Service of Solidarity and Remembrance

"We must respond as a people of God, concerned for the physical, mental, and spiritual need of all. We especially are committed to identifying with the Jewish residents in their deep distress occasioned by the Nazi presence and exercise of un-American and irreligious free speech."

The Niles Township Clergy Forum host an hour-long interfaith meeting on April 16, 1978. The Service of Solidarity and Remembrance is held at Niles West High School to recognize Holocaust Remembrance Week.

An estimated 2,000-3,000 people attend the meeting.

The clergy members and crowd in the bleachers wear black armbands with a Star of David supplied by the National Conference of Christians and Jews.

Document: Press Release from the Christian Clergy of Skokie (3-23-1978)

Document: Flyer announcing Service of Solidarity and Remembrance (before 4-16-1978)

Document: Program and Order of Worship for the Service of Solidarity and Remembrance (4-16-1978)

Newspaper clipping: Skokie Life (4-20-1978)

Newspaper clipping: Skokie Life (3-26-1978)

Document: Letter to Fran Voorde (4-5-1978)

Newspaper clipping: Chicago Sun-Times (6-18-1978)

Newspaper clipping: Skokie Life (3-26-1978)

The Skokie Board of Trustees pass a resolution on April 17, 1978 to thank the Niles Township Clergy Forum (called here the "Interfaith Counsel") for organizing the Service of Solidarity and Remembrance.

Listen to the recording of the Village Board meeting: Mayor Albert J. Smith thanks the Niles Township Clergy Forum (4-17-1978)

Full record