Holocaust survivor Shelly Weiner and her first cousin Rachel Kizhnerman will be the featured speakers at the Annual State of North Carolina Holocaust Commemoration on Sunday April 8, 2018 at Meredith College in Raleigh. Shelly and Rachel were young girls in Rovno, Poland, when they went into hiding with their mothers in 1941 after the Nazis invaded and massacred most of the city's Jewish residents. They hid on the farm of a Christian family for over two years until liberated in early 1944. In 2013, Shelly & Rachel returned to their home town and the farm where they hid. Their experience was captured in the short film Return to Rivne by the Central Europe Center for Research & Documentation. For the first time in its history, the Annual Commemoration will also feature presentations by three North Carolina Children of Holocaust Survivors. Shelly Bleiweiss from Wake Forest, Sharon Halperin from Chapel Hill, and Jack Stein from Concord will offer highlights of their parents’ survival stories, and some experiences growing up in the “Shadow of the Holocaust”. Shelly's parents survived using fake identities, Sharon's parents survived in hiding, and Jack's father survived 4 concentration camps. Shelly, Sharon, and Jack all share their stories with school students and community groups throughout the state. Sponsored by the North Carolina Council on the Holocaust [a state agency in the N.C. Department of Public Instruction], the annual Holocaust Commemoration remembers and honors victims of the Holocaust, Holocaust survivors and their descendants, Righteous Gentiles, and victims of other genocides. Students from Meredith College will provide musical accompaniments throughout the program. This free event is open to the public and will be held in Jones Auditorium on the Meredith College Campus beginning at 3pm on Sunday, April 8. Ample free parking is available near the auditorium.