For Hadassah Lieberman, wife of Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman and the daughter of Holocaust survivors, it is not enough to commemorate those who suffered and died.
Mrs. Lieberman spoke Monday night at Steinhardt Hall to Penn students and community members on the necessity of honoring Holocaust victims by taking a stand against the current genocide in Sudan.
Pointing to the obeservation of Yom Hashoah -- also known as Holocaust Remembrance Day -- yesterday, Lieberman stressed the duty of citizens of the world, and especially students, to speak out.
"We need to scream out about Sudan, we need to scream out about hatred, we need to scream out about all the things out there that disgust us and trouble our souls," she said. "We all have a role in representing more than ourselves."
Although acknowledging that the current generation of students may not be as idealistic as students of the 1960s, she believes that they have the potential to affect change. Her speech, however, focused on inspiration instead of concrete suggestions for change.
"These kids today, I don't think they've been tested yet," she said. "I think that they are thirsty, and that more and more their thirst will translate into a different kind of idealism."
Lieberman said that the election of her husband -- who is Jewish -- as a Democrat to the United States Senate shows how far society has come in increasing understanding among all groups. When she entered the capitol for the first time with her newly-elected husband, she recalled exclaiming, "Despite all of Hitler's efforts, the daughter of survivors is on the floor of the United States senate."
Lieberman also discussed her daughter's close relationship with her grandmother, who survived the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II, as well as her own participation in the United States delegation in 1995 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
College junior Megan Goldman commended Lieberman's sincerity.
"The way she described ... her parents' stories is what people need to hear," she said.
College freshman David Helfenbein also praised Lieberman and added that awareness of the Holocaust Remembrance Day is strong among Penn students.
"There's awareness but there could always be more," he said. "The only way that you can ensure a safe present and future is by hearing about the past."
