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In keeping with its mission, the Holocaust Awareness committee is mindful of its responsibility to serve and connect with our Northeastern University community. We begin our annual programming with a Yom ha Sho'ah Memorial Service and a public student-led "Reading of Holocaust Victims" Names.
These events take place on Yom ha Sho'ah, regardless of when the date falls in a given year. But because the main function of the University is to serve our student body, the committee works with various academic departments in an effort to coordinate our programming with their curricula and to teach as many students as we can.
Philip N. Backstrom Jr. Holocaust Survivors Speakers SeriesIn particular, the Holocaust
committee works closely with the History Department to ensure that at the
time appropriate to their course needs (especially when the students are
learning about the Holocaust), Committee-sponsored
speakers, all Holocaust Survivors, come to campus to speak to students about
their experiences and to make what is learned in the classroom personal and
concrete. Because all students are invited, several hundreds
of them attend these survivors'
presentations annually. Without this committee-sponsored program, it is unlikely that most students
would have an opportunity to meet and speak with a Holocaust survivor. Like
all committee programs, the Survivor's presentations are open to all
members of the Northeastern community and are well attended by a variety of
people.
The Morton Memorial Lecture
Born in 1906 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Robert
Solomon Morton was educated in the School of the Orthodox Synagogue, Kahal
Adath Jeshurun. He was not only a witness to, but the personal target of
Nazi persecution in the years leading up to the Second World War. A
particularly harrowing experience in 1934 convinced him that he had no
choice but to apply for emigration to the United States - a process which
took three years, but finally resulted in his coming to Boston. For many
years he and his wife, Sophie, were caretakers and caterers of the Hillel
Foundation at Harvard University.
It was during his time at Hillel that a chance meeting at a barbershop
brought Mr. Mortontogether with Bill Giessen, then a postdoctoral fellow at
MIT who had grown up and was educated in Germany during and following the
Nazi period. The long-time friendship and ongoing conversation that
resulted from this meeting helped to foster a sense of discovery between
the two men. The annual Morton Lecture has been created as a way of
memorializing a personality which embodied a spirit of reconciliation and
understanding.
The Robert Salomon Morton Lecture is sponsored by the Gustel Cormann
Memorial Fund at Northeastern University
The President's Breakfast
The annual President's Breakfast has acted as a centripetal force for bringing together members of the Northeastern community who, because of work commitments might not be able to participate in programs scheduled for later in the day. This breakfast meeting (with a speaker and discussion) gives them the opportunity to reflect on and commemorate the victims of the terrible era. The University President's attendance and financial sponsorship of this event have done much to set the tone for the programs and to raise awareness and concern for Holocaust issues.
The Snell Library Book Exhibit
with video component & reading list available for students
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Participants & Programs: 1993 to 2001
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[
HOLOCAUST
SURVIVOR'S TESTIMONIES - Information about available videotapes at Media
Center ]
[ MORTON MEMORIAL LECTURES - Speakers from 1993 to
2001 ]
[ PRESIDENT'S BREAKFAST - Speakers from 1999 to
2001 ]
Participants &
Programs for All Events: 2002 and Afterwards
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[ 2002 ] [2003]
[ 2004 ] [ 2005 ] [
2006 ] [ 2007 ] [
2008 ] [ 2009 ]
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THE ANNUAL EVENTS MARCH 2009 |
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Reclaiming Jewish Identity in Argentina Diana Wang will discuss her struggle to officially change her religious affiliation from Catholic to Jewish on her1947 entry papers to Argentina. A child of Holocaust survivors, she is a founding member of Generaciones de la Shoa en Argentina. Light refreshments will be served. Monday, March 23rd, 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm. Latino/a Student Cultural Center 104 Forsyth Street |
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Please join Frieda Grayzel as she shares her story of being a child survivor of Auschwitz during the Holocaust. A question and answer session to follow. .Light refreshments will be served. Thursday, March, 26th, 3:00 p.m. -- 4:30 p.m. Sacred Space - 201 Ell Hall |
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THE ANNUAL EVENTS HELD MARCH 2008 |
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FREEDOM WRITERS Assigned the thankless task of teaching freshman English at a gang-infested Long Beach, CA high school, a 23-year-old teacher resorts to unconventional means of breaking through to her hardened students in director Richard LaGravenese's adaptation of Erin Gruwell's best seller The Freedom Writer's Diaries: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around them. Her students had been written off, and her chances of succeeding scoffed at, but Erin Gruwell (Hilary Swank) wasn't about to go down without a fight. Despite the initially hostile reaction she receives in the classroom, Gruwell uses the writings of Anne Frank and Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Sarajevo to teach her students not only the basis of the English language, but compassion and tolerance as well. Discussion followed the film, led by Professor Gerald Herman, History Department and Director, Center for Interdisciplinary Studies. Wednesday, March 19th 5:50 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. 105 Shillman Light refreshments were served |
