Holocaust Memorial Week, also known as Holocaust Remembrance Week is an annual event that takes place with the purpose of honoring and remembering the victims of the Holocaust. 

The genocide which took place from 1939 until 1945 targeted minority groups such as the Romani people, disabled people, members of the LGBTQ+ community, political prisoners, in addition to the six million Jews who were murdered under the Nazi Regime. Further, the Holocaust resulted in the displacement and PTSD of millions of survivors.

In the last week of April, Oregon State University plans to hold the annual week of memorial event, which includes Holocaust Remembrance Day on April 27. 

This year will be the 37th annual OSU Holocaust Memorial week. 

The OSU Holocaust Memorial Week is organized by a committee of community members which works to ensure the events are respectful, informative and engaging in addition to reaching a wide audience. 

The events planned are structured to raise awareness of the Holocaust and its impact on the world, promoting tolerance and understanding and inspiring people to take action against hate and xenophobia. 

Keynote speeches by survivors, film screenings, panel discussions and exhibits of artwork and artifacts are examples of events held in the past, as well as observances among local middle and high schools which relate to the topic at an age-appropriate level.

In terms of this year’s events, the Holocaust Committee has planned six events which will be offered both in person and online, all of which have registration available on the Holocaust Memorial Program website.

Events:

• Paragraph 175
  • Film Screening (remote only, live via Zoom)
  • April 17,1:00 p.m.
  • German Statute that criminalized sexual relations between men but not between women. This statute also predated the Nazi Regime; however, the Third Reich then revised it to be more cruel and more broad.
• Antisemitism in America: The Numbers, Why They are so Bad, and What Can be done About Them
  • Public Talk by Stephen Paolini (hybrid)
  • April 18, 7:00 p.m.
• China and Three Issues of Human Rights
  • Panel Discussion (remote only, live via Zoom)
  • April 19, noon
• The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler’s Ghettos
  • Book Talk by Judy Batalion
  • April 19, 7:00 p.m.
• Address Unknown
  • Dramatic Reading – Performance on campus (and streamed via YouTube)
  • April 20, 7:00 p.m.
• Climate Change, Peace, and Global Social Justice
  • 7th Social Justice Student Conference
  • April 21, 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.