Holocaust Resource Center Events
Upcoming Events
Nazism in America: The Front of Youth Camps -- Kean Skylands (243 Mount Paul Road, Oak Ridge, NJ 07438)
**POSTPONED TO FALL 2024**
During the 1930s, the German-American Bund, a revived organization emerging from the disbanded Friends of New Germany under the leadership of immigrant Fritz Kuhn, established more than twenty youth camps across the country. To most outsiders, these camps appeared to be summer camps to give German-American youth opportunities to engage with sports and the land. But in reality, they were fronts of the Nazi movement. One camp in particular, Camp Nordland, operated in Sussex County, New Jersey, from 1937 until early 1941.
Barbara Krasner, a historian and prize winning poet, has written about Camp Nordland and how it unraveled a friendship between two Newark teens, one Jewish and one German-American. Dr. Krasner will present the history of the Bund in America, the establishment of these camps with a special emphasis on Nordland, and read selections from her novel in verse, Facing the Enemy: How a Nazi Youth Camp in America Tested a Friendship (Calkins Creek, 2023). She'll also discuss the importance of upstanding to protect human rights then and now.
This event is free and open to the public. Professional development hours provided.
For more information, please contact: Erica V. Colace, Director, Kean Skylands
keanskylands@kean.edu | (908) 737-1612
From Generation to Generation: Author Michelle Weinfeld Shares Her Grandfather's Holocaust Survival Story -- Via Zoom
Tuesday, April 9 at 4:30pm
Michelle Weinfeld, author of From Generation to Generation: A Memoir of Food, Family, and Identity in the Aftermath of the Shoah, will share her grandfather's story of surviving the Holocaust, the life lessons he taught her, and how being the grandchild of a survivor has influenced her life.
For more information, please contact: Dr. Adara Goldberg at agoldber@kean.edu / (908) 737- 4633 Kean University 1000 Morris Avenue, Union, NJ. 07083 www.kean.edu
Short Hair Detention: Channy Chhi Laux, survival of the Cambodian Genocide -- via Zoom
Wednesday, April 17 at 11am EST
When the Khmer Rouge seized Cambodia in 1975, Channy Chhi Laux was thirteen years old. For the next four years she endured starvation, forced labor, disease, and tremendous lost. In June 1979, she arrived in Lincoln, Nebraska as a Cambodian refugee and enrolled at Lincoln High School. Despite speaking no English and having not attended school for four years, she managed to achieve academic success, thanks in part to the kindness and support of her teachers. She went on to earn a Master of Science in Applied Mathematics from Santa Clara University and undergraduate degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She then spent 30 years working in Silicon Valley as an engineer in the Aerospace and Biotech industries. She is now an award-winning author and chef. Join us for an intimate talk with Channy to learn more about surviving genocide and the importance of compassion.
For more information, please contact: Dr. Adara Goldberg at agoldber@kean.edu / (908) 737- 4633 Kean University 1000 Morris Avenue, Union, NJ. 07083 www.kean.edu
Teaching the Cambodian Genocide Through Testimony -- Via Zoom
Wednesday, April 17 at 4:30pm EST
Short Hair Detention: A Memoir of a Thirteen-Year-Old-Girl Surviving the Cambodian Genocide offers an intimate view of the Cambodian Genocide (1975-1979) as experienced by survivor Channy Chhi Laux. Channy originally wrote her memoir to help communicate her experiences of genocide and survival to her children. Having completed her manuscript, however, she saw the value in sharing it more widely. Please join us for an intimate workshop with Dr.Alexis Herr, a comparative genocide scholar, to learn how to use survivor testimony to educate about genocide and human rights.
For more information, please contact: Zoey Guarino / zguarino@kean.edu / 908-737-4660 / Kean University 1000 Morris Avenue, Union, NJ. 07083 www.kean.edu
Yom HaShoah Educators' Commemoration -- Via Zoom
Monday, May 6 at 4:30pm EST
PD hours and Co-Curricular Credits will be provided!
For more information, please contact: Holocaust Resource Center / hrc@kean.edu / (908) 737- 4660 / Kean University 1000 Morris Avenue, Union, NJ. 07083 www.kean.edu