TCU’s Department of Religion, working with partners from Brite Divinity School and in collaboration with the Jewish Federation of Fort Worth and Tarrant County and the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum, will present the Hate, Holocaust, and the Search for Humanity Symposium, a series of events across March 31, April 4 and April 5 concerning the Holocaust and antisemitism. Programming is affiliated with the Green Honors Chair program.
Across the three days, five events will feature lectures and panels from scholars of antisemitism, Holocaust historians, a daughter of a Holocaust survivor and a Holocaust survivor.
“Antisemitism manifests in new ways but always to the same effect, pushing Jews to society’s margins. Our program helps TCU live its mission to educate ethical leaders who can combat this insidious truth,” said TCU Dean of Admission Heath Einstein, who is on the committee overseeing the events.
“This symposium will give us the opportunity to listen, learn and educate ourselves not only about the Holocaust, but to better grasp what has and can result from unchecked hatred. It is my fervent hope that it will cause us to strive to prevent hatred and bias toward groups of people from becoming accepted or the norm,” said Howard L. Rosenthal, associate director of the Jewish Federation of Fort Worth and Tarrant County. “By adding to our knowledge through programs such as this symposium, it is my desire that we can start to better understand that hate is often manifested out of ignorance and anger or some misguided fear of a threat to our own existence,” he concluded.
Ariel Feldman, the Rosalyn and Manny Rosenthal associate professor of Jewish studies and director of the TCU Jewish Studies Program, stressed the importance of recognizing how remembering the atrocities of the Holocaust helps individuals confront today’s expressions of hate.
“To me, learning about the Holocaust is much more than an academic endeavor. We can only confront hate when we remember what a terrible price humanity had to pay for it,” said Feldman. “I look forward to the reflections of our guest speakers and the stories of the Holocaust survivors, so that I can learn more about what it means to be a better human being after the Holocaust,” Feldman concluded.
The Cecil H. and Ida Green Honors Chair program brings scholars and artists of national and international stature to campus for short residencies to stimulate new ideas, enrich intellectual exchange and nurture relations with surrounding communities.
All events, except one, are being held at the Brown-Lupton University Union on campus. Visitor parking can be found in Lot 6 and the Frog Alley Parking Garage across Stadium Drive. In addition, those who have need of valet parking can register at https://bit.ly/briteparking.
The schedule is as follows:
March 31, 2022, at 12:30 p.m. in the BLUU Ballroom:
“The Holocaust: What Begins with the Jews Never Ends with the Jews”
Speaker: Dr. David Patterson
April 4, 2022, at noon at University Christian Church:
“The Reality of Human Dignity”
Speaker: Dr. Michael Berenbaum
April 4, 2022, at 7 p.m. in the BLUU Ballroom: Green Honors Chair/Gates of Chai Lecture:
“The Perils of Holocaust Denial, Falsification, Trivialization and Minimization in 2022”
Speaker: Dr. Michael Berenbaum
April 5, 2022, at 12:30 p.m. in the BLUU Ballroom: “Hate, Holocaust, and the Search for Humanity: Survivors’ Perspectives”
Speakers: Lydia Rosian Bagriansky-Zerner and Julie Kohner
Moderator: Dr. Michael Berenbaum
April 5, 2022, at 7 p.m. in the BLUU Ballroom: Kornbleet Scholar in Residence Lecture: “Voices of the Generations”
Speaker: Julie Kohner
About the speakers:
Dr. Michael Berenbaum is the director of the Sigi Ziering Institute: Exploring the Ethical and Religious Implications of the Holocaust and a professor of Jewish studies at the American Jewish University. The author and editor of 20 books, he was also the executive editor of the second edition of the “Encyclopaedia Judaica.” He was project director overseeing the creation of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Dr. David Patterson is professor of literature and history and the Hillel A. Feinberg Distinguished Chair in Holocaust Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas. A winner of the National Jewish Book Award and the Koret Jewish Book Award, Patterson has published more than 30 books and more than 140 articles and chapters in journals and books in philosophy, literature, Judaism, Holocaust and education.
Lydia Rosian Bagriansky-Zerner was a hidden child by several different rescuers in Lithuania. During the war, she was baptized Catholic. This was not uncommon and was perceived to add to security and helped the rescuers avoid lies. Ultimately, her whole family survived in Lithuania, where more than 94% of the Jews were murdered.
Julie Kohner is the founder and CEO of Voices of the Generations, Inc. She is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor and a trained educator. In 1990, after the passing of her mother, she became compelled to share her mother’s Holocaust story with others in the hope that many could learn from this story of love overcoming hardship, racism, deprivation and the pain of war. Her story of growing up as the child of a Holocaust survivor has motivated other children of survivors to share their stories, too. Her programs move and inspire people of all ages, but especially young adults, to look at adversity and the world around them in ways that are new.
— Submitted by TCU