April 1, 2005

Holocaust conference to focus on 60th anniversary of liberation

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The 24th annual Greater Lafayette Holocaust Remembrance Conference, entitled We Remember: 60 Years After Liberation, will take place on April 10-16 at various locations on the Purdue University campus and in the surrounding community.

The conference, which roughly coincides with the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, is sponsored by the Greater Lafayette Holocaust Remembrance Committee.

World War II in Europe officially ended May 8, 1945, when the Allies announced the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. Although it was not until months later that all of Germany was occupied and the ethnic atrocities there ended, that date also marks the informal end of the Holocaust, said conference chair Susan Prohofsky.

"Keeping memories of the Holocaust alive always has been the primary goal of our annual conference, but an anniversary year such as this certainly brings Holocaust remembrance to the forefront," Prohofsky said.

"It is very important for people to understand that even though the Holocaust ended 60 years ago, it continues to influence the lives of people all over the world. Unfortunately, the world does not seem to have learned from the Holocaust, either. Both genocide and anti-Semitism are rampant throughout the world even to this day."

Although it is the Holocaust Remembrance Conference's final event, the Auschwitz-based musical drama "An Evening with Madame F" will be the week's feature presentation. The play, which is free and open to the public, is scheduled for 8 p.m. on April 16 in the Class of 1950 Lecture Hall.

Created and performed by Virginia-based musician and actress Claudia Stevens, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, "An Evening with Madame F" features music once performed by female inmates at Auschwitz, as well as firsthand accounts of the inmates' struggles both during and after the Holocaust.

In the one-woman performance, Stevens also meditates on the issue of treating the Holocaust as a subject for artistic expression.

"Stevens has performed 'An Evening with Madame F' in places all over the country, and it has become one of the most honored Holocaust-related performances out there," Prohofsky said. "The play is informative and very moving."

The Holocaust Remembrance Conference will begin with registration and opening ceremonies at 1 p.m. on April 10 in Stewart Center, Room 214.

Proclamations by Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski and West Lafayette Mayor Jan Mills will open the event, followed by welcoming remarks and ceremonial proceedings by Prohofsky, Rabbi Audrey Pollack and Toby Parcel, dean of Purdue's College of Liberal Arts and a sociology professor. The Rev. Steve Cain, director of the Wesley Foundation, and the Wesley Singers also will take part in the conference's opening ceremonies.

A schedule of other conference events, which are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted, is as follows:

• April 10. 2:15 p.m. Stewart Center, Room 214. Geoffrey Giles of the University of Florida will present "Purifying the 'Master Race': Nazi Strategies for Ending Homosexuality." Introduction by Purdue professor Gordon Mork.

• April 10. 3:15 p.m. Stewart Center, Room 214. Theodore "Zev" Weiss, an Auschwitz survivor and president of the Chicago-based Holocaust Education Foundation, will present "Reflecting on the Past and Apprehensive About the Future." Introduction by Purdue professor Robert Melson.

• April 10. 4:15 p.m. Stewart Center, Room 214. Concurrent workshops. "Poetry from the Holocaust" with Purdue professor Ann Astell; "Teaching the Holocaust" with scholar Donna Schurman; "The Next Generation: Children and Grandchildren of Survivors" with Reni Winter and Esther Chosnek.

• April 10. 6:30 p.m. Hillel Foundation, 912 W. State St., West Lafayette. Deli dinner. Donations of $3 from students and $6 from the general public are requested.

• April 11. 8 a.m. Hillel Foundation. Breakfast and conversation with Giles and Weiss.

• April 12. 7:30 p.m. Beering Hall of Liberal Arts and Education, Room 1245. Paul Benhamou, Purdue professor emeritus of French, will present "The New Anti-Semitism in France." Introduction by Purdue professor Thomas Broden.

• April 13. 7 p.m. Rawls Hall, Room 1086. Presentation of the film "Rosenstrasse," followed by a discussion led by professor Steven Carr of Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne. Sponsored by the Jewish Studies Program.

• April 14. 7 p.m. Hillel Foundation. Presentation of the film "Life is Beautiful."

Holocaust Remembrance Day, known in Hebrew as "Yom Ha Shoah," will be observed around the world this year on April 19. Translated from the Hebrew, the phrase means Day of Catastrophe.

Writer: Aaron Martin, (765) 496-3133, martinac@purdue.edu

Source: Susan Prohofsky, sue@glhrc.org

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

Note to Journalists: Media are welcome at all conference events. To make arrangements, contact conference chair Susan Prohofsky at sue@glhrc.org.

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