Lombardo signs his 3rd bill of legislative session

CARSON CITY — Raymonde Fiol was 3 years old when the Nazis invaded her hometown of Paris. Her only memory of that time was of her mother wearing the yellow star of David on her clothing when a Nazi stopped them on the streets of Paris to ask why Fiol wasn’t wearing one, too, even though it wasn’t required for someone her age.

Fiol, who was born in Paris in 1936, didn’t learn what happened to her parents during World War II until she was an adult. After they were forced into a labor camp and made to work the land, her parents arranged for a member of the French resistance to smuggle Fiol out of the labor camp, and she was taken in by a Christian family.

Her parents were later sent to the concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, where they were killed in January 1944.

“My region of France was liberated by the Americans in August 1944. I never saw my parents again,” she told state leaders and members of the Jewish community at the governor’s mansion Wednesday.

Gov. Joe Lombardo signed a bill Wednesday that aims to preserve stories like Fiol’s and educate people about the Holocaust.

Senate Bill 96 — led by state Sen. Lisa Krasner and co-sponsored by dozens of lawmakers — will designate Jan. 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The bill passed both chambers of the Nevada Legislature unanimously and became the third bill signed into law during the 2025 session.

“SB 96 represents our state’s unwavering commitment to remembering and honoring victims of the Holocaust,” Lombardo said in a statement after the bill signing. “It was tremendously moving to sign the bill alongside survivors of the Holocaust this evening.”

In 2005, the United Nations General Assembly designated Jan. 27 — the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau — to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust and to promote education about the Holocaust throughout the world.

The bill signing took place on Yom HaShoah, the day the Jewish community memorializes Holocaust victims. Seven candles were lit, six representing the 6 million Jews who were murdered and the seventh representing the 5 million non-Jewish people who were killed during the Holocaust.

“We will not stop keeping the memory alive,” said Elliot Malin, chair of the Nevada Governor’s Advisory Council on Education Relating to the Holocaust. “We will not stop talking about the Shoah. We will not stop teaching others about the Holocaust, and we will not let anyone ever forget, because when we let them forget, we are bound to allow history to repeat itself.”

The Governor’s Advisory Council on Education Relating to the Holocaust released a 2024 survey that found nearly 1 in 10 Nevadans think the Holocaust is a myth or that the number of people who died has been exaggerated; only 37 percent of Nevadans surveyed knew how many Jews were killed in the Holocaust.

Survivors and their family members shared their stories Wednesday, highlighting the importance of the new law and the mission to educate about the Holocaust.

Stefanie Tuzman, CEO at Jewish Nevada, told the story of her grandfather, who survived Auschwitz and seven labor camps.

“He was a man who never spoke of his experience,” Tuzman said. “The trauma was too deep, the memories too painful, the numbers tattooed on his arm, 1-7-8-5-6-5, told the story that he could not.”

She stressed the importance of never forgetting the Holocaust following the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, which was the deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust, and the rise of antisemitism that has followed.

“We must remember that the greatest response to antisemitism is to live proudly and boldly as Jews,” Tuzman said. “’Never again’ is not just about remembering the past. It’s about investing in Jewish life, strengthening our communities and ensuring that we celebrate who we are without fear today and every day.”

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.