Ceremonies during which names of Holocaust victims are recited, together with such information as age, place of birth and place of death, personalize the tragedy of the Holocaust. Emphasis is thus put on the millions of men, women and children who were lost to the Jewish people and not solely on the cold, intangibility embodied in the term "The Six Million."

Through the recitation of individual names of victims of the Nazi genocide, "Unto Every Person There Is A Name" Yom Hashoah ceremonies help to educate and influence young people. Many have not met a survivor of the Holocaust and heard the personal experience of those who choose to share their experience to educate the youth of today. This program is also an effective tool to counter the efforts of Holocaust deniers who seek to convince the world that the Holocaust never occurred. It also serves to perpetuate the memory and respond to those who say that we should close this chapter in history.

The Holocaust is a tragedy whose size defies comprehension: Six million Jews were killed. One and half million children. Billions of dollars in property were confiscated. Tens of thousands of books were destroyed. Thousand of Jewish communities were obliterated - forever.

We read their names as a tribute to the lives they led and hoped to lead.

"Unto Every Person There is a Name" gives names back to those who were stripped of their identities before they were robbed of their lives. By reciting their names, ages and birthplaces, we remember that each victim was an individual, a son or daughter, a sister or brother, a child or a parent. Each had hopes and dreams and, like all people, each clung to life. On Yom Hashoah, B'nai B'rith members throughout the world read some of the names of the six million Jewish men, women and children murdered during the Holocaust. Murdered, systematically and brutally, because they were born Jewish. We also recall non-Jews murdered because they, too, did not fit into Hitler's perverse vision.

We, the living, bear witness today - not just at these commemorations but as a united observance in communities around the world. Together we affirm that the innocent lives lost in the Holocaust have not and will not be forgotten.

Their names will always be remembered.

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