Yom HaShoah Evening Commemoration Service

Evening Yom HaShoah commemoration, featuring Rabbi Danielle Upbin and Rabbi David Weizman, with a presentation by Holocaust Survivor Roland Levi.  Tuesday, April 18, at 5:30 PM.

RSVP Required

Roland Levi was born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1939. He was living there with his father, mother, and older sister, Nadya in 1940 when the German army conquered Belgium. In 1944 Roland’s mother and father were arrested and taken to the Dossin Barracks in Mechelen, an assembly point for Jews. From there they were transferred to Auschwitz. Nadya and Roland remained hidden at the congregation of Notre Dame de Sion but were soon arrested by the Gestapo. They were taken to an orphanage in Wezembeek and set to be transported to Auschwitz. The orphanage director, Marie Blum Albert, was able to negotiate with guards at the train station and secured the release of numerous Jewish wards of the orphanage, including Nadya and Roland. The children were returned to the orphanage. Roland and Nadya were liberated in September 1944 and reunited with their parents who also survived. Roland settled in the United States in the 1960s. He lives in the Tampa Bay Area and speaks to students and adults about his experiences during the Holocaust.