to survive the Holocaust when World War II came.”

-Attorney General Merrick B. Garland

“My grandmother was one of five children born in what is now Belarus. Three made it to the United States, including my grandmother. Two did not make it. They were killed in the Holocaust. If not for America, there is little doubt that the same would have happened to her.”

-Attorney General Merrick B. Garland

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke described cases of hate crimes across America. “That’s why we’re seeking to prevent hate crimes through education and awareness...Remembrance of the Holocaust is critical in this effort – as a motivator, as a North Star in the fight against hate and as a stark warning of the hell that lies beyond the boundaries of the rule of law.”

Counselor for War Crimes Accountability Eli Rosenbaum expressed his gratitude for being associated with Department of Justice colleagues who “over a 20-year period...won more court cases against Nazi perpetrators than did all of the other countries of the world combined.” He then introduced Holocaust survivor guest speakers.

Holocaust survivor Manny Mandel described his experiences as a child growing up in nazi-occupied Hungary.

Holocaust survivor Peter Gorog described the difficulties his parents faced as Hungarian Jews, as well how Jewish as soldiers were mistreated on the Budapest warfront.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Attorney Wendy Doernberg concluded the ceremony by recognizing survivors and descendants of survivors who were present at The Department of Justice.

Families took turns lighting Yahrzeit candles in remembrance of lost loved ones.