Zak Kolar hails from a fortunate Jewish family of four whose ancestors never confronted the horrors of the Holocaust. But the Naperville teenager also is among the last generation to encounter World War II’s witnesses as neighbors rather than statistics.
Seeking to ensure the Jewish people don’t forget each of the 6 million lives lost, Zak, 14, has launched a Web site and database dedicated to those who perished during the Holocaust. He hopes the online roster of names and death dates will enable members of the Jewish community to select and pray for a martyr on the anniversary of his or her death, as prescribed by Jewish tradition for families and their forebears.
Although electronic databases, memorial walls and literature have etched the names of many Holocaust victims into hearts and minds, Zak’s initiative is one of the first organized efforts to inscribe victims’ names into blessed memory, especially when in many cases there was no one left behind to carry out the sacred task of reciting kaddish, the Jewish mourner’s prayer.
While Jews around the world will gather at sundown on Saturday to observe Yom HaShoah by praying for the 6 million Jewish dead all at once, Zak has spent the last few months marking the death anniversary, or yahrzeit, of the 6,272 names he has collected so far, reciting the kaddish, or mourner’s prayer, and murmuring each name to himself. Though his list is a minute percentage of the more than 6 million murdered, it is already enough to observe a death anniversary every day of the year.
“It doesn’t seem right. We say a prayer, but each one is only getting one-six-millionth of it,” said Zak, the young webmaster of http://www.eachofushasaname.org. “It gives more dignity and honor to be remembered as an individual person.”
Zak’s own synagogue, Congregation Beth Shalom in Naperville, has lent a hand by publishing names in its weekly bulletin. He hopes others will do the same.
“People can think of the number. But it’s hard to grasp that everyone was actually a person who was living and had their own story,” he said.
Impressed by Zak’s compassionate ambition, administrators of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Skokie and Yad Vashem, Israel’s official memorial, have invited Zak to augment his list with their own.
“We go to great lengths in our museum to present the victims of the Holocaust not as a singular incomprehensible number but as individuals, very much in line with what Zak is doing,” said Rick Hirschhaut, executive director of the Skokie museum. “The idea of adopting personalizes the obligation and the sense of responsibility that we all carry as individuals to make a difference in this world.”
With his mop of curly blond locks, Zak stands out in any crowd. His father, Brad, said Zak’s compassion also stood out at an early age. Standing in line for kindergarten, Zak grew upset when the children around him began stomping on ants. He tearfully struggled to comprehend what the innocent insects did to deserve such a sudden and violent death.
Zak encountered that same struggle while sitting in a Yizkor, or memorial, service last spring when the congregation began praying for the 6 million victims of the Holocaust all at once.
“It occurred to me that in Judaism we don’t really have an afterlife,” he said. “It’s important how much you’re remembered after you die. I didn’t think it was fair that we were remembering these 6 million as a whole.”
Turning the pages of the prayer book he received to prepare for his bar mitzvah, Zak came across a poem titled “Each of Us Has a Name” by Zelda Schneurson Mishkovsky, known simply as Zelda. A stanza says: “Each of us has a name given by God and given by our parents/ Each of us has a name given by our stature and our smile and given by what we wear.”
He designed a Web site with the same name and posted his own poem titled “We Will Always Remember.”
He also has posted instructions on how to memorialize loved ones by reciting the kaddish or lighting a memorial candle; a transliteration of the mourner’s kaddish traditionally recited in Hebrew; and a database of more than 6,000 names, about half of them with dates of birth and death. Visitors to the site can register for reminders when particular death anniversaries approach for victims they adopt.
Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph of Congregation Beth Shalom said he often preaches about the importance of confronting and personalizing unfathomable tragedies by focusing attention on one person who has been wounded and needs help. He would like to think that message inspired Zak.
Brad Kolar said although Zak has always been mature beyond his years, he has watched this endeavor transform his son.
“When you learn about the Holocaust in school, every kid feels sort of sad,” he said. “But I think he’s crossed the line where he’s really personalized it.”
Dorit Novak, director of the International School for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem, commended Zak’s project for its creativity and symbolism.
While people are often remembered for how they’ve touched others, many lives were cut short before they had a chance, she said.
“The idea of saying kaddish is brilliant because it doesn’t require details about the life,” she said. “What can you say about a 3-year-old child?.”
Zak’s youth also personifies that forsaken potential, Novak said. She believes the energy, enthusiasm and sensitivity of young people make them the best ambassadors of the promise to never forget.
“Youngsters have imagination, and they want to make a difference,” Novak said. “A young child this age taking on this kind of responsibility is something very meaningful. … I know very few at the age of 14 who have the courage to initiate and implement.”
The primary concern of today’s Holocaust memorial curators is sustainability — the desire to preserve the legacy of victims for centuries to come, Novak said. There are few things more sustainable than an ancient religious ritual that is repeated year after year, she said.
That ritual becomes more meaningful and more emotional every time Zak recites the kaddish and a corresponding list of names. He experienced the greatest sadness on Dec. 12 of last year when he had to recite the longest list of departed.
The 418 names cast a pall on what should have been a happy day. It also made him wonder whether he might be fulfilling his destiny. It was his 14th birthday.
Yad Vashem does have a huge database of victim names. However, the difference is that Yad Vashem’s site is set up to research and find people. Zak’s website is set up to allow you to say Kaddish for people on their Yahrzeit. Every day it lists the names of people for whom you can say Kaddish. Or, you can have it send you an annual email reminder on the Yahrtzeit of a specific person.
Doesnt yad vashem have all the names that are known to us already written down?
Wow, that’s really amazing – the idea, and the fact that he carried out this initiative thus far! And at such a young age – I’m very impressed.
Wishing him much hatzlacha with this endeavor, and in this merit, may we reach the time when no one will ever have to say kaddish again – with the coming of Moshiach right now!
(Perhaps someone can approach him, and explain in an appropriate way, that in Judaism we DO believe in an afterlife, and all that it entails!)