The Reading of Names

On Holocaust Memorial Day, we will come together to remember the victims of the Holocaust and other genocides.

Holocaust Memorial Day 2020 marks 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau and the 25th anniversary of the genocide in Bosnia.

On Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January 2020, we will remember the victims of all genocides and we would like to invite our University community to join us. We will remember those killed in the Holocaust and other genocides by reading a selection of names between Squares 4 and 5 from 1pm-2pm and we would like to invite you to join this poignant and important moment.

We need volunteers to read names for around five minutes during this hour. If you would like to contribute to this commemoration, please email us at events@essex.ac.uk so we can establish the rota for the day.

The Reading of Names is a significant act of remembrance best expressed by David Berger, a victim of the Holocaust killed at the age of 19 in Vilnius, Lithuania in 1941. David said: "If something happens, I would want there to be somebody who would remember that someone named D. Berger had once lived. This will make things easier for me in the difficult moments." 

The reading of names is very informal and people will listen (or not) as they pass by through Squares 4 and 5. Every name we read out represents the many whose names we do not read out or do not even know.