Holocaust Awareness Week started yesterday and features a variety of events that both commemorate and educate about the Holocaust.

The week has both speakers and week-long interactive events. The week which is sponsored by Hillel at DU will have the “Field of Flags” on the Driscoll Lawn. The flags memorialize the 12 million people who were killed by the Nazis. These different colored flags represent Jews, Soviets, Poles, Gypsies, the Disabled, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Homosexuals. Also, there will be the “Litany of the Martyrs,” which is a reading off of the names of people who were killed in the Holocaust.

The first event is tonight at 7 p.m. and is a survivors panel. Two Holocaust survivors will share their experiences and students will be able to have questions answered. This event will be held in Sturm 451.

The second event on Wednesday is a showing of the award winning film “Paperclips.” The film is about students in Whitwell, TN who are trying to understand what 6 million people would look like. In order to represent them they collect 6 million paperclips. The film also shows how the class meets survivors around the world. The film will be shown in Sturm 451 at 7 p.m.

The one woman play “Better Don’t Talk” will be performed on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. in the Driscoll Pub. It is written and performed by Naava Piatka. It follows her as she tells her mothers survivor story that she has discovered through “memories, newspaper clippings and items kept hidden in a basement, Piatka shares a personal narrative, original songs and humor, to unlock her mother’s hidden past.”

On Thursday students are invited to meet at the DU Hillel House, located at 2240 E. Wesley Ave., to carpool to the Mizel Museum to hear “Rescuers: Portraits of Moral Courage in the Holocaust.” This features the stories of regular citizens who helped the Jews escape the Nazis.

Friday there will be a memorial service at the Hillel House, located at 2240 E. Wesley Ave., prior to a free Shabbat dinner, at 5:30 p.m.