The 21st annual Holocaust Awareness Week will be held Feb. 21-25 on the University of Colorado at Boulder campus and will include survivor presentations, faculty lectures, panel discussions, film screenings and a readers' theater.
All Holocaust Awareness Week events are free and open to the public. All events will take place in room 235 of the University Memorial Center unless otherwise noted. While the week's main focus is on the Holocaust of World War II, related issues such as modern genocide also will be examined.
Michael Berenbaum will give the keynote address on Wednesday, Feb. 23, at 7 p.m. in the UMC's Glenn Miller Ballroom. He is a teacher, lecturer and author of several books on the Holocaust.
Berenbaum has served as president and CEO of the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation and also as director of the U.S. Holocaust Research Institute at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. His talk, relating to events of the Holocaust, will address how students are in a special position to make a difference in the world today.
A readers' theater production of "No Way Out" will be presented on Monday, Feb. 21, at 7 p.m. in UMC room 235. Playwright Susan Shear will be available for questions immediately following the performance. "No Way Out" tells the story of Shear's family and the family's attempts to escape Nazi Germany when the only means of communication was through written letters.
On Thursday, Feb. 24, a 24-hour reading of Holocaust victims' names called the Litany of the Martyrs will be held starting at 10 a.m. at the Dalton Trumbo Fountain Court. The reading will be preceded by a moment of silence at 9:59 a.m. Students and community members are invited to join in the reading and may do so by speaking to the coordinator near the podium.
On Friday, Feb. 25, a display will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Dennis Small Cultural Center on the fourth floor of the UMC. The display will allow visitors to learn more about the Holocaust on a personal basis. Visitors also can learn about organizations that help combat hate.
In addition, a symbolic flag display will represent Holocaust victims on the north side of the Hellems Arts and Sciences Building on the Norlin Quadrangle.
Holocaust Awareness Week's major sponsors are the CU Cultural Events Board, the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, the Office of the Chancellor, the Vice President of Academic Affairs and Research and Hillel of Colorado.
For a complete schedule of events visit the Web site at .