Holocaust memorial upcoming

The Jewish Federation of Lee & Charlotte Counties will hold its Annual Community Memorial Sunday, April 26, at 3:30 p.m., at Temple Beth Shalom, 702 S.E. 24th Ave., Cape Coral.

The keynote speaker will be Suzanne Vromen, author of "Hidden Children of the Holocaust, Belgian Nuns and Their Daring Rescue of the Young Jews from the Nazis." This is the story of children who were hidden for their own safety during World War II. Based on interviews with dozens of nuns, a priest, resistance workers and formerly hidden children, it shows how Belgian convents and monasteries — without any authorization from Church authorities — succeeded in safeguarding the lives of approximately 3,000 Jewish children.

This year's participants in the memorial service include Rabbi Jeremy Barras, Pastor Dan Betzer, Rabbi Devora Buchen, Rabbi Bruce Diamond, Reverend Dennis Gingrich, and Hazzan Marion Turk. The Temple Beth Shalom choir will sing, and Dr. Jonathan Daitch and Diane Coffman will begin and end the program with Holocaust music. Holocaust survivors and lay leaders from the synagogues will also participate in the program.

The service will include a memorial candle lighting service with the reading of the names of area residents' relatives who perished during the Holocaust. For more information, call 481-4449.