One benefit of the current state of the world is the increase in diverse, educational, virtual events. Wednesday, Dec. 2, the Holocaust Resource Center will be hosting the Murray Pantirer Memorial Scholar Lecture with Dr. Marion Kaplan. The lecture, to be hosted on Zoom from 7 to 8 p.m., will address the experience of Jewish refugees who fled to Portugal to live in a "limbo" until they could escape abroad.
In the lecture, Dr. Kaplan will discuss much of the contents of her book, "Hitler's Jewish Refugees: Hope and Anxiety in Portugal," which looks closely at the refugee experience, how people's lives were uplifted and how they had to leave behind who they were and try to find safety. It will dive into the stories of this group of people, who were trying to escape Europe for their own personal and religious liberation.
For access to this zoom lecture, participants must email coykends@kean.edu for the event link.
Every year, the Holocaust Resource Center presents the Murray Pantirer Scholars' Lecture Series. Past lectures have been given by known names in the field of Holocaust history, who have all given valuable insight to Kean students and community on the history, culture and experiences of the Jewish community.
This annual lecture series is named after the founder of the Holocaust Resource Center and Holocaust survivor, Murray Pantirer. Each year, distinguished speakers from a variety of fields, with histories in or around the Holocaust and the Jewish experience, come to Kean to deliver engaging and thought-provoking talks to the community. Guest speakers have included:
- Nobel Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel z”l
- Chief Rabbi of Israel Israel M. Lau
- Debòrah Dwork (Clark University)
- Sir Martin Gilbert z”l
- Christopher Browning (UNC - Chapel Hill)
- Gerda Weissman Klein
The Holocaust Resource Center is an organization that operates in conjunction with the Holocaust Resource Foundation and works closely with the Human Rights Institute. The Holocaust Resource Center was founded in 1982 by a group of Holocaust survivors who rebuilt their lives in Elizabeth, NJ. The resource center offers free graduate courses to teachers on learning how to teach the Holocaust and how to teach prejudice reduction. It has also launched an oral history program, delivering hours of first-person accounts from survivors. The resource center is dedicated to fostering and reinforcing awareness of the Holocaust among students, teachers and the rest of the community.
For more information on the Holocaust Resource Center and updates on future events, visit the center's website.
