The Sara and Sam Schoffer Holocaust Resource Center at Stockton University partnered with the Casino Association of New Jersey (CANJ) on Monday, Jan. 27 to light up Atlantic City yellow to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Seven of the city’s nine casinos — Bally’s Atlantic City, Caesars Atlantic City, Golden Nugget Atlantic City, Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Atlantic City, Resorts Atlantic City, Ocean Casino Resort and Tropicana Atlantic City — changed their outside lighting to yellow at dusk as part of a nationwide awareness campaign that includes the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education.
Yellow symbolizes Holocaust awareness because it was the color of the Star of David badges Jews were forced to wear by the Nazis during the Holocaust. Several other national locations, including the Empire State Building, Niagara Falls and Philadelphia International Airport, are also taking part in the commemoration.
Irvin Moreno-Rodriguez, the director of Stockton’s Holocaust Resource Center and a member of the New Jersey Commission, first approached Mark Giannantonio, the president and CEO of Resorts and the president of the casino association, with the idea earlier this month. Giannantonio is a Stockton graduate who took a Holocaust and Genocide Studies class while attending the university.
“During this light-up campaign, we would like to pay tribute to all the victims of the Holocaust and to ensure that the lives of those who survived the Holocaust are never forgotten,” Moreno-Rodriguez said. “By joining this campaign, Atlantic City casinos are physically reminding all of us of the importance of Holocaust education and the Center’s mission to commemorate the Holocaust and combat antisemitism and other forms of hate.”
“Atlantic City’s casinos are so honored to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz,” said Giannantonio, who is also an advisory board member of the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism (LIGHT) at the Stockton University School of Business. “The casino industry is proud to light up our properties yellow in honor of the 11 million victims of the Holocaust, including 6 million Jews and 1.5 million children. We must always remember.”
Moreno-Rodriguez, who also teaches Holocaust and Genocide Studies classes at Stockton, added that the campaign reminds him of something he reiterates to his students.
“From darkness comes light, and Holocaust education is a powerful light, reminding us of the enduring power of the human spirit, and the possibility of building a brighter future for all,” he said.
