Dr. MICHAEL LOZMAN

By MARILYN SHAPIRO

Dr. Michael Lozman’s dream of a permanent Holocaust Memorial in the Capital Region of New York became a likelihood on Dec. 1, 2025, when Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation establishing a New York State memorial to honor Holocaust victims and survivors.

“With the first ever state-sponsored Holocaust Memorial, we are honoring the victims and survivors of the Holocaust while ensuring that all visitors have a place to remember and reflect on what the Jewish community has endured,” Hochul stated in the press release that announced the signed legislation.  She added, “New York has zero tolerance for hate of any kind, and with this memorial, we reaffirm our commitment to rooting out anti-Semitism and ensuring a peaceful and thriving future for all.”

Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation at her annual Chanukah party establishing a New York State memorial to honor Holocaust victims and survivors on Monday, Dec. 1. At the signing were, from left, Dan Dembling, Governor
Kathy Hochul, Sharon Lozman, Dr. Robin Lozman-Anderson, and Jean “Buzz” Rosenthal. Photo courtesy of Darren McGee, photographer/ Office of Governor Kathy Hochul.

The Legislation S5784/A7614 directs the state Office of General Services (OGS) to oversee the design, programming and location on the Empire State Plaza in Albany of the New York Holocaust Memorial.

In a Dec. 1, press release, Dan Dembling, Capital District Jewish Holocaust Memorial (CDJHM president, thanked the governor for her signature. “Since our organization’s founding by Dr. Michael Lozman, we have been dedicated to creating a permanent space in the Capital Region to honor the victims of the Holocaust and educate future generations.

At this time when anti-Semitism is so high and rhetoric is reminiscent of the Nazi era, the need to remember the Holocaust is critically important. As envisioned, this Memorial will have statewide impact by helping to educate people about the consequences of prejudice left unchecked and hopefully inspire New Yorkers to stand up against hate in all its forms.”

History

The late Lozman, had been an area orthodontist and a passionate advocate for Holocaust remembrance. Lozman had worked to honor victims of the Holocaust and educate future generations about it, as he, working with several U.S. colleges and their students, organized and led 15 trips through 2017 that restored Jewish cemeteries in Eastern Europe that had been desecrated during the Holocaust. Ten cemeteries in Belarus and five cemeteries in Lithuania were restored as part of this project.

In 2017, Lozman began his pursuit of a Holocaust memorial for the Capital District. He had forged a  friendship with Albany’s former Catholic Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger (now retired), who donated two acres of diocese land in Niskayuna for the development of a memorial. The gift from the diocese for a Holocaust project was the first known collaboration, for this type of memorial, between a Jewish community and the Roman Catholic Church. 

The next year Lozman founded the Capital District Jewish Holocaust Memorial organization. The board consisted of individuals from the local community, including Scott Lewendon, Jean “Buzz” Rosenthal, Dr. Robin Lozman-Anderson, Tobie Lozman Schlosstein, Warren Geisler, Gay Griffith, Howard Ginsburg, Judy Linden, and Linda Rozelle Shannon. 

Lozman’s initial concept for the physical memorial met resistance as being too literal a representation. Dembling, an Albany architect and Michael Blau, a theming solutions expert located in this region, were recruited to be part of the redesign effort that involved both the CDJHM and The Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York. 

Many iterations later, the Town of Niskayuna approved Dembling’s design in June of 2019. The planned memorial, as envisioned by the board, consisted of walls arranged in the shape of the Star of David. Visitors were to be guided around the six-sided structure, where they would be connected to significant events that occurred during the Holocaust. Six columns in the center were to represent the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust.

Prior to legislation for the State Holocaust Memorial at the Empire State Plaza several
proposed renderings were offered to suggest what it might look like. This was one of them. The State’s Office of General Services will now oversee the design, programming and location of the memorial. Image courtesy of
Capital District Jewish Holocaust Memorial President Dan Dembling.

Initially estimated to cost $4.5 million, the board increased its fund-raising. Then the COVID-19 pandemic slowed their efforts.

In October 2023, Lozman decided to leave the board. He asked Dembling, whom Lozman considered capable and enthusiastic, to join the board and to become its president.

 “Michael set the groundwork for me to think big,” said Dembling in an April 2025 Zoom call. “He was excited to transition the mission to me.”

After Lozman’s death in October 2024, the board sought letters of support from government, religious, and private entities. Faced with new cost estimates at $6 million, the board began to explore other locations that could provide already established restrooms and parking. 

Dembling proposed shifting the location from Niskayuna to the N.Y.S. State Empire State Plaza. It was felt that it would provide an ideal place for students and tourists who were visiting the State’s capital an opportunity to learn about the Shoah. To further emphasize its expanded audience, the memorial, was to be renamed the New York State Holocaust Memorial (NYSHM). 

Armed with over 40 support letters, the board approached local legislators to establish the memorial at the Empire State Plaza. Senator Patricia Fahy and Assemblywoman Gabriella Romero drafted companion bills for their respective houses.

Both houses passed the bills unanimously.

As the official state sponsored Holocaust Memorial it is now expected also to draw contributions from the estimated 1.6 million Jews and other citizens of New York.

The Next Steps

Hochul’s signature moves the project to the New York State Office of General Services (OGS), which must work with an “organization that provides Holocaust education services and programs.” 

Along with the physical memorial, the board has already incorporated Lozman’s vision of education. Under the guidance of Evelyn Loeb, a Holocaust educator, the CDJHM partnered with Echoes & Reflections, an international Holocaust education program, to create an educational program, which will include a historical timeline of Holocaust events, and New York State Holocaust survivors’ testimonies. The CDJHM will also sponsor a fleet of traveling memorials that use the same online educational program.

The new law charges OGS with selecting an organization to work with on the Memorial’s final design and location on the Empire State Plaza. 

The CDJHM hopes that it will be that organization.

Sharon Lozman, widow of Dr. Lozman, Dr. Robin Lozman-Anderson, and other members of the CDJHM board were at the signing of the legislation.  Sharon was given the newly signed bill from the governor as a lasting reminder of her husband’s legacy.