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Zak Kolar: Naperville Teen Creates
Holocaust Memorial Tribute Website
Naperville teen, Zak Kolar (14) is doing his part to help remember and commemorate an important time in our world's history – The Holocaust. Zak, a member of Congregation Beth Shalom of Naperville, recently created www.eachofushasaname.org, a website established to collect names and if possible, birth and death information of Holocaust victims, and then memorialize them one-by-one.
During memorial services this past summer, Zak was struck by the fact that many of the Jews who died in the Holocaust left no one behind to recite the mourner's Kaddish individually, as opposed to en masse as is done during Holocaust Memorial Day. "It doesn't seem right. We say a prayer, but each one is only getting one-six millionth of it. It gives more dignity and honor to be remembered as an individual person," Zak said.
Zak, who taught himself how to design websites, set about creating Each of Us Has a Name (www.eachofushasaname.org). Focusing on the fact that an important part of Judaism is Yahrzeit, or the yearly anniversary of one's death commemorated by loved ones reciting the Mourner's Kaddish; Zak is posting victims' names at the time of their Yahrzeit. "I want someone to be able to get a weekly list of Yahrzeit so if they're going to services they can say Kaddish for that person. The goal is to have someone saying Kaddish for every person," Zak said. So far, he has collected approximately six thousand names and is hoping to gather thousands more.
Zak said that remembering the six million Jewish Holocaust victims has tremendous value. For more information or to enter a Holocaust victim's name, visit www.eachofushasaname.org.