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Sponsored by the Spiritual Life Office
The activities of Holocaust Awareness are planned by the Holocaust Awareness Committee under the auspices of the University's Spiritual Life Office. Our sponsors are: Gustel Giessen Memorial Fund, Spiritual Life Office, the History Department, Northeastern University Hillel, Office of the President, School of Law and Law Library, Snell Library, Stotsky Fund, University College - School of General Studies
< Click Here for Information About Specific Annual Events & Participants Since 1993 >
Yom ha Sho'ah Memorial Service & "Reading of Holocaust Victims" Names

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 Series

In 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
-----------   &   ------------
 The Showing of a Holocaust-related film followed by faculty-led discussion

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Participants & Programs: 1993 to 2001

[ 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
[ 2002 ]   [2003]  [ 2004 ]  [ 2005 ]  [ 2006 ] [ 2007 ] [ 2008 ]
 

THE ANNUAL EVENTS HELD MARCH 2008

          LIBRARY DISPLAY         
REMEMBERING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
 Displayed March 17th, to March 30th. Snell Library Lobby

            PRESIDENT'S BREAKFAST         
< With A Special Dedication in Memory of Walter Lind >
 Nancy Kindelan, Professor of Dramatic Literature and Dramaturgy-Theatre, and
Inez Hedges, Stotsky Professor of Jewish Historical and Cultural Studies, and Professor of French, German and Cinema Studies, discussed their Holocaust focused, interdisciplinary Advanced Academic Learning Community project, as well as discussing their thoughts on the process of transforming the ideas of the play, The Children of  Drancy, to the stage.
 Research photos and a student-produced film, highlighting students' comments
 about the making of the play, will be used to illustrate their presentation.
Tuesday, March 18th, 7:30 a.m. -- 9:00 a.m. Raytheon Amphitheater at the Egan Center  

    HOLOCAUST VICTIMS NAMES RECITATION  
Volunteer Readers read the names of those who died during the Holocaust. 
 Tuesday, March 18th, 12:00 p.m. -- 2:00 p.m. at Snell Library Steps

   SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MORTON MEMORIAL LECTURE   
The Speaker was Andrew Tarsy, former New England Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League and a leader on the issue of recognizing the Armenian Genocide.
Mr. Tarsy's leadership in 2007, as he spoke for the need to recognize as "Genocide" the murder of the Armenians in 1915, resulted in his being named to the Jewish Daily Forward newspaper's "Forward 50" list for 2007. The list honored those considered to be the 50 most influential people in American Jewish life. His talk was about,  THE POWER OF WORDS: WHY THE TERM "GENOCIDE" MATTERS SO MUCH 60 YEARS AFTER IT BECAME AN INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED CRIME.
Wednesday, March 19th, 12:00 p.m. -- 1:30 p.m.
 Reception  followed -- Free and open to the public, at 10 Behrakis Health Center
           SPECIAL FILM SHOWING           
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
   PHILIP N. BACKSTROM, JR. SURVIVOR LECTURE SERIES   
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

THE ANNUAL EVENTS FOR MARCH 2007

    HOLOCAUST VICTIMS NAMES RECITATION  
 Wednesday, January 24th, the Holocaust Awareness Committee, in observance of the United Nation's International Commemoration Day of the Holocaust, sponsored a public reading of the
names of those murdered in the Holocaust

          LIBRARY DISPLAY         
HOLOCAUST AWARENESS 2007: YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW
Thursday, March 15th, to Friday, March 30th.
Snell Library Lobby
       RELIGIOUS JEOPARDY GAME      
 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

            PRESIDENT'S BREAKFAST         
Professor Inez Hedges, Stotsky Professor of Jewish Historical Studies,
 spoke about the HOLOCAUST AND LIVING MEMORY: 
FRANCE AND THE SHOAH.
Mr. Jonathan Meacham, Gideon Klein Student Scholar, presented  his musical composition, entitled, VARIATIONS ON A LULLABY BY GIDEON KLEIN.
Tuesday, March 20th, 7:30 am -- 9:00 am
240 Raytheon Amphitheater at the Egan Center

   FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MORTON MEMORIAL LECTURE   
Drawing on his frontline experience, Gerald Martone talked about,
 MASS VIOLENCE, ETHNOCIDE, AND MOB PSYCHOLOGY.
  As Director of Humanitarian Affairs at the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Mr. Martone has overseen emergency operations and assessments in Burundi, Liberia, Kosovo, Chechnya, Congo, Sierre Leone, Rwanda, East Timor, Northern Uganda, Albania, Bosnia, Angola, Ethiopia, Darfur-Sudan, Iraq, and Tsunami-affected areas of Indonesia. He is recently returned from Darfur. The IRC was Founded in l933, and is committed to freedom and human dignity, and serves refugees and communities victimized by oppression and violent conflict worldwide.
Wednesday, March 21st, Noon -- 1:30 pm
Amilcar Cabral Center,
 John D. O'Bryant African-American Institute.
 A Reception to follow lecture 

