CSU Pueblo Hosts Holocaust Day of Remembrance Virtually

Colorado State University Pueblo will host a Holocaust Day of Remembrance virtually through a Facebook event on Tuesday, April 21. All activities will take place online rather than in person to commemorate the lives lost.

“It would certainly be easy to allow Holocaust Remembrance Day to pass unremarked in our current circumstances, but to do so would be not just to forget our past, but to endanger our future,” said Grant Weller, associate professor and department chair of history, geography, philosophy and political science.

Zoom links, resources, and access to videos will be posted in the Facebook event, Holocaust Day of Remembrance for individuals to obtain the information without a specific timeframe. Visit the Colorado State University Pueblo Facebook page and click on the “Virtual Holocaust Day of Remembrance” event to participate.

“Each year we hold the Day of Remembrance on campus--the event is open to the campus and broader community,” said Pam Richmond, professor of social work at CSU Pueblo. “Because of COVID-19 we cannot hold face to face interactions. However, we could not let such an important day go by without finding a way to honor the individuals that perished, hence, the on-line event,” said Richmond.

The following is the full list of events being hosted by CSU Pueblo and community members:

1) Fact sheets on the Holocaust hosted by Grant Weller, associate professor and department chair of history, geography, philosophy, political science.

2) PowerPoint with pictures/information on the Holocaust hosted by Betsy Schippers, assistant professor of Library Services, outreach and user experience coordinator with assistance from library faculty and staff.

3) Musical information provided by David Volk, professor of music and director of Honors and Leadership.

4) Poetry reading with discussion questions hosted by Mrs. Leslye Taylor, Pueblo community member.

5) Lists of books/videos on the Holocaust, book developed by Jenny Piazza, associate professor of education and John Redmond-Palmer, curriculum lab coordinator in teacher education program, and videos provided by Patrick Griego, social work intern.

6) Non-Jewish groups impacted by the Holocaust (individuals with disabilities, LGBT, etc.) hosted by Savra Frounfelker, assistant professor of social work.

7) Memorial Service by Rabbi Birdie Becker

8) Reading of names--the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has a list of 5,000 names that typically are read to honor those that perished John Redmond-Palmer, curriculum lab coordinator in teacher education program and Pueblo community members.

9) PTSD and the Holocaust (how the Holocaust impacted survivors) Krista Bridgmon, professor and psychology department chair. 

“The only way to prevent ourselves from descending into the depths of another Holocaust is to embrace our common humanity and remember the millions that we lost,” said Weller. “While doing so online forces us to forego the comfort of a hand held or a tear dried, it fulfills the essential purposes of remembering those who are gone and rededicating ourselves to preventing a repetition of those horrors.”