It has been 60 years since the Holocaust. For survivors it remains real and ever present, but for many of our students it seems like ancient history. The Holocaust is often remembered as an event of extremes in our history, an event that brings with it a sense of enormity. The large number of Jews who perished in the Holocaust—six million—is an idea beyond our comprehension, and we tend to lose sight of the individual stories. However, it is those very stories that allow us to comprehend, on an individual level, the loss our world experienced after the Holocaust. That is why each year we remember the Holocaust at Yom Hashoah commemorations around the world.
This year, MCC’s Holocaust Genocide Studies Project’s (HGSP) 16th annual Yom Hashoah commemoration: “Unto Every Life There is a Story,” will honor the memory of Holocaust victims, and pay tribute to the courage of local survivors. The commemoration will be a full day event beginning with a calling of the names ceremony in the Atrium at 10:00 and ending with a reception and tribute to local survivors in the Forum at 3:30, free and open to the public. The day’s events will include the HGSP exhibit of local survivor photo essay, “I Told You Now Tell the World,” the HGSP’s history of commemoration, a candle lighting ceremony, and testimony given by five local survivors.
The HGSP invites you to bring your classes and encourage your students to attend informal talks in the Forum by local survivors throughout the day. Each talk will last about 20 minutes and will include a question and answer period. Rochester’s survivor population has dwindled over the years, and the opportunity to hear testimony by those who have experienced the horrors of the Holocaust is increasingly diminishing. These speakers, with their determination, have found a way to embrace life and now, with profound hope, share their compelling stories to those who will listen and remember. We ask you and your students to be their audience on April 25th.
If you have a class during one of the times below, we encourage you to bring your class to the Forum to hear testimony. The stories of the past are endemic to the way we navigate through our present lives, our global affairs, and our future. The stories they tell are ever present in each of our disciplines. Although your syllabus may not include Holocaust related material, the short testimony by local survivors can be easily related back to those common themes of humanity many of us refer to as we teach. Hearing a survivor speak on an individual basis is quite powerful for a student. This is an opportunity for students to take those themes we talk about in our classrooms beyond the classroom. There's still time to include this on your course schedules.
Schedule of Speakers
Forum (room 3-130) Tuesday April 25th. Speakers will begin at the half hour and speak for 20 minutes. Students will be free to ask questions.
· 10:30 am Warren Heilbronner
· 11:30 am Sam Rind
· 12:30 pm Angie Suss Paull
· 1:30 pm Steven Hess
· 2:30 pm Henry Silberstern
Please contact Linda Ingraham at < "mailto:"mailto: "mailto:lingraham@monroecc.edu"lingraham@monroecc.edu> or Angelique Stevens at "mailto:astevens@monroecc.edu"mailto: "mailto:astevens@monroecc.edu"astevens@monroecc.edu if you would like to bring a class at one of the above times or if you would like more information.
Angelique Stevens English / Philosophy Department
Assistant Director Holocaust Genocide Studies Project
mailto:rcondello@monroecc.edu
Angelique Stevens
English/Philosophy
04/04/2006 |