On April 16, Alpha Epsilon Pi held “We Walk To Remember” in remembrance of those who were persecuted and lost their lives during the Holocaust.
This memorial walk is a nationwide event that Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternities across the nation participate in.
Here at UCF, approximately thirty students all dressed in black with stickers across their chest that read “Never Forget” came together to walk from the flagpole at Memory Mall to the Reflecting Pond. During the walk, the participants handed out informative papers about the Holocaust and the impact that it had on the world and on the Jewish people.
The papers were given out to ensure that students not just here at UCF, but all across the country, do not forget how egregious the Holocaust was.
Once the thirty students arrived at the Reflecting Pond, Alpha Epsilon Pi brother and civics chairman, Justin Garfield, read to the walkers a poem about the Holocaust. He also read several names of victims from the Holocaust, and a Jewish prayer called Mourners Kaddish.
“It made me feel very appreciative that I have the privilege to be living in a society where Jews are accepted in society. I was thinking about all of those who went through the concentration camps in Europe and how awful the conditions must have been,” Garfield said.
Alpha Epsilon Pi Brother and walker Jacob Bronstein echoed Garfield’s sentiments.
“I was extremely proud of us for doing this walk. Seventy-five years ago someone tried to exterminate every single one of my people but walking through the second biggest school in the nation seventy-five years later really showed me the resilience and strength of the Jewish community,” Bronstein said. “Just to put the tragedy of the Holocaust into perspective, if we took a minute of silence for every single victim, it would take over eleven years to do so. This walk was our way of remembering the lives of all who fell victim to the Holocaust.”
