On Sunday, October 5^th, the day after Yom Kippur, one of the most holy days in the Jewish calendar, more than 100 Jews from around Orange County gathered at the Merage Jewish Community Center in Irvine to remember the Holocaust and commit efforts to teaching the lessons of the past so it never happens again.

The crowd joined the Merage JCC to dedicate the new Irving & Nancy Chase Family Holocaust Memorial Garden.

Sol and Fay Chase, Irv Chase’s parents, were Polish and both thrown into the atrocities of the Holocaust. Sol’s story reads like a novel. Barely escaped from the Lodz ghetto in 1940, he was turned into the German SS by neighbors and sent to a ghetto in Krakow. There, just one day before everyone in the ghetto was sent to the death chambers, Sol was saved by a soldier who liked his work ethic. Nevertheless, like so many during his time, Sol was eventually caught again and sent on a train to Buchenwald, a concentration camp. He again narrowly escaped death. 

Both Irv’s parents did escape death, although over 300 family members did not. While moving to the U.S. certainly Sol never forgot, both the Holocaust, those who died, and those that helped him and his wife.

Today Irv, Sol’s son, shares the lessons of the tragedy with the community.

Many in our community joined Irv in promising a legacy that remembers and teaches. “This is a milestone for our community,” explains Jay Witzling, Merage JCC board member and Holocaust Memorial Garden committee chair, and a son of Holocaust survivors, “The Garden serves as a permanent and significant memorial to those that perished in the Holocaust. It is a place where all families can go and take our kids for generations to come.”

Six young adults – all grandchildren of Holocaust survivors – accompanied six Holocaust survivors for the official dedication ceremony. “L’dor v’dor”, from generation to generation, they shared moving sentiments about the tragedy, remembering the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust, including the 1.5 million children, equivalent to about half of the entire Orange County population; as well as the tens of thousands of Jews and others who fought in resistance movements across Europe, and the 25,271 righteous gentiles who risked their lives to save the Jews.

Henry and Susan Samueli dedicated the central statue in the Garden honouring Sala and Aron Samueli, survivors as well.

Catie Chase, Sol and Fay Chase’s granddaughter summed up the event “It’s our turn to share their story.”