UNCA to Observe Holocaust Commemoration Week
with a Variety of Program
UNC Asheville will observe Holocaust
Commemoration Week April 7-13 with a variety of cultural programs.
Among the highlights will be a 24-hour reading of Holocaust victims' names
followed by a silent vigil and commemoration service and a talk by film
historian Robert Toplin. All events are free and open to the public.
At 6 p.m. Monday, April 8, Asheville community members will join UNCA
students, faculty and staff to continuously read Holocaust victims’
names until 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 9, on the steps of Ramsey Library. To
participate, call UNCA Assistant Mathematics Professor Sam Kaplan
at 828/232-5192.
At the conclusion of the reading, a silent, walking vigil will leave
for Congregation Beth Ha
Tephila, 43 North Liberty St., where a Yom HaShoah (Holocaust
commemoration) service will be held at 7 p.m. The featured speaker will be
Mark
Klempner, who has conducted research on Dutch citizens who risked
their lives to rescue and hide Jews during the Nazi occupation. The son of
a Holocaust survivor, Klempner holds a master’s degree in folklore from
UNC Chapel Hill.
Other events include:
-- A screening and discussion of "Europa, Europa" will be
held at 7 p.m. Sunday, April 7, at UNCA’s Humanities Lecture Hall.
"Europa, Europa" tells the true story of Simon Perel, a German
Jewish teen who survived the war by passing as a non-Jew. He was adopted
by a German officer and sent to a Nazi prep school. The film conveys the
hate, confusion and mania of life in Nazi Germany.
-- The Shoah Foundations’ "Survivors: Testimonies of the
Holocaust" will be shown on Wednesday April 10, at the Asheville
Jewish Community Center, 236 Charlotte Street. The story of local survivor
Walter Ziffer will be shown at 6 p.m. followed by the story of local
survivor Julius Blum at 7:30 p.m.
-- Ted Uldricks, UNCA history professor and director of the Master of
Liberal Arts Program, will present a talk on "Why the
Holocaust?" at 12:15 p.m. Thursday, April 11, at UNCA’s Laurel
Forum, Karpen Hall. In his lecture, Uldricks will explore scientific
racism, the ideology of Nazism and the Holocaust as an event in German
history.
-- Local musicians will join UNCA faculty and students for a Holocaust
Commemoration Concert at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 11, at UNCA’s Lipinsky
Hall room 018. The group will perform works written by contemporary
composers in response to the Holocaust.
-- Robert Toplin will give a talk on "Hollywood and the
Holocaust" at 12:15 p.m. Friday, April 12, at UNCA’s Laurel Forum,
Karpen Hall. Toplin, a professor of history at UNC Wilmington, is a
frequent commentator for the History Channel. He has written 10 books on
film and history, including "History by Hollywood: The Use and Abuse
of the American Past," "Oliver Stone’s USA: Film, History and
Controversy" and "Reel History: In Defense of Hollywood."
Toplin is a visiting professor at UNCA this year.
-- A screening and discussion of the Oscar-winning film "Life Is
Beautiful" will be held at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 13, at Humanities
Lecture Hall. "Life Is Beautiful" tells the extraordinary tale
of a charming but bumbling waiter whose colorful imagination, sense of
humor and family are threatened by World War II.
Holocaust Education Week is sponsored by UNCA’s Center
for Jewish Studies, Housing
and Residence Life, Foreign
Languages Department and Student Life Office in conjunction with
the Western North
Carolina Hillel, the Western North Carolina Jewish Federation and
the Center for Diversity Education.
For more information, contact Richard Chess, UNCA Center for Jewish
Studies Director, at 828/251-6576.
Media Contacts:
- Dr. Richard Chess, UNCA Center for Jewish Studies Director,
828/251-6576
- Jill Yarnall, UNCA Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526
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