    PEACE-IN! AN INTERFAITH PEACE CELEBRATION   
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
   PHILIP N. BACKSTROM, JR. SURVIVOR LECTURE SERIES   
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
          SPECIAL FILM SHOWING          
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

THE ANNUAL EVENTS FOR 2006

          LIBRARY DISPLAY         
Displayed from Friday, March 17th, through April, in the Snell Library Tunnel   
           BRUNDIBAR           
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

            PRESIDENT'S BREAKFAST         
Tuesday, March 28th, 7:30 - 9:00 am, in Raytheon Amphitheatre - Egan Center.
This years speaker was,
 James R. Ross, Stotsky Associate Professor, School of Journalism.
Professor Ross is one of the editors of  From the Protocols of the Elders of Zion
 to Holocaust Denial Trials; Challenging the Media, the Law and The Academy
 (Oxford: Frank Cass/Valentine Mitchell Publishers, 2006). The other editors are:
Debra R. Kaufman, Matthews Distinguished University Professor, Sociology & Anthropology;
 Gerald H. Herman, Professor, History; & David Phillips, Professor, School of Law.   

            THE MORTON LECTURE             
Wednesday, March 29th, 12:00 - 1:30 pm, in  After Hours - Curry Student Center
John Prendergast delivered the Morton Lecture.
  His talk was entitled Confronting Genocide and War Crimes in Africa.
 During the past two decades Prendergast has been dealing with African issues of grave humanitarian concern and is now a special adviser to the president of the International Crisis Group. He served the Clinton administration directing African affairs for the National Security Council, 1996-1999, and as an adviser to the State Department from 1999-2001.
 He is the author of Frontline Diplomacy: Humanitarian Aid and Conflict in Africa.
   PHILIP N. BACKSTROM, SURVIVOR LECTURE SERIES   
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.
          SPECIAL FILM SHOWING          
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.

    HOLOCAUST VICTIMS NAMES RECITATION  
Tuesday, April 25th, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm, the Names Recitation of Holocaust victims was held on the steps in front of Snell Library.

   ANNUAL EVENTS MAY 2005
                            PRESIDENT'S BREAKFAST                         
The speakers were Professors Jack Levin and Gordana Rabrenovic.
When: Tuesday, March 29th at 7:30 - 9:30 a.m. Where: 450 Dodge Hall

                              THE MORTON LECTURE                          
Claudia Koonz,  the author of Mothers in the Fatherland : Women, the Family and Nazi Politics
and The Nazi Conscience, served as one of the commentators in the recent documentary, "Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State."
She spoke about "Making Racism Respectable:The Nazi  Regime and Ordinary Citizens"                                                                                    
When: Wednesday, March 30th 11:45 a.m.--1:30 p.m.    Where: Blackman Auditorium
 Afterwards a Reception was held in Frost Lounge 

                                GUEST SPEAKER                            
The guest speaker was Mark Potok, the editor of the Southern Poverty Law Center's quarterly Intelligence Report, which monitors far-right hate groups in the United States. The title of his talk was "Neo-Confederatism: The Latest Step in Historical Revisionism."
When:  Tuesday, March 29th 3:00-4:30 p.m.   Where: 348 Curry Student Center

   PHILIP N. BACKSTROM, SURVIVOR LECTURE SERIES   
Holocaust survivors recounted their personal experiences and responded to questions,
 Frieda Grayzell, Jack Trompetter and Edgar Krasa were the speakers.
When: Tuesday, March 22nd and Wednesday, March 23rd
    Where: Sacred Space- 201 Ell Hall.
                               SPECIAL FILM SHOWING                             
"Judgement at Nuremberg" directed by Stanley Kramer. The film is about the trial of the Nazi judges. Afterwards there was a discussion led by Professor Gerald Herman.

ANNUAL EVENTS MAY 2004

 Yom ha Sho'ah Memorial Service & "Reading of Holocaust Victims Names"
                                                                    Click on photos for full size
                     
             Stephen Nathanson        Brandy Purcell              Christina Braidotti              Colin Gracey
             Professor, Dept. of                                               Administrative Secretary,     Episcopal Chaplin
             Philosophy                                                            Law, Policy & Society            Office of Spiritual Life
                                                   
                                  Rachel Goldman              Shelli Janowski Smith              James Weiss,                                     
                                                                             Spiritual Life Director              Adjunct Professor, Dept. of History

                                                                         
                                                 Students looking at Holocaust victim's biographies
                            PRESIDENT'S BREAKFAST                             


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

                                
       Debra Kaufman, introduced       James Steller, Dean of Arts          Debra Kaufman &            Colin Gracey,
      by James Weiss ,                         & Sciences; Gerald Herman,           Bill Giessen,            Episcopal Chaplain  
      Chair. HAC                                 Prof., Dept. of History & Asst.      Professor Dept. of     Office Spiritual Life 
                                                                to University Council                      Chemistry & Mech.      & Bill Giessen.
                                                                                                                            Engineering

                               SPECIAL FILM SHOWING                             
  "Amen"  
Based on Rolf Hochhuth's controversial 1963 play, "The Deputy",

   Costa-Gavras' film dramatizes two bureaucratic systems: the Nazi machine versus the Vatican.
 
