Hillel holds 25-hour vigil for Holocaust victims

The University of Arizona Hillel Foundation will begin its Fifth Annual Conference on the Holocaust today with a 25-hour memorial vigil for victims of the Holocaust.

"It's a long night, but it is definitely rewarding," said Molly Frydrych, a Judaic studies senior, who helped organize the event.

Beginning at noon, students, faculty and community members will gather on the Mall to recite 22,000 names of friends and relatives who were exterminated.

"The Holocaust is seen as just a Jewish issue," Frydrych said. "But we also want to show how many other groups experienced the same tragedy."

Jonathan Kaplan, program director for Hillel, said the vigil is an appropriate way to begin the week of activities aimed at raising awareness of the Holocaust's global impact.

"It's so powerful, all night long, hearing the names of people who were brutally murdered," he said.

In addition to the vigil, Hillel is sponsoring speeches, plays and brown bag discussions throughout the week to provide insight and increase understanding of the Holocaust.

Highlight events of the conference include:

• "Punch Me in the Stomach," a one-woman play about actress/comedian Deb Filler's experience as the child of a Holocaust survivor begins at 8 p.m. Thursday in the UA Laboratory Theater. Tickets, which are available at Hillel, are $2 for students and $10 for the general community.

• A multicultural panel Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Hillel. Members of the Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Association, African American and American Indian students will join Jewish students and community leaders to discuss incidents of persecution throughout the world.

• A brown bag lunch with Holocaust survivors Friday at 11:30 a.m. at Hillel.

Kaplan said the massive death tolls in recent wars in Somalia and Yugoslavia show the need for open communication about the Holocaust.

"They say those who don't learn history are doomed to repeat it," Kaplan said. "I think that the real lesson here is that the Holocaust is not an isolated event."