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Michigan marks Holocaust, Armenian genocide

Dzidzernagapert, Armenian genocide memorial in Armenia.
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Dzidzernagapert is the Armenian genocide memorial in Armenia.

Michigan’s official ceremony commemorating the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide included 39 Jewish survivors who lit candles in the Rotunda of the state Capitol.

There was music, speeches, prayers to remember the millions of victims of genocide.

State officials were joined by Holocaust survivors on a candle-lighting ceremony that took place in the Capitol rotunda.

As a young girl, Esther Posner and members of her family hid during the German occupation of the Netherlands.

Posner says half her family perished in death camps, but that now seems like a different life.

“When I think back to what I went through, what we lived through, it’s like a different part of me.”

Posner’s children are taking her back to Holland for her 80th birthday to retrace her steps, and remember the people who hid her from the Nazis. 

Rick Pluta is Senior Capitol Correspondent for the Michigan Public Radio Network. He has been covering Michigan’s Capitol, government, and politics since 1987.