Last Updated on December 8, 2021

Unto every person there is a name…

Every year on Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah), the Knesset holds the “Unto Every Person There is a Name” ceremony in the Chagall State Hall. Names of Holocaust victims are read aloud during the ceremony, the name of which is derived from the poem “Unto Every Person There is a Name, Bestowed on him by his Father and Mother,” written by Zelda (1914 – 1984). It was first held in 1989, at the initiative of Knesset Speaker Dov Shilansky.

UNTO EVERY PERSON THERE IS A NAME

Written by ‘Zelda’ (1914 – 1984).

Unto every person there is a name bestowed on him by God and given to him by his parents.
Unto every person there is a name accorded him by his stature and type of smile and style of dress.
Unto every person there is a name conferred by the mountains and the walls which surround him.
Unto every person there is a name granted him by Fortune’s wheel or that which neighbors call him.
Unto every person there is a name assigned him by his failings or contributed by his yearnings.
Unto every person there is a name given to him by his enemies or by his love.
Unto every person there is a name derived from his celebrations and his occupation.
Unto every person there is a name presented him by the seasons and his blindness.
Unto every person there is a name which he receives from the sea and is given to him by his death.”

From the diary of Jacob, 17

“We were first told to
undress – clothes on one
side, shoes on other – then
we entered the room, naked
as the day of our birth. It
was here that we were given
a number and heard the Konzentrationlagerfuehrer
[Concentration Camp Commandant] say: ‘From
this day forth, you are all numbers. You no longer
have names. You have
no identities. You have no nationalities. All you have
is your number, and besides
your number, you have
nothing at all.’