Itzhak Perlman Performs at the U.N.'s 75th Anniversary of Auschwitz Liberation

Itzhak Perlman at the General Assembly Hall at the United Nations (Photo credit: Primo Artists)

On January 27th, our violinist Itzhak Perlman performed in the General Assembly Hall at the United Nations, in commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of Auschwitz liberation on Holocaust Remembrance Day. Later that day, Perlman performed a sold out concert at Temple Emanu-El, one of the largest synagogues in the world, with the Klezmer Conservatory Band.

The United Nation’s event was themed “75 years after Auschwitz — Holocaust Education and Remembrance for Global Justice” and focused on the continued importance of collective action against anti-semitism and respect for the dignity and human rights of all people everywhere.

The ceremony was hosted by Melissa Fleming, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications. Judge Theodor Meron, former President of the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, delivered the keynote address, Shraga Milstein and Irene Shashar, shared their testimony as Holocaust survivors,  Rabbi Arthur Schneier recited the Kaddish and Cantor Shulem Lemmer the memorial prayers. Click here for more information and check out photos from the event below!

Perlman then performed the concert at Temple Emanu-El alongside Klezmer icons Hankus Netsky, Andy Statman, Frank London, and Lorin Sklamberg; Tovah Feldshuh; Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot; Director Joel Grey and the Cast and Orchestra of Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, with Musical Director Zalmen Mlotek; and HaZamir: The International Jewish Teen Choir, with Musical Director Matthew Lazar.

Bruce Ratner, Chairman of the Board at the Museum of Jewish Heritage –A Living Memorial to the Holocaust said, “The liberation of Auschwitz on January 27 represents the end of one the darkest chapters in our world’s history and a reckoning for humanity. On this day we commemorate the Holocaust—a genocide in which 6 million Jews were murdered and millions of other victims of Nazism. Their memories must never be forgotten. This event will celebrate spiritual resistance and heroism in the face of evil, and serve as a unifying moment to insist, ‘never again’. As we reflect on the past, we must do everything within our power to ensure a future in which we resist all forms of antisemitism, hostility, and bigotry to prevent a recurrence of the horrors of the Holocaust. We must not allow history to repeat itself.”

Click here for more information and check out photos from the event below!