(Telegraph file photo) Fred Teeboom, left, addresses a group of people who turned out for the dedication of a new installation at the New Hampshire Holocaust Memorial on Main Street in Nashua. Teeboom his hosting a Yom HaShoah remembrance ceremony at the now-completed memorial on Thursday.

NASHUA – Men and women who witnessed the Holocaust and those who have family members in Ukraine are on the speaking program for Thursday’s Yom HaShoah – Day of Remembrance – ceremony at the New Hampshire Holocaust Memorial in Nashua.

Fred Teeboom, former Nashua alderman and mayoral candidate who came up with the idea to install a Holocaust memorial in Nashua and saw the project through to completion, has hosted a Yom HaShoah service each year, minus one “COVID-19” year.

The program is set to begin at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at the memorial, 315 Main St., adjacent to Rotary Common.

The public is invited to attend. The event is free.

This year’s observance takes on a new dimension, Teeboom said.

“Today the Yom HaShoah remembrance has particular meaning, as we consider the genocide taking place in Ukraine at this very moment,” he said.

The similarities between today’s Russian attacks upon Ukraine and Nazi Germany’s invasion of its European neighbors are striking, Teeboom said.

“The same as Nazi Germany invaded Poland and killed and imprisoned millions of innocent people, so has Russia invaded Ukraine, randomly killing countless thousands of innocent men, women and children while destroying the entire nation,” he said.

“We annually proclaim ‘never forget’ on Yom HaShoah, recalling the crimes Nazi Germany committed against the Jews,” Teeboom added.

“But these words sound hollow if we ignore the cries from courageous Ukrainians as they fight desperately against murdering Russians.”

At Thursday’s observance, Teeboom said, “we will address the similarities between these events.”

Scheduled to speak and “offer their perspective” are Temple Beth Abraham Rabbi Jonathan Spira-Savett and Mayor Jim Donchess, he said.

“We will have speakers who witnessed the Holocaust and speakers who have family in Ukraine,” Teeboom said, adding that “the public will have the opportunity to participate in a roundtable” discussion.

The memorial, which is maintained by the city, is the only public Holocaust memorial in New Hampshire.

Meanwhile, Teeboom said, anxiety is growing among millions of people in Ukraine and beyond.

“We are terrified as we regard the nuclear threat from Putin,” he said, calling the Russian president an “insane dictator” and describing him as “Hitler reincarnated.”

“Therefore find ourselves limited in our (ability to send) aid to Ukraine,” he said.

“But we need to find renewed meaning in our annual proclamation ‘never again.'”

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.