January 27th is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp. In 2005, the United Nations designated this day as International Holocaust Remembrance Day, an annual day of commemoration to honor the victims of the Nazi era.
This year, the Library will mark this solemn day with a Remembrance Service and the world premier of “The Auschwitz Album Revisited,” an exhibition of oil paintings by artist Pat Mercer Hutchens. The paintings in the exhibit were inspired by the Auschwitz Album, “the only surviving visual evidence of the process of mass murder at Auschwitz-Birkenau.” The paintings will be on public display in the Library Gallery from January 23 through February 6 before being taken to the Krakow Jewish Cultural Festival in Poland.
The Remembrance Service and exhibition opening will begin in the Library Auditorium at 6:30 PM and conclude with a viewing of the paintings in the Library Gallery. A number of distinguished guests will speak, including Dr. Hutchens, cantor Ron Wexler, Rabbi Israel Zoberman, and Holocaust survivor David Katz. University Chancellor Pat Robertson and President Campo will also speak. The event will conclude with a reception and fellowship.
For more information on the Remembrance Day Service and events, including links to speaker biographies, see http:www.regent.eduNEVER-AGAIN.
The Library also encourages the Regent community to participate in this year’s Winter Common Read. Several of the Schools, as well as the Library Book Club will be reading and discussing Night, Ellie Wiesel’s memoir of Auschwitz. To receive notification of the time and date for the Book Club discussion, please contact harohen@regent.edu.
Image credit: Yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority. http:www.yadvashem.org.