Yom HaShoah in River Edge

Yom HaShoah is the day established by the State of Israel to memorialize the six-million Jews murdered by the Nazis, their allies, and local collaborators during the Second World War. Jewish communities around the world have adopted this commemoration, which falls on the 27th day of the Jewish month of Nissan.

Peter Adler, “My Life in Nazi Germany: From Persecution to Flight”

Monday, May 2 at 7:00 pm via Zoom

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Peter Adler grew up in Nazi Germany. The state deprived him and others whom had it identified as Jews of their rights to life, liberty, and property.

On September 15, 1935, Hitler promulgated the Nuremberg Laws, which striped of German citizenship Jews and people with immediate Jewish ancestry. Additional restrictions mounted over the years. As a young boy, Mr. Adler could not own a pet or bicycle. The Nazis forbade Jews from riding in street cars, going to the theater, playing sports, and going to parks. They imposed a strict curfew on Jews, while limiting the times and places they could shop, not to mentions the items they could purchase. The Nazis ordered Jews, including Mr. Adler’s mother, to relinquish their shortwave radios and removed phones from their domiciles.

Ruth and Peter Adler via NJ.Com

Mr. Adler recalls the Nazis forcing him to change his middle name to “Israel” and stamping his passport with a large, red “J” for Jew. Along with his brother, Mr. Adler was made to transfer to a Jewish school from the public one that he had attended. His non-Jewish friends pulled away from him completely, most fearing the repercussions of continuing to associate with a Jew.

In the nationwide pogrom known popularly as Kristallnacht, the Nazis destroyed Mr. Adler’s synagogue. That same day, Gestapo members raided his house in search of Jewish men whom they sought to arrest and send to concentration camps. Fortunately, the Nazis failed to find Mr. Adler’s uncle, who had hidden himself beneath Mr. Adler’s mother’s bed.

The Adlers fled Germany in August 1939 and thus narrowly escaped the Holocaust.

Cosponsored by the River Edge Cultural Center, the River Edge Public Library, and the Gross Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Ramapo College of New Jersey. Moderated by Gross-Center Director, Dr. Jacob Ari Labendz.