Kingsborough Holocaust Center

Talk - Survivor: Aron’s Story by Alex Teplish 

September 27, 2023 @10:00 – 11:15am

Alex Teplish’s graphic novel Survivor: Aron’s Story (2022) and his virtual museum (https://survivoraronsstory.com/virtualmuseum/) document the powerful story of his grandfather’s experiences during Romanian/Nazi occupation in Odessa, Ukraine.

During this presentation, Mr. Teplish will discuss his book, the virtual museum he’s created, and the use of advanced technologies to preserve survivors’ testimonies and introduce them to new generations. This talk is followed by a Q&A with the audience and is open to students, faculty, staff, and other interested parties.

Please register for this Zoom event in advance.

Talk – Art, Exhibition and Erasure in Nazi Vienna by Laura Morowitz

November 1, 2023 @1:30 – 2:30pm

Laura Morowitz, Professor of Art History, Wagner College, discusses her new book, Art, Exhibition and Erasure in Nazi Vienna (Routledge, 2023). Her book examines three exhibitions of contemporary art held at the Vienna Künstlerhaus during the period of national socialist rule and shows how each attempted to culturally erase elements vilified in Nazi ideology. Each of the exhibits was large-scale and ambitious, part of a broader attempt to situate Vienna as the cultural capital of the Reich, and each aimed to reshape cultural memory and rewrite history. Dr. Morowitz’s talk is followed by a Q&A with the audience and is open to students, faculty, staff, and other interested parties.

Please register for this Zoom event in advance.

Hybrid Panel - Jewish Resisters in the Netherlands During World War II 

November 6, 2023 @9:45 – 11:15pm

Location: V219, Kingsborough Community College 

Very little has been written about Jewish resistance in Western Europe, and what has been written usually focuses on France and Belgium, not the Netherlands. We've invited two sons of Jewish Holocaust survivors, Moshe Godschalk and Rob Jacks - whose fathers, Meijer Godschalk and Wout Jacks, were active in the Dutch resistance in the years 1942-1945 - and two researchers, Linda and Martijn Brandjes, who uncovered the story of Meijer and Wout. Over four years, the Brandjes compiled a thick file of official nazi documentation and governmental records, photographs, and letters related to Meijer and Wout and their respective families. Together with the Dutch Ministry of Defense, they ensured that Meijer and Wout were posthumously awarded for their bravery. Moshe and Rob accepted their fathers' Mobilization War Crosses from the Dutch government in May 2022.

During this 90-minute hybrid panel, Linda and Martijn Brandjes will discuss their research through the documentation they uncovered, while Moshe Godschalk and Rob Jacks will talk about second-generation trauma, the wall of silence they encountered when growing up, and uncovering the truth about their fathers, 75 years after the end of the Holocaust. The talks will be followed by a discussion with the audience. This event is open to students, faculty, staff, and other interested parties.

Snacks and light refreshments will be provided.

This is a hybrid event. Please register for the Zoom event here.

Private Tour – Museum of Jewish Heritage 

November 17, 2023 @12:30

Location: 36 Battery Pl, New York

The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust is New York’s contribution to the global responsibility to never forget. The Museum is committed to the crucial mission of educating diverse visitors about Jewish life before, during, and after the Holocaust.

As a place of memory, the Museum enables Holocaust survivors to speak through recorded testimony and draws on rich collections to illuminate Jewish history and experience. As a public history institution, it offers intellectually rigorous and engaging exhibitions, programs, and educational resources.

This event is open to students, faculty, staff, and other interested parties.

Please contact Elke Weesjes Sabella (Elke.Sabella@kbcc.cuny.edu) for details and availability.

Panel and Exhibition – Nazis in America and Anti-Nazi Protests 

December 7, 2023@11:30am – 1:00pm

Location: City Tech Library, Academic Complex, 285 Jay Street, room A-105

Speakers: Prof. Elke Weesjes, Research and Programming Director KCC Holocaust Center & Prof. Paul C. Mishler, History and Labor Studies, Indiana University, South Bend.

The City Tech Library was one out of 50 libraries in the country to be selected by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and American Libraries Association to host Americans and the Holocaust, a traveling exhibition. The exhibition examines how Americans reacted to Nazism, war, refugees, and genocide before, during, and after the Second World War.

As part of the conditions of the grant, the City Tech Library will host a minimum of four (4) public events that will examine common themes between now and the events surrounding the Holocaust.

The exhibit opens on November 17 and closes on December 17, 2023. It will be free and open to the public by appointment. Please contact Elke Weesjes Sabella (Elke.Sabella@kbcc.cuny.edu) for more information about a tour of the exhibit and attending the panel “Nazis in America and Anti-Nazi Protests”.