HomeMy WebLinkAboutApril 19 2018 - Days of Remembrance
City of Edina • 4801 W. 50th St. • Edina, MN 55424
Contact: Krystal Caron, Communications Coordinator
Phone 952-826-0347 • kcaron@EdinaMN.gov • EdinaMN.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Edina to Hold Annual Human Rights Forum, Days of
Remembrance
Edina, Minn., April 19, 2018 – The City of Edina’s Human Rights & Relations Commission (HRRC) holds
an annual human rights forum, entitled Days of Remembrance. The eighth-annual Days of Remembrance will
be held 1 to 2:30 p.m. Sunday, May 6, at Edina City Hall, 4801 W. 50th St., and will specifically look at “The
Holocaust and Genocides: From Generation to Generation.”
Attendees of this forum will hear from Reva Kibort, a Holocaust survivor. Kibort was born in Warsaw,
Poland, in 1933, and was 6 years old when the German Nazis invaded Poland. She lost her father when he was
killed in a bombing raid. Kibort, her mother and five sisters were forced to live in the Warsaw ghetto. After
fleeing from the ghetto, she was rounded up and sent to a labor camp, where she witnessed the horrific death
of other children. Kibort was 12 years old at the time of liberation and was sent to a displaced persons camp
for orphans. She was eventually relocated to Minneapolis and placed in a foster home.
“Reva will share her personal story of living in the Warsaw ghetto, surviving the labor camps as a child and
her efforts today to tell the story of the Holocaust. Through these experiences, Reva’s clear message is to
remind us all that ‘whenever you see injustices, you have to speak up,’” said HRRC Member Pat Arseneault.
Reva and her late husband, Ben, are featured in Transfer of Memory, a touring exhibit of Minnesota Holocaust
survivors presented in partnership with the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the
Dakotas. In addition to Kibort, attendees will also hear from photographer David Sherman who photographed
the 44 portraits in the exhibit. Sherman will speak about the exhibit and the importance of telling stories of
survival and hope for the future. Transfer of Memory has been touring Minnesota, North Dakota and South
Dakota since 2011. The exhibit is currently on display at the Germanic Institute in St. Paul until April 30 and
then will be at the Dakota Discovery Museum until Sept. 15.
Following a proclamation adopted in May 2012 by the City Council, the City began to recognize the National
Days of Remembrance annually in memory of victims of the Holocaust and to encourage the community to
reflect on the need for respect for all people. In previous years, Edina has acknowledged women in the
Holocaust and genocides, the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide, the crises in the Congo in which six
million people have perished since 1996, the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and the 70th
anniversary of the end of WWII and the liberation of Auschwitz.
The Days of Remembrance Human Rights Forum is free and open to the public. For more information about
the City of Edina’s Days of Remembrance program, contact HRRC Staff Liaison MJ Lamon at 952-826-0360 or
MLamon@EdinaMN.gov.
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