Holocaust Memorial Observances 2026

Interfaith Memorial Service

Beth Israel Congregation
1625 Reservoir Road Greeley, CO

Officiant: Service led by Rabbi Sara Gilbert

All are invited to gather for an interfaith service to pay homage to those who lost their lives, give thanks for those who survived, and honor those who risked their lives to save others. There will be prayer and inspirational readings to reflect the Holocaust era and music to enhance the service. Area ministers will be presenting their own messages addressing the attendees.

Musical selections will be offered by Rev. Steve Eulberg, musician and composer and The TransHarmonic Choir conducted by Nicholas Gilmore

25 Ingredients of Fascism - Dr. Michael Booker

Aims Community College, Welcome Center, Ballroom A
4901 West 20th St., Greeley, CO

This discussion examines the making of a distinct and identifiable civil religion of Nazism in Germany. Nazi civil religion included a constellation of institutions, symbols, ideas, standards, and practices that provided adherents with a sense of belonging, history, sacredness, and most importantly, destiny. It was identified through the Nazi civil religious community of believers’ holidays, heroes, folklore, and, most importantly, observance of rituals like rallies.

Devout members of the Nazi Party were loyal to Adolf Hitler and they aggressively and virulently defended bigoted ideologies he espoused at any cost. They had an unconditional, almost covenanted loyalty to Hitler, the symbol of the Nazi state, and were willing to protect, strengthen and expand the German Reich at any cost. Those perceived as enemies of Hitler and Nazism were ultimately considered enemies of Germany, deemed undesirable and dangerous, and eliminated.

Book Discussion: The Stableboy of Auschwitz a Memoir by Henry Oster

Centennial Park library
2227 23rd Ave., Greeley, CO

This is the heart-wrenching and inspirational true account of a courageous German boy who, against all odds, after losing almost everything a human being can lose, survived to tell his story.

There will be a free copy of this book available to the first twenty people to claim them at the Centennial Branch Library.

Film Screening: Truth & Treason

Kress Cinema and Lounge
817 8th Avenue, Greeley, CO

Truth & Treason is a 2025 American drama film based on the true story of Helmuth Hubener, a teenage resistance fighter who opposed the Nazi regime in Germany during WWII. UNC Emeritus History Professor, Barry Rothaus, will lead a discussion following the screening. Barry Rothaus, UNC Emeritus, leading the discussion

Sylvia Ruth Gutmann Reception

Eaton Library
132 Maple Ave, Eaton, CO

A Slow Walk to Disaster: The Coming of the Holocaust — Dr. Joan Clinefelter

Ross Hall, HDS Classroom, UNC
3480 Campus, Greeley, CO

Dr. Joan Clinefelter traces the evolution of German antisemitism from before World War I through 1945. In doing so, she will explore the connections between racial hatred, and anti-democratic, authoritarian politics.

How did conservatives recast religious antisemitism into racial hatred before World War I? How did the Nazis build upon this conservative tradition and normalize antisemitism? How did Germans react to Hitler’s repression against the Jews and to the rumors of mass killings? Come prepared to ask other questions and join in a lively conversation.

Sylvia Ruth Gutmann Keynote Address

Aims Community College, Welcome Center
4901 W. 20th Street, Greeley, CO

Sylvia Ruth Gutmann is an author, public speaker, and contemporary witness. She is a Hidden Child survivor of the Holocaust. Through her speaking engagements, she is committed to the work of memory, healing, and reconciliation. Her work encourages people to shed the guilt and shame of their pasts, and to help us all see our responsibilities to each other. It is her hope that the future will be filled with more love.

She was born in 1939 in Antwerp, Belgium, where her Jewish parents had fled to from Berlin. After living as a Hidden Child in Europe until she was seven, she has lived in numerous cities and now lives in Framingham, MA.

A Slow Walk to Disaster: The Coming of the Holocaust - Dr. Joan Clinefelter

Greeley History Museum
714 8th Ave, Greeley, CO

Dr. Joan Clinefelter traces the evolution of German antisemitism from before World War I through 1945. In doing so, she will explore the connections between racial hatred, and anti-democratic, authoritarian politics.

How did conservatives recast religious antisemitism into racial hatred before World War I? How did the Nazis build upon this conservative tradition and normalize antisemitism? How did Germans react to Hitler’s repression against the Jews and to the rumors of mass killings? Come prepared to ask other questions and join in a lively conversation.

Bring your own lunch to enjoy during the talk.

Sponsored by the Greeley Historic Preservation Office

Film Screening: Among Neighbors

Lindou Theater, UNC, Lower Level of Michener Library
1400 22nd St., Greeley, CO
Free parking after 5 pm

Combining magical realism and evocative hand-drawn animation with revelatory interviews and verité footage, “Among Neighbors” examines the story of a small, rural town where Jews and Polish Catholics lived side by side for centuries before World War II. The film brings the Polish response to the Holocaust to life through the last living eyewitnesses, revealing both love and betrayal as it zeroes in on the only living Holocaust survivor from the town, and an aging eyewitness who saw Jews murdered there — not by Nazis, but by her own Polish neighbors. Produced and directed by award-winning filmmaker Yoav Potash (“Crime After Crime,” Sundance Film Festival).

Dr. Barry Rothaus, UNC Professor Emeritus, will moderate a discussion following the film.

Film Screening: UnBroken

Farr Library
1939 61st Ave, Greeley, CO

UnBroken chronicles the seven Weber siblings who evaded certain capture and death, and ultimately escaped Nazi Germany following their mother’s incarceration and murder at Auschwitz. After being hidden in a laundry hut by a benevolent farmer, the children spent two years on their own in wartorn Germany.

Emboldened by their father’s mandate that they ‘always stay together,’ the children used their own cunning and instincts to fight through hunger, loneliness, rape, bombings and fear. Their journey culminates with a painful ultimatum, when, separated from their father, they are told that they must declare themselves as orphans in order to escape to a new life in America. Unbeknownst to them, this salvation would become what would finally tear them apart, not to be reunited for another 40 years.

Directed by Beth Lane,—the daughter of the youngest sibling—UnBroken offers a moving story of resilience, survival and hope. Premiering on Netflix this past April on Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah), the film quickly resonated with viewers, reaching the Top 10 in the U.S. within 24 hours and climbing to #5.

Klezmer Concert

Unitarian Universalist Church
929 15th Street, Greeley, CO 80631

Klezmer is a style of folk music that draws upon the traditions of Ashkenazi Judaism and Eastern European folk traditions. The Holocaust nearly destroyed Klezmer, the traditional instrumental music of Eastern European Ashkenazi Jews, by murdering roughly 90% of its practitioners, the klezmorim. While many musicians were killed, others were forced to play for Nazi officers or as they were led to their deaths. Despite this, Klezmer survived as a symbol of resilience, with its revival in the late 20th century acting as a poignant, often political, reclaiming of Jewish cultural identity.

The Greeley Holocaust Memorial Observances’ tradition has been to end our week’s long event schedule with a Klezmer Concert to celebrate the fact that in spite of the Holocaust, that Judaism and their traditional music lives on.

This year, we welcome back the Klezmer band called the Klez Dispensers to help us celebrate.