The University of North Carolina Asheville will observe Holocaust Commemoration Week April 16-19, with a variety of programs. Among the highlights will be a day-long reading of Holocaust victim names followed by a silent vigil and commemoration service. All events are free and open to the public.

On Thursday, April 19, Asheville community members will join UNCA students, faculty and staff to continuously read Holocaust victims’ names from 6 a.m.-6 p.m. on the steps of Ramsey Library. To participate, call UNCA Assistant Mathematics Professor Sam Kaplan at 232-5192.

At the conclusion of the reading, a silent, walking vigil will leave for Beth Israel Synagogue, 229 Murdock St., where a Yom HaShoah (Holocaust commemoration) service will be held at 7 p.m.

Other events include:

-- "Images from the Holocaust: A Reading of Prose and Poetry" will be presented at noon, Tuesday, April 17, in the Dining Hall’s private dining room. UNCA students, faculty and staff will read selections of poetry and prose written by Holocaust victims, survivors, children of survivors and others.

-- The celebrated film, "Schindler’s List," will be screened at 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 18, in the Highsmith Center Lounge. Before the film, Eric Wellisch, a World War II veteran, will lead a discussion and share stories and photos of concentration camps he helped liberate.

-- "The Quarrel," a haunting film about central theological and philosophical issues in the wake of the Holocaust, will be screened at 7 p.m. Monday, April 16, in Laurel Forum, located on the first floor of Karpen Hall. An open discussion will follow.

-- "Choosing to Remember: From the Shoah to the Mountains" will be on view through April at Ramsey Library’s Special Collections Gallery. The exhibition contains photographs, documents and testimonies from 22 Buncombe County families who had direct experience of the Holocaust. Following the exhibition, the collection will be housed in Ramsey Library’s Special Collection as a donation from the Center of Diversity Studies.

For more information, contact Dr. Richard Chess, UNCA Jewish Studies Program Director, 828/251-6576.