NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Vanderbilt Holocaust Lecture Series, the longest continuous Holocaust series at an American university, will examine genocides throughout the world through films, lectures and conversations starting Oct. 9.
Beginning its 28th year, the theme for this year’s series is “Legacies: Remembering, Forgetting, Reconciling” and will include films and discussions on the Holocaust, Rwanda and Sudan.
“As another anniversary passes there are fewer victims and perpetrators walking among us and as a result we think it is important to keep that memory alive no matter what form that memory takes,” says JoEl Logiudice, co-chair of the Vanderbilt lecture series.
“This series is about taking a hard look at genocide, wherever it occurs, and shining a light on the lives of victims, perpetrators and family members so we continue to remember and hopefully learn from these events,” says Gary White, co-chair of the lecture series.
Schedule of events include:
* Oct. 9, Sunday, 7 p.m., Wilson Hall, Room 126
The Forgiveness of Sins: Prison Chaplains Work with Nazi Perpetrators 1945-1970— Katharina von Kellenbach, associate professor of religious studies at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, discusses the interactions between Nazi perpetrators and their Christian pastoral counselors.
* Oct. 10, Monday, Noon, Sarratt Student Center, Room 189
Remembering, Forgetting, Reconciling—Two German gentiles and an Israeli-American Jew discuss dealing with family legacies and the responsibilities of reconciling with descendants of victims and perpetrators.
Katharina von Kellenbach, associate professor of religious studies, St. Mary’s College of Maryland; Bjorn Krondorfer, associate professor of religious studies, St. Mary’s College of Maryland; and Ruth Arbitman Smith, clinical psychologist in Nashville are participants.
* Oct. 10, Monday, 7 p.m., Wilson Hall, Room 126
To Remember in Order to Forget: The Holocaust in German Postwar Autobiographies—Bjorn Krondorfer, associate professor of religious studies at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, discusses how post-1945 memoirs of German Protestant theologians eluded complicity and culpability.
* Oct. 16, Sunday, 7 p.m., Sarratt Cinema
Sometimes in April—A film, directed by Raoul Peck, is inspired by true events surrounding one of history’s darkest chapters: the 100 days of the Rwandan genocide in 1994. This event is co-sponsored by the Sarratt Film Committee and the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center.
* Oct. 26, Wednesday, 7 p.m., Sarratt Cinema
Secret Lives: Hidden Children and Their Rescuers During World War II—A film, written, produced and directed by Academy Award winner Aviva Slesin, tells the emotional story of a number of Jewish children who were saved from the Nazis by non-Jews. Slesin, a former “hidden child” from Lithuania, will take questions following the screening.
* Nov. 2, Wednesday, 7 p.m., Sarratt Cinema
Hiding and Seeking: Faith and Tolerance after the Holocaust—A film and discussion on the award-winning documentary that tells the story of filmmaker Menachem Daum, son of Holocaust survivors, who travels with his wife and two sons to Poland to find the Christian farmers who hid his wife’s father from the Nazis. Rabbi Saul Strosberg, Sherith Israel Synagogue, will lead a discussion following the film. This event is co-sponsored by the Sarratt Film Committee.
* Nov. 10, Thursday, 7 p.m., Law School, Renaissance Room
An Uncommon Friendship: From Opposite Sides of the Holocaust—Bernie Rosner, who survived the Auschwitz concentration camp, and Fritz Tubach, the son of a German army soldier and a member of the Nazi Youth Movement, tell how they became friends in the poignant memoir An Uncommon Friendship: From Opposite Sides of the Holocaust. Co-author Sally Tubach, wife of Fritz Tubach, introduces the program that includes Rosner and Frederich (Fritz) Tubach, professor emeritus of German at the University of California, Berkeley.
* Nov. 14, Monday, 6 p.m., Sarratt Cinema
Lost Boys of Sudan—The award-winning documentary follows two Sudanese refugees as they flee civil war-torn Africa and head to America. Co-director/producer Jon Shenk will lead a discussion following the film. A reception will be held at the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center following the event.
These events are free and open to the public. Parking is available for Sarratt Student Center events at the Central Garage, at 25h Avenue South and Highland Avenue. After 5 p.m. parking is also available in Lots 18, 64 and 71 off 25th Avenue South. For events at Wilson Hall and the law school, parking is available at the Terrace Place Garage, on Terrace Place between 20th and 21st Avenues South. After 5 p.m., parking is also available in lots 4, 5 and 6 off 21st Avenue South. For more information, call 615-322-2457 or visit www.vanderbilt.edu/holocaust.
Media contact: Emily Pearce, (615) 322-NEWS
Emily.pearce@vanderbilt.edu