Justice Department Hosts 32nd Annual Federal Interagency Holocaust Remembrance Program

“The horrors included theft of Jewish property, burning down synagogues, boycotts of Jewish businesses, forbidding Jews from working in the legal and medical professions, internment of Jews in ghettos and concentration camps, and death in gas chambers or by starvation and illness.”

-Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon

“The horrors of the Holocaust give new meaning to our ongoing work in the Civil Rights Division and the government against antisemitism by showing us how very necessary it is to protect our religious and civil liberties from those who would take it away.”

-Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon

“For over thirty years, federal employees have gathered annually here or other places for a Holocaust remembrance program - and why have we done this for thirty years? First and foremost, to remember the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust...also to learn directly from Holocaust survivors what happens when hate and intolerance go unchecked. And finally, to be inspired by the courageous stories from Holocaust survivors.”

-Chair of the Federal Interagency Holocaust Remembrance Committee Brant Levine

“A fundamental lesson of the Holocaust is that the dehumanization of fellow human beings and unbridled hatred towards others can lead to wars that engulf whole peoples, countries, and continents.”

-Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues Department of State Ellen Germain

Doctor Eugene Bergman shared his childhood story of survival in Nazi-occupied Poland. He was rendered deaf after being struck on the head by a nazi soldier; the result being he was sometimes able to escape dangerous situations unscathed. He described being forced to move to a Jewish ghetto and his family’s eventual escape, bluffing Polish heritage to escape persecution, his time at a Polish P.O.W. camp, and how he suffered the loss of his brother and father.

Ronald Zenon Piaseczny, an employee of the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs, shared his father’s story; Zenon A. Piaseczny was captured along with his mother and forced to work at the Dachau labor camp for the Nazi soldiers. After Americans liberated the camp in 1945, he was able to emigrate to Buffalo, New York where he joined the U.S. Coast Guard and eventually U.S. Merchant Marines.

Pictured: The ceremony opened with the Presentation of Colors during the national anthem.

At the beginning of the ceremony, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Employee Wendy Doernberg gave her rendition of Star-Spangled Banner accompanied by cellist John Kaboff.

The event concluded with the traditional lighting of the memorial candles in memory of loved ones who are no longer with us. Pictured: Acting Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Andrea Lucas lights a candle in remembrance.

The event concluded with the traditional lighting of the memorial candles in memory of loved ones who are no longer with us. Pictured: Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Leo Terrell lights a candle in remembrance.

The event concluded with the traditional lighting of the memorial candles in memory of loved ones who are no longer with us. Pictured: Acting Chair of the Merit Systems Protection Board Henry Kerner lights a candle in remembrance.

The event concluded with the traditional lighting of the memorial candles in memory of loved ones who are no longer with us. Pictured: Siblings Attorney Advisor in the Department of Transportation’s Office of General Counsel Alana Kuhn and Senior Analyst with the Government Accountability Office Daniel Kuhn shake hands with Doctor Eugene Bergman after lighting a candle in remembrance.

The event concluded with the traditional lighting of the memorial candles in memory of loved ones who are no longer with us. Pictured: Program Manager for the Department of Health and Human Services Sara R. Vogler shake hands with Doctor Eugene Bergman after lighting a candle in remembrance.

The event concluded with the traditional lighting of the memorial candles in memory of loved ones who are no longer with us. Pictured: Deputy Assistant General Counsel for Environment at the Department of Energy Steven Miller lights a candle in remembrance.

The event concluded with the traditional lighting of the memorial candles in memory of loved ones who are no longer with us. Pictured: Chair Emeritus of the Federal Interagency Holocaust Remembrance Committee Eva Fontheim lights a candle in remembrance.

Pictured: Participants and guests for the 32nd Annual Federal Interagency Holocaust Remembrance Program pose for a group photo.