The Future of Holocaust Education Through Technology

Carson Philips, PhD, Adjunct Professor; Manager of Academic Initiatives, Azrieli Foundation, Toronto

The medical crimes of the National Socialist regime in Germany have often been presented as being committed by outlier physicians who worked in isolation from the mainstream of German medicine. Scholarship has demonstrated, however, that medical practitioners were central to the regime’s goals of “racial hygiene.” This session will explore the impact of Nazi doctors and how modern medical ethics were shaped by their role in the Holocaust.

Britt P. Tevis, J.D./Ph.D., Phyllis Backer Assistant Professor in Jewish Studies in the Department of History at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University

This talk examines antisemitism in the American legal profession by tracing its roots in the 19th century. While 20th century discrimination by the bar, white shoe law firms, and American law schools is relatively well-known, the roots of this systemic discrimination have been overlooked by scholars and the legal community. This talk uncovers how Jewish lawyers were stereotyped as undesirable legal practitioners in the United States in the 19th century and the significance of this development for the American legal profession.

Born in 1943 in France, to parents who met in the Gurs concentration camp, Raymond Polak will share his testimony of how he, his mother, and father survived to the end of the war. His father died after being liberated from Buchenwald. 

Meet Pinchas Gutter and Dr. Edith Eger in the Dimensions in Testimony Exhibit and learn about their lives before, during and after the Holocaust in their own words and their own voices.

Bea Hollander-Goldfein Ph.D, LMFT, Council for Relationships, Director, Transcending Trauma Project, Certified Clinical Trauma Professional

Based on research from hundreds of Transcending Trauma Project in-depth life-history interviews, this workshop will focus on the intergenerational impact on the children (2Gs) and grandchildren (3Gs) of Holocaust survivor parents. We will explore how family background, quality of parent-child relationships, and the experience of hearing the stories of the war influenced the degree of trauma on the next generation. We will also discuss how being part of a survivor family may also affect reactions to the current realities of war and antisemitism.

Britt P. Tevis, J.D./Ph.D., Phyllis Backer Assistant Professor in Jewish Studies in the Department of History at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University

This talk examines antisemitism in the American legal profession by tracing its roots in the 19th century. While 20th century discrimination by the bar, white shoe law firms, and American law schools is relatively well-known, the roots of this systemic discrimination have been overlooked by scholars and the legal community. This talk uncovers how Jewish lawyers were stereotyped as undesirable legal practitioners in the United States in the 19th century and the significance of this development for the American legal profession.

Jennifer Marlow, PhD, Adjunct Professor

All children of Nazi controlled Europe, from those raised to fulfill the Aryan ideal to those targeted for destruction, were deeply impacted by Nazi ideology, the horrors of war, and Nazi genocidal goals. This session examines experiences of Jewish children addressing ways they sought to cope with extreme brutality, their methods of attempted survival, and issues of identity. 

Dr. Josh Perelman & Rebecca Krasner, Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History

This session will feature some of the work and early findings of the Gratz-Weitzman Educators Fellowship, which promises to produce rigorous and critical insights on how to supplement Holocaust education with materials focusing on Jewish contributions to America.