(PDF) (DOC) (JPG)April 18, 2012

(MAHWAH, NJ) – The Gross Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies of Ramapo College and Temple Beth Haverim Shir Shalom held a Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance) commemoration on Wednesday, April 18, 2012 in the Temple’s sanctuary on Ramapo Valley Road in Mahwah

The commemoration featured Mr. Benjamin Levin who was a member of a Jewish partisan brigade that joined the Red Army in liberating Vilna, the “Jerusalem of Lithuania,” from Nazi oppression. Once 500 strong, combat reduced the brigade to a handful of fighters. Mr. Levin’s older brother was one of the founders of the group.

Mr. Levin joined the Irgun with Menachem Begin and assisted in smuggling Jews and arms into Mandate Palestine. In that capacity, he was on the cargo vessel Altadena, when a confrontation ensued after Begin refused to halt his operation that separately supplied the Irgun. The provisional Israeli government under David Ben-Gurion ordered the ship taken by force. Shelling began when the ship was about a hundred yards off the coast of Tel Aviv. Setting aside the controversy over the affair, there were casualties on both sides, including a number of Auschwitz survivors on the ship. One of the last crew members to leave the ship was Benjamin Levin.

The evening also included a commemorative service conducted by Rabbi Joel Mosbacher with a program of chorale music performed by the adult choir of Temple Beth Haverim Shir Shalom, under Cantor David Perper, and the Ramapo Chorale and CantaNOVA, under the direction of Lisa Lutter, Associate Professor of Choral Music at Ramapo College.

Ramapo Associate Professor of Choral Music Lisa Lutter introducing members of CantaNova

Resistance veteran Benjamin Levin (R.) assisted by his son Chaim (L.)

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