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SALEM, MASS. – The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies’ annual Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony will host Janet Singer Applefield, a hidden child survivor, at this year’s Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony.

The ceremony will be held on Monday, May 5 at the J. Henry Higgins Middle School in Peabody at 7 pm. The event is free and open to all, though registration is requested for both the and the .

The ceremony will honor victims and survivors of the Holocaust with traditional prayers, music by the ²©²ÊÂÛ̳ Community Chorus, and participation from the Peabody Veteran’s Council and the 26th Infantry Yankee Division Veteran’s Association, honoring the 80th anniversary of the liberation of concentration camps in 1945.

Singer Applefield will be joined by her children to discuss her survival story and growing up in the shadow and memory of the Holocaust.  

Since 1947, being a hidden child during the Holocaust has been central to Singer Applefield’s identity. Initially, she believed her experiences were insignificant compared to those who survived the camps, but in the early 1980s, like many other child survivors at the time, she started sharing her story. In 2024, she published her memoir Becoming Janet: Finding Myself in the Holocaust, which chronicles her experiences surviving the Holocaust hidden in plain sight by a handful of Polish neighbors.

The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at ²©²ÊÂÛ̳ is an interdisciplinary academic center committed to advancing research, education, and public programming in the fields of Holocaust education, comparative genocide, and human rights. Its academic, professional development and public programs aim to educate and empower students, teachers, and community members to combat antisemitism, racism, ethnic hatred, and abuse of authority – the root causes of mass violence and atrocities.

The annual Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony continues the tradition started over 35 years ago by the Holocaust Center Boston North and its founders, Holocaust survivor Sonia Schreiber Weitz and Harriet Wacks.

This event is further supported by the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston and the North Shore Rabbis and Cantors Association. Please visit the event page for more information.