In memoriam

Holocaust events deserve attention of all

In honor of the 21st Annual Conference on the Holocaust this week, the University will be holding several events to the memory of those killed in concentration camps. All students should attend these talks, discussions, and poetry readings in order to honor the memories of the millions murdered by the Nazis. Yesterday's 24 hour vigil on the Diag was only one of the first of many events scheduled; other events include speeches by both survivors and liberators and round-table discussions.

While the Holocaust is taught in several lecture halls across campus, no professor could ever portray the sheer horror and brutality of the concentration camps better than a survivor. That is why many student organizations chose to remember those who were killed by asking survivors to come speak at the University. The first such speaker this week was Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis, a survivor of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, who spoke to 200 people in Rackham Sunday about her experiences and Judaism.

Many students know very little about the injustices suffered during World War II, and this week is about education as much as it is about remembrance. Many people try to convince both themselves and others that these events took place so long ago that they are no longer relevant to today's society, let alone to the University.

But the unfortunate truth is that little has been learned in the passed 50 years. One painful example of how much hate still exists was demonstrated in May 1998 by the prejudice and anti-Semitism brought to Ann Arbor by a Ku Klux Klan rally.

All students should take part in this week's events on campus in order to better educate themselves. And those students who claim to be too busy to attend the scheduled talks can go to a photo exhibit in the Art Lounge of the Union between classes. The exhibit tells the story of Jewish refugees in Vichy France; it is on loan from the U.S. Holocaust Museum and will remain open until Friday, March 31.

Any student who had any doubts as to the severity of the Holocaust was given a solemn reminder yesterday as students held a 24 hour vigil on the Diag. Hour after hour, they read the names of thousands of Jews murdered by the Nazis. The numbers alone are reason for every student to learn all they can in order to ensure these atrocities never happen again.