Through a variety of educational programming and academic venues, the Center will promote an awareness of the causes of past genocides and the experiences of their victims in order to preserve those memories and to educate our students and our community. The recent resurgence of anti-Semitism and nationalism remind us that such engagement with the past remains central to any approach of resolving these problems in the present. Only through a critical engagement with the past and present can we work to prevent such trends from leading to future genocides.

Community Events

In the spring of 2019 the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies partnered with Temple Beth El the Reform Congregation of Jersey City to present the film Memory after Belsen, and a discussion with the film’s writer and producer, Joshua Greene. The film explores the question of how we should remember the Holocaust through the experience of one woman’s journey to trace her grandmother’s past in Nazi-occuppied Europe. Following the screening Joshua Greene answered questions about the different ways of remembering the Holocaust and its continuing importance in the contemporary world.

Speaker Series

As part of the Center’s mission we plan to provide ongoing education by bringing survivors, scholars, experts and others to present their experience and research to our community. We have been fortunate to have had Eva Weiner, a young passenger on the St. Louis, recount her and her family’s experiences escaping from Nazi Germany.

In April 2018, the Center welcomed Eugenia Mukeshimana to Pope Lecture Hall, where she discussed the impossible situation facing so many people during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Her story, as with many other survivor stories, involved incredible suffering, good fortune, and a series of contingent events. It is a reminder of how difficult it was to survive.

Kristallnacht Film Series

In commemoration of Kristallnacht, or Night of the Broken Glass, the Center shows a film to raise student awareness about the dynamics of genocide. This was the night of November 8-9, 1938 when the Nazis looted thousands of Jewish shops, destroyed more than 250 synagogues, and began sending Jews to concentration camps.

Teacher Training

Helping to train others to teach the history of the Holocaust and other genocides will insure a dedicated and ongoing committment to making sure future generations understand the lessons of the past. In September 2018, Saint Peter’s University hosted a day-long seminar led by Echoes and Reflections, a non-profit that specializes in training teachers about possible lesson plans, methodology and resources. The seminar included local high school teachers, students from the School of Education and others. We hope to continue to offer these kinds of workshops in the future.