The service will consist of several readings, poems, and prayers, including the lighting of six candles in memory of the six million Jews who died during the Holocaust.
Fairfield University will host a Holocaust Remembrance Service on Wednesday, April 24 at 4:30 p.m. in Egan Chapel of St. Ignatius Loyola. The event is open to the public.
This year marks the 26th year of the event, which was originally initiated by Campus Ministry, and has been co-sponsored with The Bennett Center for Judaic Studies since 1995. The service will consist of several readings, poems, and prayers, including the lighting of six candles in memory of the six million Jews who died during the Holocaust.
The featured speaker this year is Betty Knopp, a survivor of Westerbork and Bergen Belsen. Her presentation will cover her life in Amsterdam, her experience as an 11-year-old girl in Bergen-Belsen and Westerbork, and life after liberation.
Born in Amsterdam, Knopp was eight years old when the Germans invaded her country. In 1943, she and her family were arrested and sent to Westerbork and later Bergen Belsen concentration camps. After two years in the concentration camps, she and her family were liberated by the Russian Army. Her mother died three days after liberation.
The Holocaust Remembrance Service is vital to help students understand the scope of this tragic era, while serving as a reminder of the millions of individuals who were murdered at the hands of the Nazis. The Holocaust Remembrance Service is co-sponsored by The Bennett Center for Judaic Studies and Campus Ministry. For more information, please contact Jennifer Haynos at 203-254-4000, ext. 2066 or visit www.fairfield.edu/bennett.
