Anti-Semitism In Modern America To Be Explored At Workshop At Cumberland County College On December 13

Free Presentation Open to the Public; Registration Deadline December 9

VINELAND, NJ—What has been this history in 20th-century America of attitudes toward Jews in American culture? How do we see this in the light of the recent murder of 11 Jews at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh?

These issues will be explored at a workshop, free and open to the public, on Thursday, December 13, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., at the George P. Luciano Conference & Events Center , Cumberland County College , College Drive, Vineland, NJ.

The workshop, entitled “Anti-Semitism in Modern America: From Leo Frank to Squirrel Hill,” is presented by The South Jersey Holocaust Coalition, the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education, the Jewish Federation of Cumberland, Gloucester & Salem Counties, and Cumberland County College.

It will be led by Harry Furman, Chairman of the Coalition. A former social studies teacher, Furman pioneered in 1976 the first New Jersey high school semester course on the Holocaust and Genocide, The Conscience of Man. He was also Editor-in-Chief of the first Holocaust curriculum for New Jersey schools and publication of The Holocaust and Genocide: The Search for Conscience. The co-editor of The Hitler Legacy, An Exploration of Hate, he is also a former long-time member of the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education and a presenter of many seminars and workshops

At the workshop, anti-Semitism will be defined and its place will be discussed in American Jewish history. It will be done by examining the trial of Leo Frank, the rise of the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis in the 1920s and 1930, the attitudes toward Jewish refugees in the era of European Fascism, the discussion of anti-Semitism in in American films and literature after World War II, the emergence of George Lincoln Rockwell and the American Nazi Party, the rise of anti-Zionism, the assimilation of American Jewry, and the prevailing anti-Semitic vision of Jews among some Americans throughout the century right up to the rise of the alt-right and now the murders at Squirrel Hill.

This will be an introductory opportunity for the workshop participants to engage in civil interaction about what has just happened—within the context of a century of American Jewish history. Through interaction with PowerPoint, film, and readings, the workshop will examine what has been described as the “longest hatred” in history, but with an eye toward our own American history and culture—and what we see for the future.

No registration fee or cost is required to attend this workshop, but donations of any size are appreciated. A box dinner will be included.

Educators, students, and the public are invited to attend and, for professionals, 3.0 Professional Development (PD) hours will be granted by the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education.

Those interested in attending and those registering for the Professional Development hours must register by e-mail no later than Sunday, December 9 to holocaustcoalition@gmail.com. Educators desiring PD credits should please provide their name, contact information, and school.

For more information on this and all South Jersey Holocaust Coalition events and activities, e-mail holocaustcoalition@gmail.com, visit the Coalition’s website at www.HolocaustCoalition.com, or visit their Facebook page at “South Jersey Holocaust Coalition.”