Across five hours, members of the university community read off the names of those murdered during the Holocaust as part of the annual Yom HaShoah commemoration.
One by one, the names of a fraction of the millions of people murdered during the Holocaust were read aloud on the steps of the Moseley Center on Monday as part of the annual Yom HaShoah commemoration. Across five hours, readers lent their voices to the names of more than 5,000 Holocaust victims during the annual Yom HaShoah commemoration, an event organized by Jewish Life at Elon and the Jewish Studies program.
Yom HaShoah, or “Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust and Heroism,” is a worldwide observance that serves as a reminder of the genocide that was the Holocaust. At Elon, dozens of faculty, staff and students read names in the solemn remembrance. While only 5,000 names were read at the ceremony of the 6 million people who perished in the Holocaust, the event helps keep the memory of some victims alive.
“On Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, we gather together to do just that – to remember,” said Betsy Polk, director of Jewish Life. “It’s in the remembering that we ensure that we are continuously learning and growing from the lessons of history.”
The Reading of the Names ceremony included different colored ribbons to symbolize the various identity groups targeted by Nazi Germany during World War II and sent to concentration camps. The ribbons also served as a representation of the marking system created for those in concentration camps, as different groups had different identifiers sewn into their prison uniforms.
The event also featured the Words, Music, Memory: (Re)presenting Voices of the Holocaust exhibit on loan from the Museum of History and Holocaust Education at Kennessaw State University. The panels focus on the words of writers who witnessed the Holocaust and the gallery guide included biographies of the writers, sketches by the panel illustrators, information about musical and dramatic pieces adapted from the writers’ works, and interviews with composers, lyricists, performers and producers. The poster exhibit is on display in the Numen Lumen Pavilion throughout the week.
Members of the university community are also invited to a Ceremony of Remembrance as part of Yom HaShoah on Thursday, May 9, at 9:50 a.m. in the Sacred Space in the Numen Lumen Pavilion. Elon students, faculty, and staff will share quotes and stories to remember the lives of those who died as a result of the racial purity measures in German-controlled Europe during World War II and to honor those who survived. This year the focus of the ceremony will have a particular focus on the experience of North African Jewry during the Holocaust.
