Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) co-hosted the Capitol’s annual observance of Holocaust Memorial Day on Monday, May 2, in the Assembly Chamber, an event that drew survivors, liberators and their children from all over the state. Survivors and liberators were seated among the lawmakers, as the full Assembly marked the memory of the Holocaust.
“We take the time to remember,” said Lowenthal, “because to forget is to risk repeating the past.”
Lowenthal’s personal honoree was Robyn Solovei, a Judaic specialist from the Barbara and Ray Alpert Jewish Community Center and children’s recording artist, and her mother, Dr. Marion Solovei, clinical director at Family Service of Long Beach for more than 30 years.  Marion is a survivor of the Holocaust, only because her parents moved the family to South Africa after a number of her relatives were taken by the Nazis. The Soloveis are involved in their own family project, “A Reason to Remember,” which seeks to educate others about the loss of over 6 million Jews and others by Nazi atrocities during WWII.
The Assembly floor ceremony is the culmination of a process that has been going on for months. It is essentially an oral history project in which students interviewed survivors and liberators then compiled those stories into a single document. In a departure from years past, this year’s “document” will be in the form of a video that is available on many Assembly member websites.
“The video captures nuance and gives a renewed sense of urgency to this terrible chapter in history,” Lowenthal said.
Lowenthal co-hosted of the ceremony along with San Diego-area Assemblymember Marty Block.Â
