Sanskrit mantras to open Holocaust 'Day of Remembrance at University of Nevada

24 March, 2013

Hindu mantras will open the 'Day of Remembrance' at University of Nevada-Reno (UNR) on April seven in remembrance of lives lost or altered by Holocaust and genocides around the world.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, will deliver this invocation from Rig-Veda, the oldest scripture of the world still in common use, besides lines from Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord), both ancient Hindu scriptures. Zed plans to start and end the prayer with “Om”, the mystical syllable containing the universe, which in Hinduism is used to introduce and conclude religious work.

Organized by Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) of UNR in partnership with the UNR Interfaith Students Club, it will have Dr. Robert Krell, Emeritus Psychiatry Professor of University of British Columbia, and Holocaust survivor who was born in Netherlands. Dr. Krell has treated Holocaust survivors and their families as well as Dutch survivors of Japanese concentration camps. He founded Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, which teaches 20,000 students annually.

This free and open to public event will be held at Joe Crowley Student Union at UNR, starting at three pm. OLLI at UNR, a diverse community of independent thinkers which serves adults over age 50, “fosters intellectual stimulation and personal development through academic pursuits”. Joe Coleman is President of its Board. UNR Interfaith Students Club, with Daniel R. Sanchez as president, aims to "cultivate social cohesion among people of different religions". UNR, founded in 1874 and which has over 18,000 students, is known for helping to create the world’s most accurate atomic clock and is home to one of the largest earthquake-simulation labs.

History teaches us that genocide can be prevented if people care enough to act. Our choices in response to hatred truly do matter and together we can help fulfill the promise of “Never Again”, event announcement says. Zed has also raised huge voice against the apartheid faced by about 15-million Roma (Gypsies) in Europe, many of whom were also killed during the Holocaust period.