Remember the Holocaust

Before Zozobra, a moment to remember the Holocaust - from the Santa Fe New Mexican

What: Holocaust memorial
When: 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 1
Where: Fort Marcy park
Cost: Free
 
Thousands of revelers will gather Friday at Fort Marcy Ballpark for the 92nd burning of Will Shuster’s Zozobra and the symbolic opportunity to let go of the regrets of the past year, take a deep breath and start afresh.

But this year, 24 hours before Old Man Gloom will be set on fire, the Kiwanis Club, keeper of the flame, will present a Holocaust memorial.

The juxtaposition of the two events — the staging of a pagan-like ritual with a service honoring the victims and survivors of Nazi genocide — may seem incongruous. But not to event organizer Ray Sandoval, who came up with the idea.

The Holocaust memorial is part of the Kiwanis Club’s Decades Project leading up to the 100th anniversary of the burning of Zozobra. The club decided that each year in the 10 years between 2014 and 2024 it would to give the giant marionette the look and style of one decade of his life. In 2014, for example, it was the Roaring Twenties and Zozo, his hands tied behind his back, sported a handlebar mustache and a maroon waistband. In 2015, he was fat and bald around the middle to signify the despair of the Great Depression. Read more in the Santa Fe New Mexican.