Text, photos, and video by Jeff French Segall
This past Sunday, the 83rd consecutive commemoration of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was held in Riverside Park, near West 83rd Street, at the Der Shteyn, a stone placed in a designated circular viewing area in commemoration of the largest single revolt by Jews during the Holocaust.
The uprising began on April 19, 1943, and the first commemoration of the heroic actions was held in the United States in 1947.
The program this year included personal stories, poems in both English and Yiddish, and songs, all of which were intentionally met with no applause due to the solemnity of the gathering.
“This event is about our family, our people, our past and our future. It was started by people who had just arrived from Poland who had personal memories of this important uprising,” Moishe Rosenfeld, one of the producers of the annual Riverside Park event, told West Side Rag. “It was a statement by the Jewish population of Warsaw that they would never succumb to the whims of the haters and that they would stand up for the dignity of the Jewish people. They did this staring death in the face with all of the bravery and courage they could muster. We were very blessed to have them set this example for the Jews of Eastern Europe because it sparked uprisings in other ghettos and concentration camps as well as partisan fighters throughout Eastern Europe.”
Rosenfeld has lived in New York since 1969 and has never missed attending a commemoration event on April 19.
At the end of the program, Marcel Kshensky, who emceed the event, thanked all for braving the inclement weather, wishing them all well and inviting them to return next year to Riverside Park on April 19th for the 84th Commemoration of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
To view Kshenky’s opening remarks as well as the ceremony’s concluding song, click this link.
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This a lovely event every year. Thank you.
It’s important not only to remember the Warsaw ghetto uprising but also this site in Riverside Park. When it was first commemorated in 1947, it was meant to be the cornerstone for the first Holocaust memorial in the United States.
Dear WSR, it would be very helpful if you let us know ahead of time. I would have loved to attend the event. Thank you and thank you to those who organized and attended.
This event is held every year rain or shine on April 19, the anniversary date of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. If April 19 falls on Shabbat, then it is observed the day before on April 18. This year’s event was announced a week earlier in the Rag’s “This Week’s Event” section which is always placed on its first page.
Thank you for posting the video. I’m so glad of the turnout, especially given the inclement weather. We do not forget.