Litany of Martyrs puts a face on statistics
In the atrium of the UMC, just outside the entrance to the CU Bookstore, a miniature stage has been set up. A lone podium stands on the stage, flanked by two speakers. Behind that podium stands a student volunteer, somberly reading names into a microphone.
The voice projects deeply, yet somehow softly, out of the speakers. It’s enough to make some passersby slow their step and come to a stop. There they listen, not daring to interrupt the one-by-one flow of names. After about 15 minutes, a new volunteer comes to pick up where the last one left off.
For 24 straight hours, beginning at noon last Wednesday and concluding at noon last Thursday, the volunteers came to read for the Litany of Martyrs, recognizing those who died during the Holocaust. The reading was part of Holocaust Awareness Week, put on by Hillel.
Kara Zucker, a sophomore political science major and member of Hillel’s student board, said the Litany of Martyrs has been happening on campus for 24 years. Zucker was also the co-chair of last year’s Holocaust Awareness Week.
“It’s to remember what happened in history, so that it doesn’t happen again,” Zucker said. “It’s an awareness factor.”
Zucker said the list of names to be read is taken from the Web site of Yad Vashem, the largest Holocaust museum in Jerusalem. She said each name is accompanied by the person’s age at their time of death, their place of birth and the concentration camp where they died.
Zucker said that there are about 40,000 names on the list, falling short of the estimated 6 million Jews who died in the Holocaust. She said not all names of the victims could be placed online.
“A lot of students participate in the reading. Anyone can sign up for it,” Zucker said. “It gives way for students to participate in a remembrance.”
Junior Seth Pringle, a history major, said he has signed up twice to help read the Litany of Martyrs. He said he has taken shifts for the past two years, not including this year.
“It just kind of hits you, because there are so many names on that list that you just take it all in,” Pringle said. “We need to keep on remembering those people.”
UCSU Tri-executive Charles Gilford, a junior management major, said that by hearing the names read out loud, he is able to put a human face on the numbers and statistics of the Holocaust.
“The names make it transcend far beyond a numerical figure,” he said.
Gilford also said that the Litany of Martyrs is an important aspect to remembering history, where you come from and sharing that view with the broader campus.
“I think it’s a powerful statement that leaves an opportunity for dialogue and for students to understand the Jewish culture’s history and triumphs therein,” he said.
Eric Kopel, a sophomore computer science major and member of the Zeta Beta Tau, a national Jewish fraternity, said that the main idea behind the Litany of Martyrs was to give people an idea of what the Holocaust was about, thus contributing to campus diversity. He also said it was a great way to raise awareness.
“Diversity is defined as knowledge of different cultures, and the Holocaust is one of the biggest events we’ve had in the history of humankind that, especially recently, affects us still,” Kopel said.
Zucker said that in the past, the Litany of Martyrs has been read outside the UMC, though they were moved inside the atrium for this year. Students working their shift after the UMC was closed were locked in, though they were still able to leave and let in new volunteers when they had finished. Members of the Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi volunteered to handle the shift lasting from midnight to 6 a.m. on Thursday.
Zucker said that it is a “very special event we have here,” speaking not only about the Litany of Martyrs, but also about Holocaust Awareness Week as a whole. She said that every year, students are excited for it to happen, and that many professors incorporate the events into their classes.
“It’s going to happen again next year,” she said. “It’s going to happen for the next 20 years.”
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer George Plaven at George.Plaven@colorado.edu.