 A discussion of the film followed and was
 led by Professor Gerald Herman of the History Department
 and Professor Emeritus, Philip N. Backstrom Jr. Light refreshments were provided.
 When: Tuesday, March 30,  6:00 p.m.-- 9:00 p.m. Where: 90 Snell Library   


  Prof. Herman

                               THE MORTON LECTURE                            
Bjorn Krondorfer, Associate Professor of Religious Studies
 at St. Mary's College of Maryland, offered a conversation about the transmission of
Holocaust memories between parents and children from different  national and religious
 backgrounds. In his talk, entitled, "Remembrance and Reconciliation: Why the Memory
 of the Holocaust Matters Today", Mr. Krondorfer also spoke about a unique educational
 program that addresses these issues, and he interwove in his lecture
 a personal account of his German family background.
When: Wednesday, March 31, 12:00 --1:30 pm.. Where: Blackman Auditorium, Ell Hall
<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>
Following the Morton Lecture a reception was held for Professor Krondorfer,
    When:  2:00 -- 3:15 p.m. Where: 444 Curry Student Center
     PHILIP N. BACKSTROM, SURVIVOR LECTURE SERIES    
 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

HOLOCAUST AWARENESS EXHIBIT   
 CLICK FOR A DESCRIPTION OF THE  2004 EXHIBIT ON A SEPARATE PAGE
Books and Media Materials displayed at the Exhibit are available at Snell Library

ANNUAL EVENTS MAY 2003
            XoXPRESIDENT'S BREAKFASTXoX                
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

                               SPECIAL FILM SHOWING                             
"The Grey Zone" (108 minutes), based on actual events, is the story of Auschwitz's Twelfth Sonderkommando, one of the special squads of Jewish prisoners, placed by the Nazis in the moral dilemma of helping to exterminate fellow Jews in exchange for a few more months of life. Their story is of the only armed revolt to ever take place at Auschwitz.  A discussion of the film followed, led by Professor Gerald Herman and Professor Emeritus Philip N. Backstrom, Jr. of the History Department. Light refreshments were provided.
 When: Wednesday, May 21st  6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Where: 90 Snell Library

                               THE MORTON LECTURE                           
Tim Blake Nelson, actor, writer, and director, spoke about his latest film "The Grey Zone," which he wrote and directed. This is the dramatic story of the 12th Sonderkommando, a special squad of Jewish prisoners, who worked in the crematoria in exchange for a few more months of life.
 Their story is of the only armed revolt to ever take place at Auschwitz.                                            Through the film, Mr. Nelson asks to what terrible lengths we are willing to go to save our own lives, and what in turn we would sacrifice to save the lives of others.
When: Thursday, May 22nd 12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Where: Blackman Auditorium, Ell Hall
Where: Krentzman Quad

       PHILIP N. BACKSTROM, SURVIVOR LECTURE SERIES    
 Holocaust survivors will recount their experiences and respond to questions
When: Monday, May 19th 10:30 a.m.; 11:45 a.m; 1:35 p.m.; 2:50 p.m.; 4:05 p.m.
Tuesday, May 20th 9:15 a.m.; 10:30 a.m.; 11:45a.m.
Where: Sacred Space- 201 Ell Hall


   ANNUAL EVENTS MAY 2002

                            PRESIDENT'S BREAKFAST                         
Rabbi Marvin Tokayer, spoke about "The Fugu Plan -- The Untold Story of the Japanese and Jews During World War II. This was followed by first hand accounts from Mr. Samuel Manski "With God's Help: One Sugihara Survivor's Testimony". Melissa Misicka, Recipient of 2002 Gideon Klein Scholarship made a special presentation.
 Where: 450 Dodge Henderson Suite.
 When: Tuesday, May 14, 2002 ~~ 7:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.

                              THE MORTON LECTURE                          
The 2002 Morton Lecturer was Dr. Robert Melson, Professor, of Political Science and former Acting Director of Jewish Studies Program at Purdue University. Professor Melson spoke about "False Papers: The Tension Between Testimony and Story in the Holocaust Memoir"
 Where: Blackman Auditorium, Ell Hall.
 " When: Thursday, May 16, 2002, 11:45 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.. 

   PHILIP N. BACKSTROM, SURVIVOR LECTURE SERIES   
Holocaust survivors recounted their experiences and responded to questions
Where: Sacred Space - 201 Ell Hall, 
~~Two Days ~~
Monday, May 20th, 8:00 a.m.; 9:15 a.m.; 10:30 a.m.; 1:35 p.m.; 2:50 p.m.; 4:05 p.m.
Tuesday, May 21st, 8:00 a.m.; 9:15 a.m.; 10:30 a.m.; 11:45 a.m. 


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