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Holocaust Survivor Jack Trompetter recounted his experiences as a hidden child in Holland. A question and answer session followed Thursday, March 20th, 3:00 p.m. -- 4:30 p.m. Sacred Space, 201 Ell Hall Light refreshments were served |
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| THE ANNUAL EVENTS FOR MARCH 2007 |
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Participants tested their knowledge of religions, competed for prizes, learned new things and met new friends! Sponsored by the Multi-faith Student Connection group. This event was part of the Spiritual Life Center’s Peace Week events. Monday March 19th at 7:00 pm Sacred Space, Room 201 Ell Hall |
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The Northeastern University community celebrated peace with readings and songs, and dedicated a Peace Pole in the Sacred Space. This event was part of the Spiritual Life Center's Peace Week events. Wednesday, March 21st, 7:00 pm. Sacred Space, Room 201 Ell Hall |
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Auschwitz-Birkenau Holocaust Survivor, Frieda Grayzel, shared her story and answered questions. Thursday, March 22nd, 2:50 - 4:30 pm Sacred Space, 201 Ell Hall |
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VERDICT ON AUSCHWITZ: THE FRANKFURT AUSCHWITZ TRIAL, l963-l965 This film is an unparalleled document of the first Auschwitz Trial against 22 members of the SS and one prisoner who were accused of taking part in the mass murder of millions. The court heard 360 witnesses, including survivors of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp and others from 19 countries. In the courtroom, survivors of Auschwitz confronted perpetrators they had not seen in twenty years, many of whom had made comfortable lives for themselves in postwar West Germany. The whole world followed the dramatic proceedings, whose commentators included such leading intellectuals as American playwright Arthur Miller and Swiss author Max Frisch. No single documentary film better captures the history of Auschwitz than this film. Discussion followed, led by Professor Gerald Herman, of Northeastern University's History Department Thursday, March 22nd 6:00pm – 9:00pm 90 Snell Library, Seminar Room |
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| THE ANNUAL EVENTS FOR 2006 |
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A CHILDREN'S OPERA Thursday, March 23rd, 2:50 - 4:00 pm, in After Hours - Curry Student Center. Composed by Hans Krása with a Libretto by Adolf Hoffmeister PERFORMED BY THE YOUNG OPERA COMPANY OF NEW ENGLAND Composed by Hans Krása in 1938 for a Jewish orphanage in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Brundibar came to be closely associated with the Holocaust. In 1942 it was performed 55 times by a succession of children’s choirs at the Nazi concentration camp, Terezin (Theresienstadt) as prisoners were being transported to the gas chambers. The musicians, most of the children and ultimately Hans Krasa himself were destined to die in the gas chambers at Auschwitz |
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Thursday, March 30th, 2:50 pm, Holocaust Survivor Jack Trompetter appeared at the Sacred Space - 201 Ell Hall. Mr Trompetter recounted his personal experiences as a survivor and respond to questions. |
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Thursday, March 30th, 6:00 - 9:00 pm, in 90 Snell Library, "Congo: White King, Red Rubber, Black Death" Peter Bate's controversial documentary, "Congo: White King, Red Rubber, Black Death," describes how King Leopold II of Belgium turned the Congo into his private colony between l885 and l908. Under Leopold's control, the Congo became a gulag labor camp of shocking brutality, with families held hostage, workers starved to death, and children's hands chopped of as punishment for late deliveries. While the Belgian government has denounced Bate's film as "tendentious diatribe," it is widely agreed today that the first Human Rights movement was spurred by what happened in the African nation. Written in 2004, 84 minutes. Professor Gerald Herman led a discussion following the film. |
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ANNUAL EVENTS MAY 2005 |
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The speakers were Professors Jack Levin and Gordana Rabrenovic. When: Tuesday, March 29th at 7:30 - 9:30 a.m. Where: 450 Dodge Hall |
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ANNUAL EVENTS MAY 2004 |
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Debra Renee Kaufman, Director of Jewish Studies, Professor of Sociology, and a Matthews Distinguished Professor at Northeastern University discussed "Narratives as Tomorrow's Memories: Post Holocaust Identity in the United States." When: Monday, March 29, at 7:00 - 9:00 Where: 450 Dodge Henderson Suite
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Holocaust survivors recounted their personal experiences and responded to questions, after which refreshments were provided by Chartwells. When: Thursday, April 1st, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The lectures were at the following times: 9:15 ( by Mr. Edgar Krasa ) 10:30 ( by Mr. Raymond Friedmann ) 11:45 ( by Ms. Freida Grayzell ) 1:35 ( by Mr. Jack Trompetter ) 3:00 ( by Dr. Hirsch Altman ) Where: Sacred Space- 201 Ell Hall |
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ANNUAL EVENTS MAY 2003 |
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Laurel Leff spoke about her forthcoming book, "The Silenced Scream: How the New York Times Muffled News of the Holocaust." Professor Leff is an Assistant Professor of Journalism at Northeastern, where she teaches courses in news and magazine writing, media law and legal reporting and graduate level courses in nonfiction writing and the First Amendment. Professor Leff served as a consultant for the Emmy-nominated documentary, "Holocaust: The Untold Story," produced by the Freedom Forum and aired on The History Channel. Jungmee Kim, 2003 Gideon Klein Scholar, performed Viktor Ullmann's Piano Sonata-No. 6 When: Tuesday, May 20th, at 7:15 - 9:00 Where: 450 Dodge Henderson Suite |
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ANNUAL EVENTS MAY 2002 |
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