A memorial service will be held for Rabbi Henry Kraus on June 22.
A beloved leader, Kraus had provided support, comfort and spiritual care for Jewish patients at City of Hope since the late 1960s.
Kraus presided over the special days of the Jewish calendar: the High Holy Days,
remembered Nellie Garcia, M.S.W., director of the Department of Clinical Social Work.
“These services were attended by not just Jewish patients and families, but by other members of the health-care team,” she said.
Sometimes, he shared memories with his colleagues about his experiences in the
Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland during World War II, which were “extremely
poignant and powerful,” she said. He later traveled often to Auschwitz to honor the
countless numbers of Jews who were tortured and died there.
Kraus was rabbi emeritus at Temple Ami Shalom in West Covina, Calif. The memorial will be held at 11 a.m., June 22, at Valley Beth Shalom Synagogue, 15739 Ventura Blvd., Encino.
