On Wednesday April 19, around noon, members of the international Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi and B’nai B’rith International, a Jewish service organization, sponsored an event titled, “We Walk to Remember.” The annual event was meant to commemorate the more than six million people that died during the Holocaust as Yom HaShoah — which translates from Hebrew to “Day of the Catastrophe” — is on Sunday, April 23.
Third-year psychology major Michael Bornstein, the president of UCR’s chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi, led the event’s participants in a walk around the Bell Tower and through the HUB plaza. All of the individuals wore black clothing as a symbol of solidarity. Some of the marchers wore stickers on their shirts that read, “NEVER FORGET.”
As they were walking, the participants passed out small leaflets, which listed various aspects of the Holocaust that the marchers wanted to make sure are not forgotten, to anyone that passed by them. Each line in the leaflet began with the words, “WE REMEMBER…” and continued with topics that ranged from the murdering of Jewish people in World War II death camps to others persecuted by the Nazis, such as the disabled, political opponents and members of the LGBTQ+ community. It also included a remembrance for countries and people that tried to save potential victims from being sent to concentration camps. The leaflet ended with, “We shall never forget those who perished because, WE WILL PROMISE TO REMEMBER.”
Bornstein explained the reasoning behind hosting the walk saying, “We want to spread awareness about the Holocaust and make sure that nobody forgets it. That is why we are wearing the stickers that say, ‘NEVER FORGET’ and passing out flyers about the Holocaust so that nobody forgets what happened.”
The group walked around the Bell Tower and HUB twice before disbanding.
The “Walk to Remember” is a one-day event was held during Holocaust Remembrance week, which is held every year by Alpha Epsilon Pi at various universities throughout the United States.
Bornstein also held a candlelight vigil at his house on Monday, April 24, in memory of everyone that perished during the Holocaust.
