The Jewish Community Center is collecting the names of local Holocaust survivors who built new lives in the Rochester area.
Rose Bernstein is chairing committee which is gathering names for plaques that will be added to an existing JCC memorial for those who perished under Nazi persecution.
"It became glaringly apparent to me that what we also needed to do was to honor our parents and those who survived the Holocaust and who came to the Rochester community with hope and love in their hearts and the promise that they would contribute to building a vibrant community," Bernstein said.
Bernstein, whose parents survived the Holocaust, said the committee hopes to have the new plaques added to the JCC memorial in time for Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, on April 15.
There is also an educational component to the memorial. The committee will be purchasing the rights to an audio-visual archive of the testimonies of Holocaust survivors and make them available to local school districts.
"It's our intention that long after eye-witness testimony ceases to exist, the voices and the faces of the survivors will continue on and provide a legacy of their experiences," Bernstein said.
Bernstein said it is unclear how many Holocaust survivors are still living in the Rochester area. At one time, they were believed to number around 200.
If you are or know a Holocaust survivor, you can contact Rose Bernstein at rrosesb@aol.com .