Names hang above the Skylight Lounge as part of an exhibit for Holocaust Remembrance Week. The final events planned for the week are a presentation from Holocaust survivor Estelle Nadel and a
screening of “Schindler’s List.”
Holocaust Remembrance Week will come to a close on Thursday with a presentation from a Holocaust survivor and a showing of the film “Schindler’s List.”
Throughout the week, Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, hosted events in honor of those who lost their lives in the Holocaust. The events began on Sunday with a performance from the Colorado Hebrew Chorale and continued with films and speakers.
One of the last events will be a presentation from Estelle Nadel, a Holocaust survivor. Nadel’s presentation will be at 12:15 p.m. today in the Education Auditorium.
Nadel will talk about growing up in Poland during the Holocaust. Though she was in hiding throughout the Holocaust and was never in a concentration camp, she did have family members who died in concentration camps.
“Estelle will be our last big event and we’re hoping for a big turnout. Not a lot of people will get the opportunity to hear stories from a Holocaust survivor,” Tara Golden, vice president of Hillel and the chair for Holocaust Remembrance Week said.
Golden said the week’s events are not only about remembering, but also about educating.
“Our goal is to educate. Most people know what the Holocaust is, but I don’t think a lot of people understand the impact it had on the individuals,” Golden said. “I hope people will realize what injustice can do and we want to promote this to show compassion to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
In addition to Nadel, there also was a Skype session on Wednesday with Maximilian Lerner, who was a Jewish spy in World War II.
Lerner was born in Austria and came to the United States in 1930s. He joined the United States military during the war, in which he would sometimes go behind enemy lines in civilian clothing, sometimes in a German military uniform, to complete missions, Golden said.
The club considers the turnout for this year’s Holocaust Remembrance Week and past events fairly successful.
“I think we’ve had decent turnouts this year and in recent years. We’ve also had some participation from children in the lab school. I think it’s important for young people to learn about it, especially as we continue to have fewer survivors from the Holocaust,” Golden said.
Even though the week’s events were hosted by Hillel, Golden says she feels that participants don’t have to be Jewish to understand the importance of the week.
“I’m not Jewish, but I’ve found a connection. I think a lot of people can find a connection because it’s so universal,” she said.
Throughout the week, there was also the “Reading of the Names,” in which students, faculty, and community members read the names of individuals who were killed in the Holocaust.
“We want to give individuals some memorialization so we read their names, where they were born, and where they died,” Golden said. “We hope through Holocaust Remembrance Week we can educate and make an impact on people to make sure these atrocities don’t happen again and reduce intolerance.”
