Essential Program Enables Holocaust Victims to be Remembered as Individuals

B’nai B’rith is proud to again serve as the North American sponsor of “Unto Every Person There is a Name,” the essential Holocaust remembrance program of Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center. B’nai B’rith has led the program in North America since 1989 to ensure each of the six million Holocaust victims is remembered.

“Unto Every Person There is a Name” is a fundamental part of the official Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) commemoration ceremonies across Israel.

The Nazis tried to deprive victims of their individuality. “Unto” restores some measure of the victims’ humanity.

The 2024 theme, chosen by Yad Vashem and an international committee is, “A Lost World: The Destruction of Jewish Communities.”

The theme is especially poignant now. Yom HaShoah is seven months after the savage Hamas terror attacks on Israel—the worst mass atrocities committed against Jews since the Holocaust. On Oct. 7, 2023, terrorists murdered Jews and destroyed communities—a frightening echo to the Shoah.

The Unto program was inspired by the poem “Unto Every Person There is a Name” by Zelda, which begins “Unto Every Person there is a Name bestowed upon him by God and given him by his father and mother.” The program is held each year on Yom HaShoah, which this year is the evening of May 5 through the evening of May 6.

“Unto Every Person There is a Name” was created to remind us that the victims of the murderous Nazi machine were not just a number. Every individual had a name, an identity and a life. They loved, worked, studied, worshipped and enjoyed their lives until they were murdered by the Nazis because they were Jews.

During “Unto” commemorations, the names of the victims are read aloud, ensuring we remember them as human beings, not merely as numbers.

B’nai B’rith can help schools, synagogues and other groups bring “Unto” programming to their community. To learn more, click here.

Or contact: acure@bnaibrith.org