With planning from administrators, teachers, and the Jewish Affinity Group, speakers honored Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, Yom HaShoah, on May 2 to a crowd of hundreds. 

Winnetka Campus Principal and Assistant Superintendent Denise Dubravec began the ceremony with a two-minute-long moment of silence, where a siren was played in tribute of the six million Jewish people killed. 

Yom HaShoah, since 1951, serves to remember the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the resistance shown by Jewish people against the Nazis.

“No matter what else is going on in the world, this time is set aside for us to remember and learn from history that should never be forgotten,” Dubravec said during the ceremony.

In past years, advisers have played videos that explain the importance of this day in Israel. This year, each adviser had the opportunity to take their advisery to the ceremony or to allow students to view it on their own. Some encouraged their advisees to attend, although some students reported that they were not informed that the ceremony was happening.

“[I am] happy to see all the support that came out for this,” Jewish Affinity Group sponsor Brandon Stiller said. “I don’t think it’s related to what’s going on in the world today. It just happens to be related to something that happened six months ago.”

After the siren ended, students one-by-one began to read passages aloud. They talked about the violence that took place and the victims within the Warsaw Ghetto and elsewhere, emphasizing the importance of never forgetting what happened throughout the Holocaust.

As the ceremony closed and applause began, a student shouted “Free Palestine from genocide” from the balcony. As that happened, students and staff looked around in confusion, but after several seconds, applause resumed.

“Something like this is not controversial [and] should not be controversial,” senior Beau McBride, a Jewish Affinity Group leader, said. “The fact that [so many] students showed up on the balconies and listened quietly and respectfully and shared in the day, I thought was very inspiring.”