Andrew Tarsy of Facing History and Ourselves will be the featured speaker at the Holocaust Center’s annual Yom HaShoah event on April 21 at Peabody Veterans Memorial High School at 7 p.m.

Honored multiple times for his work in the field of human rights, Tarsy will speak on “The Power of Words: Judgment, Memory and Legacy” at the traditional ceremony, which includes a candlelight procession of north of Boston survivors, songs by the Gordon College Women’s Choir and an interfaith service.

“It is vital to remember the Holocaust as a warning of what can happen when people and nations become indifferent bystanders,” said Sonia Weitz, co-founder of the Holocaust Center/Boston North. To forget the victims would be to forget that they ever lived. Most died without leaving anyone behind to remember or to recite Kaddish. To forget would be a victory for the perpetrators.

The artwork titled, “Boxcar Hands,” was created by students in the Malden Catholic Art Club under the direction of Brian O’Donnell. Made to honor the memory of victims of the Holocaust on Yom HaShoah, April 21, each hand evokes a different emotion.

The commemoration of Holocaust Remembrance Day is co-sponsored by some two dozen colleges, temples, churches and municipal agencies. For further details of this free event, contact the Holocaust Center 978-531-8288 or visit its website at holocaustcenterbn.org.