First they came for the communists, and I didn’t speak up-—because I wasn’t a communist;

Then they came for the handicapped, and I didn’t speak up—because I wasn’t handicapped;

Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up—because I wasn’t a Catholic;

Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up—because I wasn’t a Jew;

Then they came for me, but by that time there was no one left to speak up for me.”
Adapted from a quotation by Martin Niemöller

It’s 7 am on campus. The sky is overcast, and it’s drizzling. Seated under a small tent near the campus Fence, Sarah Pfeffer, a senior engineering major, double-checks her list of volunteer names. Is everyone going to make it? The first reader, on time, steps up to a podium and opens one of several binders filled with names. She reads the first listing—a child’s name, age, and place of death. She goes on to the next one, and then the one after that. She reads for 10 minutes. When she finishes, a Carnegie Mellon student takes her place at the podium.

By early afternoon, the reading hasn’t stopped. Neither has the drizzle. Students and professors hurry to and from classes, but some stop out of curiosity. They read the words from Niemöller’s poem that line the walkway leading up to the tent, or they glance at the posters with the history of the Holocaust, including vignettes from some of its survivors who had lived in Germany, Poland, France, and the Netherlands. A few students sit for a while, just to listen. Some approach the tent and volunteer to read.

Throughout the day, Carnegie Mellon students, staff, and faculty as well as community members continue to come to the Fence to remember the lives of Jewish children lost in the Holocaust. President Jared L. Cohon is among the readers.

In the months to follow, many more name-reading ceremonies, as well as services and candlelight vigils, will be held around the world for Yom HaShoah, the Israeli national day of remembrance of the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust.

The campus reading has become something of a tradition during the past 15 years. This year, Pfeffer worked as the student organizer. Closing the binder at 7 pm, she can’t help but notice that there were so many names left unread, even after 12 hours of continuous reading.
Danielle Commisso (HS’06)