As campus activism and awareness rises about the situation in Darfur, we pause to remember another genocide that occurred over sixty years ago. On April 27 the Havurah (Wesleyan’s Jewish Community) will be running a Holocaust Memorial Service in the Memorial Chapel at 7 p.m. At this service Henny Simon, a German survivor of the Latvian ghetto Riga, work camps Strasdenhof and Thorn and concentration camp Stutthof will be speaking about her experiences. After her talk and some songs from New Group, there will be a candle lighting ceremony in memory of those who were killed by the Nazis.
Although the word Holocaust is primarily used to recognize the estimated 6 million Jews who were gassed, shot and in other ways slaughtered during the genocide, it is also important to remember the 5 million others exterminated during World War II. These include those identified as Roma (Gypsies), homosexuals, political dissidents such as Communists and Socialists, religious dissidents such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, Slavic Peoples, and mentally and physically disabled people. The Havurah would like to include everyone touched by this disaster and/or identifying with affected groups to participate in our memorial to the victims, and ask that you contact Erica Belkin(ebelkin@wesleyan.edu) for more information. In addition to the service there will be a 24 hour name reading of victims outside the campus center from the evening of April 27 to April 28. Those interested in participating should contact Stephen Lazer (slazer@wesleyan.edu).
Leave a Reply