Senator Carlucci Recognizes Rockland County Holocaust Museum & Concentration Camp Liberator in Albany

(Albany, NY) In honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Senator David Carlucci (D-Rockland/Westchester) recognized members of the Rockland community who are working to make a difference and educate the Hudson Valley about the atrocities surrounding the Holocaust so they may never happen again.

On Tuesday, Senator Carlucci passed a resolution on the New York State Senate floor, formally recognizing it as International Holocaust Remembrance Day in New York State. In attendance for the resolution, staff from Suffern’s Holocaust Museum & Center for Tolerance and Education, along with Rockland County resident, 93-year-old, Alan Moskin who fought in WWII against the Nazis and helped liberate the Gunskirchen concentration camp in Austria on May 4, 1945.

Senator David Carlucci said, “It’s important we always remember. One day does not seem enough to mark the gravity of one of the greatest human tragedies in history. With International Holocaust Remembrance Day comes a commitment among all of us to better educate everyone about the more than 11 million people killed, 6 million of whom were Jews. It is by telling residents about resources for education like the Holocaust Museum & Center for Tolerance and Education and highlighting their work in local school districts that we raise awareness. I thank the museum for its continued efforts to educate against hate. I also thank WWII veteran, Alan Moskin who has shared his story with the museum and continues to talk with to thousands of young people about the horrors he saw when he liberated the Gunskirchen concentration camp. By speaking to young people, Moskin has a true impact on them and is ensuring they know hate has no place in our society.”

Andrea Winograd, Executive Director of the Holocaust Museum & Center for Tolerance and Education said, "We are grateful for Senator Carlucci's recognition of the importance of educating students and all people about the Holocaust and its relevance in our world today. As a small, community museum founded by Holocaust survivors in the late 1970s, our educational programming now reaches more than 20,000 individuals annually. Every day we work to promote the universal nature of human dignity and the critical importance to respect and defend it. The Senate's recognition of our work teaching through the lens of the Holocaust to improve our world today helps bolster our ability to fight antisemitism and hatred through education."

Paul Galan, President of the Holocaust Museum & Center for Tolerance and Education and Holocaust survivor said, “The Holocaust was one of the greatest evils ever perpetrated by humankind upon another people. When I speak to young people, I emphasize to them that HATE can only lead to destruction and devastation. I emphasize the importance of erasing HATE from the vocabulary of all languages and to NEVER FORGET THAT IT WAS HATE that almost wiped out an entire people.  We must never forget the Holocaust as one of the darkest times in human history. Senator Carlucci's resolution and commitment to Holocaust education is critical to making sure that every student in New York knows what the most extreme hatred did to our world in the past - and could do today if we forget.”

The Holocaust Museum & Center for Tolerance and Education is in Suffern on the Rockland Community College campus and celebrated their official grand opening with a new space at their International Holocaust Remembrance Day Commemoration on Monday.

The museum’s mission is to educate Hudson Valley residents and visitors about the lessons and legacies of the Holocaust, genocide, and human rights. Through teaching about the Holocaust and other genocides of the 20th century, museum staff can make relevant connections between our global violent histories and the world today. It is their goal that all visitors will understand and appreciate the importance of tolerance, human rights, social justice, and moral courage. Most importantly, they hope visitors are inspired to consider their unique, personal responsibility to creating a more peaceful tomorrow.

The museum strives to do this work with authenticity, dignity, and compassion. Beyond education, the Museum serves as a community memorial space, committed to paying tribute to all victims of Nazi persecution, as well as our local survivors and liberators.