The Holocaust Memorial Program at Oregon State University grows from the belief that educational institutions can do much to combat prejudice of all kinds, and to foster respect for the diversity that is America, by promoting an awareness of the Holocaust, perhaps the most horrific historical indicator of the high cost of prejudice. It is particularly important to teach young people about the Holo
caust, so that coming generations will not forget the lessons that a preceding one learned at such cost. This emphasis recalls the motto of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: "For the dead and the living, we must bear witness." In consequence, each year the Memorial Week Program at Oregon State provides analysis of the Holocaust in its history: the background, the course, the implications. A recurrent question that our program seeks to answer is, "How could the Holocaust have happened?" How, in the twentieth century, in a Europe seemingly advanced, could millions of men and women have cooperated in an effort to destroy a people, while so few sought to protect those who were in danger? While our program focuses on the Holocaust, we also feel an obligation to educate the campus community and residents of Corvallis and its vicinity about the general problem of genocide and mass murder, which during the twentieth century was a recurrent problem and was played out in killing campaigns that were unprecedented in scope. Since the breadth of the problem is not widely recognized, one day of each Holocaust Memorial Week is to be set aside to examining, in a variety of events, an episode of genocide or mass murder other than the Holocaust. The Holocaust Memorial Program at Oregon State University is supervised by the Holocaust Memorial Committee. This committee operates through the Department of History at Oregon State, but it is wholly responsible for all aspects of the program, including fund-raising, publicity, and arrangements for the annual observance of Holocaust Memorial Week. Membership on the committee is intended to reflect a "town-and-gown" philosophy, for the program is directed toward serving not only this campus but also the Corvallis area and local public schools. Therefore, membership should typically include: OSU faculty, regardless of discipline; students; teachers or other representatives of School District 509-J; and clergy.
