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This link is to a video recording of the Holocaust Remembrance Program held on Tuesday, April 14, 2026. Due to technical issues, there is no audio for the first 5-minutes, however there is full audio for the remainder of the program. Please read the remarks of the Hon. Martin Shulman, Program Chair,  below to cover the missing opening minutes.

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Here is the text of Hon. Marty Shulman’s opening remarks:

Distinguished Members of the Bench and Bar and Welcomed Attendees:

Good afternoon. My name is Marty Shulman. On this Yom HaShoah, it is my honor to welcome you to our Holocaust Remembrance Program. I am joined by our dedicated committee members, Justice Lisa Sokoloff, Principal Court Attorney Joan Levenson, Principal Court Attorney Priva Simon, and Jewish Lawyers Guild Vice President Alyssa Grzesh. This event is proudly co-sponsored by the Jewish Lawyers Guild and the Gender Fairness Committee of the Supreme Court, New York County, Civil Branch.  While our program is taking place in this courthouse’s historic Rotunda, we are also livestreaming today’s commemoration to ensure this vital message of remembrance reaches as many people as possible. 

We are gathered here to remember, to honor, and—most importantly—to listen.

As the years pass, we find ourselves at a critical crossroads. We are transitioning from a time of living memory to a time of historical record. Soon, there will be no more first-hand voices to say, “I was there; this happened to me.” This is why telling survivor stories is no longer just a tribute—it is a necessity.

A story does what a statistic cannot: it restores the humanity of the six million. It reminds us that each number was a life, a dream and a face. But we don’t look back simply to mourn the past. We look back because the shadows we see in history books are lengthening on college campuses throughout the United States and in the streets of American and European cities today.

We are witnessing a burgeoning and alarming tide of antisemitism that has moved from the fringes of society into the mainstream. In the United States, we see a record-breaking surge in harassment and physical assaults, often masking old prejudices under new political guises. Across Europe, the shadow of the past has returned as a present-day reality: Jewish communities are under siege. This isn’t just a “climate of fear”—it is a direct campaign of violence and intimidation where synagogues require armed guards to function and Jewish homes are marked with stars to target those inside. We are witnessing the systematic revival of history’s darkest chapters, proving that the vow of “Never Again” is being shattered by open acts of aggression against Jewish life and institutions.

And in the Middle East, the ancient homeland of the Jewish people, we see a violent resurgence of eliminationist rhetoric and brutal attacks that threaten the very right of Jewish life to exist.

This is a resurgence of the same old tropes, the same baseless hatreds, and the same dangerous silence that once allowed the unthinkable to become the inevitable. As Elie Wiesel poignantly reminded us: “The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.”

By listening to these survivor stories during our candle lighting ceremony, we build a bulwark against that indifference. We must also refuse to let truth be diluted by denial or distorted by hostility.