Neah, paternoster is quite a common elevator design in the west: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paternoster_lift
I would have thought the name was related to the users praying before entering to increase their chances of surviving the ordeal.
The reason even its proponents accept you wouldn't build these now is that they have terrible accessibility, so they're only practical as an extra option.
Their overall rate of accidents is estimated as 30 times higher than conventional elevators
Germany saw an average of one death per year due to paternosters
i have used one at the university of vienna. sadly it was removed almost 20 years ago.