Purdue News

March 9, 2001 20th annual Holocaust conference begins March 24 WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The 20th annual Holocaust Remembrance Conference will focus on the need to affirm history and accept responsibility. Scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, March 24 and 25, on Purdue University's West Lafayette campus and sites around Greater Lafayette, the conference will focus on "Challenging Our Beliefs." "For 20 years, the conference has been able to bring the Greater Lafayette community's attention to the Holocaust and what happened when people allowed themselves to be unconcerned about their neighbors," said Rabbi Gedalyah Engel. "We cannot deny history. The Holocaust required our participation. We must accept our own personal responsibility for this horrific period in history so it can never happen again." All conference sessions are free and open to the public. Purdue President Martin C. Jischke will open the conference with remarks on "Affirming History." The keynote speaker will be Michael Shermer, author of "Denying History: Who Says the Holocaust Never Happened and Why Do They Say It?" and "How We Believe: The Search for God in the Scientific Age." He also is publisher of Skeptic magazine, host of the Skeptics Lecture at Caltech and an adjunct professor at Occidental College. He received his bachelor of arts degree from Pepperdine University, master of arts in experimental psychology from California State University at Fullerton and a doctorate in the history of science from Claremont Graduate School. Television appearances include "20/20," "Dateline," "Good Morning America," "Extra!," "Oprah," "Unsolved Mysteries" and other programs. Other notable conference participants include Simon Iwens, a Holocaust survivor from Lithuania and author of "How Dark the Heavens: 1,400 Days in the Grip of Nazi Terror;" Robert Melson, author of "False Papers," whose parents passed as a Polish nobleman and wife;" Cseslaw P. Kenser, a non-Jewish retired Purdue professor, who lived outside of the Warsaw ghetto; Joseph Bota, originally from Hungary, who helped Jews when he was a child; and William Laird Kleine-Ahlbrandt, author of "Bitter Requisites: A Faculty for Survival from Nazi Terror." The conference is sponsored by the Greater Lafayette Holocaust Remembrance Committee with grants from Cinergy Foundation/PSI, Eli Lilly and Co. and the Gannett Foundation. It is presented in cooperation with the Diocese of Lafayette-St. Thomas Aquinas Center, Hillel Foundation, Jewish Federation of Greater Lafayette, the Tippecanoe County Ministers Association and University Religious Leaders. The conference also receives support from Purdue, including the Office of Human Relations, the School of Education, the School of Liberal Arts and the Jewish Studies Program. The conference also is made possible with support from the Sam and Edith Chosnek Memorial Fund and the Irving and Shirley Kaplan Fund. Conference chairs are Myra Mason and Esther Chosnek. The complete conference schedule includes: Saturday, March 24 (All at Class of 1950 Lecture Hall unless otherwise indicated) 1 p.m. Registration. 1:30 p.m. "Affirming History." Speaker: Purdue President Martin C. Jischke. 1:50 p.m. "Denying History: Who Says the Holocaust Never and Happened and Why Do They Say It?" Speaker: Michael Shermer. 2:50 p.m. "Purdue Faculty Survivors of Nazi Terror." Moderator: William Laird Kleine-Ahlbrandt. Panelists: Fritz Cohen, Solomon Gartenhaus, Joseph Haberer, Leon Trachtman. 3:45 p.m. "Racial Graffiti." Moderator: Judge Ronald E. Melichar, Tippecanoe County Circuit Court. Panelists: Al Black, Arni Cohen, Steve Klink, Amardo Rodriguez, Laurel Weldon. 4:30 p.m. Concurrent workshops: • "Hispanic Experience in Lafayette." Facilitator: Soledad Kardin-Smith. Panelists: Gui Bravo, Jorge Efracio, Rodney Goins, Rojelio Pacheco. • "Strategies for Teaching the Holocaust." Facilitator: Donna Schurman. Participants: Tami Hicks, Trudy Nelson, Charlotte Opfermann, Sydney Iwens, Janet Tipton. • "Humane Approach to Sweatshops." Facilitator: Ben Partridge. Panelists: Negin Almassi, Elizabeth Gattman, George Horwich, Matt Popovich, Frank Rosenthal. • "The Holocaust and Biblical Interpretation." Facilitator: Ann Astell. Participants: Adele Colella, Sandor Goodhart, Justin Jackson, Alex Kaufman, Stuart Robertson, Tom Ryba. Reporter: Justin Jackson. • "Homophobia in the Holocaust and Beyond." Facilitator: Breck Jones. Participants: Mary Finnegan, Laura Glaser, Bryan Szyper. 5:45 p.m. Workshop reports. 6:30 p.m. Supper. (Hillel Foundation, 912 W. State St., West Lafayette). $5 donation requested for general public, $3 for students. 8 p.m. "Jewish and Non-Jewish Survivors." Chair: Herb Moskowitz. Panelists: Joseph Bota, Sidney Iwens, Czeslaw P. Kentzer, Robert Melson. Sunday, March 25 (All at Class of 1950 Lecture Hall unless otherwise indicated) 10:30 a.m. Concurrent sessions: • Hillel Foundation. "Israelis and Palestinians: Is Peace Possible?" Moderator: Robert Melson. Panelists: Niza El-Kahalili, Edna Loehman, Rabi Mohtar, Shimon Nof. • Dayton Memorial Presbyterian Church (731 Walnut St., State Road 38, Dayton, Ind.) "1,400 Days of Nazi Terror." Speaker: Sidney Iwens. • Noon. Hillel Foundation. Brunch. $5 donation requested for public, $3 for students. 1:30 p.m. Mayors' proclamation: Dave Heath of Lafayette and Sonya Margerum of West Lafayette. Memorial tribute: Flame of Remembrance — Candle of Hope ceremony. 2:15 p.m. "Elections & Democracy." Chair: Joe Krause. Speakers: Gordon Mork and James McCann. 3:30 p.m. "Holocaust Awareness: Where Do We Go from Here?" Chair: Eliot Dickinson. Student Panelists: Paroma Banerjee, Margaret Horton, Thilo Schimmel, Derek Smith. 4:45 p.m. Resolutions, the Rev. Stanley Bomgarden. Source: Rabbi Gedalyah Engel, (765) 743-1716 Writer: Bob Johnson, (765) 496-7704, bobwjohnson@purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page