Citizens For A Better Norwood

Friday, April 02, 2010

Xavier observes Holocaust Remembrance Day

On April 12, Xavier University’s Office of Interfaith Community Engagement will offer two programs in observance of Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. Both are free and open.

From 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., Steven F. Cassidy will bring his collection of Holocaust and World War II-era original artifacts to the Xavier campus and display them on the 3rd floor of the Gallagher Student Center. Cassidy and Rabbi Abie Ingber will be with the artifacts all day long, helping visitors learn and experience these remnants of the Holocaust. This will be a rare chance to see this many important historic artifacts up close and learn from their curator and collector the history each represents. Cassidy is a Holocaust expert and owner of the largest private collection of Holocaust artifacts in the United States. He has personally spoken to both concentration camp survivors and convicted Nazi war criminals and continually researches this period in world history. His collection includes Jewish money, a Secret Service uniform and hat, concentration camp uniforms and patches, propaganda posters, gas cylinders and gas masks from the extermination camps, and photos.

At 8:30 p.m. in Long Recital Hall on the first floor of Edgecliff Hall the film “Paper Clips” will be shown. It is a moving and inspiring documentary that captures how rural Tennessee students responded to lessons about the Holocaust - with a promise to honor every lost soul by collecting one paper clip for each individual exterminated by the Nazis. Despite the fact that they had previously been unaware of the Holocaust, their dedication was absolute. Their plan was simple but profound. The amazing result, a memorial rail car filled with 11 million paper clips (representing 6 million Jews and 5 million gypsies, homosexuals and other victims of the Holocaust) which stands permanently in their schoolyard, is an unforgettable lesson of how a committed group of children and educators can change the world one classroom at a time.

Click here for more information on the Office of Interfaith Community Engagement.