[Every Person Has A Name courtesy of Jewish Federation of the Greater San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys]For 24 hours straight, volunteers will stand on the steps of Pasadena City Hall and read aloud the names of people murdered in the Holocaust—one name at a time, each a life remembered.
The annual “Every Person Has a Name” vigil begins Saturday, January 24, at 7 p.m. and continues through Sunday, January 25, at 8 p.m. Organized by the Jewish Federation of the Greater San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys with support from the City of Pasadena, the event marks the approach of UN International Holocaust Remembrance Day, observed each January 27.
“By bringing the community together, we remember that each person killed was someone who lived and whose life was cut short,” said Jason Moss, the federation’s executive director, in a statement. “They are not just part of the six million lives lost but had their own story and their own individual experience.”
The vigil opens with a commemoration ceremony featuring local elected officials and dignitaries.
A 24-hour name-reading session follows immediately, with volunteers taking 30-minute blocks to read from lists provided by Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial and museum.
Also on display will be “Stars Without a Heaven: Children in the Holocaust,” a Yad Vashem exhibition that tells stories of Jewish children during the Holocaust through drawings, poems, and letters. On Sunday morning, the Armory Center for the Arts is coordinating an art project while names are being read.
The event comes weeks after antisemitic graffiti was discovered on a wall at Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center, the synagogue that was destroyed in the January 2025 Eaton Fire. Los Angeles County is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in that case, which is being investigated as a hate crime.
“With the ongoing rise of antisemitic and hate incidents, we have seen as of late, including the recent vandalism that targeted Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center, an event like this is crucial to serving both as a reminder of what can happen when hate goes unchecked,” Moss said in the federation’s announcement.
Participants do not need to read to attend. The federation said those who prefer can listen to the names, view the exhibition, or simply be present. A limited number of 30-minute reading blocks remain available for volunteers.
Pasadena City Hall is located at 100 N. Garfield Ave. To register for a reading slot or for more information, visit www.jewishsgpv.org or call 626-445-0810.
Get our daily Pasadena newspaper in your email box. Free.
Get all the latest Pasadena news, more than 10 fresh stories daily, 7 days a week at 7 a.m.