CORVALLIS, Ore. – Holocaust survivor Henry Friedman, who was born in Poland and now resides in Seattle, will speak at Oregon State University April 11 as part of the university’s 32nd annual Holocaust Memorial Week.

Friedman was born in Brody, Poland, where most of the city’s Jewish residents perished in the Holocaust. Friedman and his family survived because a young Ukrainian woman warned them that the ghetto where they lived would soon be liquidated. They found refuge, but the months that they lived in hiding were marked by extreme hunger and constant fear of betrayal. Friedman recounted his experience in his memoir, “I’m No Hero: Journeys of a Holocaust Survivor.”

The talk begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Austin Auditorium at the The LaSells Stewart Center, 875 S.W. 26th St., Corvallis. The event is free and open to the public but attendees are encouraged to obtain free tickets in advance to ensure a seat. Tickets are available online at: http://bit.ly/2FVheZb. A book-signing will follow the talk.

Holocaust Memorial Week is presented by the School of History, Philosophy and Religion in OSU’s College of Liberal Arts. All events are free and open to the public. Other Holocaust Memorial Week events are:

  • Monday, April 9: A public talk by Randall Bytwerk, “Building Hatred from a Firm Foundation: Anti-Semitic Propaganda in Nazi Germany.” 7:30 p.m., Horizon Room, OSU Memorial Union. Bytwerk is known for creating a widely used digital archive of Nazi and East German propaganda, and for his biography of Julius Streicher, the publisher of a virulently anti-Semitic tabloid before and during the Nazi period. In his talk, Bytwerk will discuss how Nazis used the media to raise the level of hatred toward Jews in Germany.
  • Tuesday, April 10: A play, “Who Will Carry the Word?” 7:30 p.m., First United Methodist Church, 1165 N.W. Monroe Ave., Corvallis. A drama by Charlotte Delbo, a member of the French Resistance who after her capture spent the war in German concentration camps, particularly Auschwitz and Ravensbrück. The play is set in a death camp and follows the tribulations of a group of women prisoners. It starkly recalls what Delbo witnessed and experienced. Directed by Charlotte Headrick.
  • Thursday, April 12: A public talk by Jason Morgan Ward, “The Swastika Entwined with Magnolia Blossoms: A Jewish Journalist Investigates Lynchings in the Wartime South.” 7:30 p.m. Withycombe Auditorium, 2921 S.W. Campus Way. Ward is acclaimed for his scholarship on the decades-long campaign to quell the extension of civil and voting rights in the American south, and the use of violence, including lynching, to intimidate African Americans. His talk will deal with an investigation into the lynching of two black adolescents in Mississippi in 1942.
  • Friday, April 13: A concert, “Songs of the Holocaust.” Noon, Memorial Union lounge. Rachel Joselson, accompanied on piano by Réne Lecuona, will sing songs inspired by the Holocaust and for the most part written by artists who perished in it.
  • Monday, April 16: Panel discussion, “Human Dignity in the Age of Social Media.” 4 p.m., Memorial Union Journey Room. A panel of OSU faculty will discuss issues and trends, such as an apparent upsurge in nationalism and extremist ideologies that echo tendencies in the 1930’s, when they helped to give rise to World War II and the Holocaust. The panel will consider the question, “Is history repeating itself?”

For more information about Holocaust Memorial Week events, visit http://holocaust.oregonstate.edu.

College of Liberal Arts

About the OSU College of Liberal Arts: The College of Liberal Arts encompasses seven distinct schools, as well as several interdisciplinary initiatives, that focus on humanities, social sciences, and fine and performing arts. Curriculum developed by the college’s nationally and internationally-renowned faculty prepares students to approach the complex problems of the world ethically and thoughtfully, contributing to a student's academic foundation and helping to build real-world skills for a 21st century career and a purposeful life.

Story By: 

Michelle Klampe, 541-737-0784, [email protected]

Source: 

Paul Kopperman, 541-737-1265, [email protected]

 

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