Training the Next Generation of Holocaust Scholars and Educators in Washington, DC
Dr. Juergen Matthaeus gives student presenters feed-back on their work, Mandel Center
In February before the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis, eight students with a minor in Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies had the opportunity to participate in a Center-supported research excursion to Washington, D.C. While many universities offer trips to the US capital, this group research endeavor was as unique as academically rigorous. Jointly organized with the staff of the Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the series of programs included a seminar with Dr. Juergen Matthaeus, the Mandel Center’s Director of Applied Research, and rare opportunities for the students to present their research to Mandel Center staff and guests. The program also included a meeting with Zagreb-born Holocaust child survivor Theodora Klayman, but time was spent mostly on intensive research at the USHMM’s massive archive. The students worked on innovative projects that stretched from Jewish religious practices as a form of resistance to the Nazi occupation to a regional study of Jewish collaboration in Lyon in Vichy France. They also learned about future research and internship opportunities at the Mandel Center and had the chance to consult other holdings at the Library of Congress and the National Archives.
After spring break with the campus already on lockdown, the students presented their findings to a broader public in a series of Center-organized ZOOM meetings. They received comments from prominent experts on their topics such as Dr. Patricia Heberer-Rice, the senior historian of the Mandel Center, Prof. emeritus Geoffrey Giles, University of Florida-Gainesville and Dr. Suzanne Brown-Fleming, the director of international academic programs of the Mandel Center. A huge thank-you to the Rosenblatt Family Foundation which generously funded the excursion.
After spring break with the campus already on lockdown, the students presented their findings to a broader public in a series of Center-organized ZOOM meetings. They received comments from prominent experts on their topics such as Dr. Patricia Heberer-Rice, the senior historian of the Mandel Center, Prof. emeritus Geoffrey Giles, University of Florida-Gainesville and Dr. Suzanne Brown-Fleming, the director of international academic programs of the Mandel Center. A huge thank-you to the Rosenblatt Family Foundation which generously funded the excursion.
Holocaust child survivor Theodora Klayman speaks about her family’s largely unsuccessful struggles for survival in fascist Croatia