How The Nazis Engineered Evil During The Holocaust To Be Subject Of Workshop At Rowan College Of South Jersey-Cumberland On March 19
VINELAND, NJ— What were the processes and plans used to murder the millions of Jews throughout Europe in the Holocaust? What insight can we get by examining the individual lives of some of those who perished—as well as the actions and plans of those who perpetrated the Holocaust?
These issues will be explored at a workshop, free and open to the public, on Thursday, March 19, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., at the George P. Luciano Conference & Events Center, Rowan College of South Jersey-Cumberland (formerly Cumberland County College), 3322 College Drive, Vineland, NJ.
This workshop, entitled “Engineering Evil,” is presented by The South Jersey Holocaust Coalition, with support from the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education, and Rowan College of South Jersey-Cumberland.
Funding has been made possible in part by the Annual Campaign of Jewish Federation of Cumberland, Gloucester & Salem Counties.
To attend, please register no later than Friday, March 13 by going to www.HolocaustCoalition.com and, on the “Coming Events” page, clicking on “Register Here” and completing the registration form—or by calling 302-265-3870. Educators desiring Professional Development credits should kindly provide their name, contact information, and school.
No registration fee or cost is required to attend this workshop, but donations of any size are greatly appreciated. A light snack will be provided.
Robert Holden, of the South Jersey Holocaust Coalition, will be showing and discussing the film Engineering Evil, which is narrated by historian Dr. Michael Berenbaum and produced by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, of which Berenbaum was a founder. In this film, a gripping portrait of the Holocaust from the early days of persecution of the Jewish people in Nazi Germany to the implementation of massive concentration camps, viewers will:
—–learn about artifacts, photographs, and oral histories giving evidence of the Nazis evil plans;
—–focus on the more intimate and everyday stories of political transformation, violence, and loss under the Nazi regime;
—–gain specific and personal insights into the lives of those who perished and the actions of plans of the perpetrators;
—–travel through the archives of Eastern Europe to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and its restoration labs in Israel to see how artifacts serve as powerful links to those who lost their lives;
—–learn through curators and historians about how the Nazis were able to accomplish such horrific crimes against humanity in the course of just a few years.
—–explore and discuss the methods historians use to preserve the memory of communities destroyed during this horrendous period in world history.
Holden, who has taught this subject for over 40 years, will guide and provide explanations as the film progresses. He will provide to each attendee a study sheet which will provide an expansion of the terms used by Berenbaum in the film.
Robert Holden’s commitment to Holocaust education began in 1982 at Ocean City (NJ) Intermediate School, when he designed a mini-course for his gifted/talent junior high school students. Visiting various concentration camps in Europe during a Holocaust Studies Tour in 1997 resulted in an increased determination to speak about the Holocaust. He was a member of a committee of New Jersey Educators to totally revise the state’s Secondary Holocaust Studies Curriculum.
Upon “retirement,” he taught Holocaust Studies at the Trocki Hebrew Academy and supervised elementary student teachers through Rowan University. For his efforts in teaching about the Holocaust, he received the Honey and Maurice Axelrod Award, proceeds from which used in part to set up the Holocaust/Genocide Studies Collection at the Cape May Campus of Atlantic Community College.
He is the co-author of two secondary curriculum guides that have been published by the New Jersey Holocaust Commission and is in the process of writing two other history-related books.
Holden, as Upper Township (NJ) historian, has written a book about its history entitled The History of the Ten Villages of Upper Township, which has recently been released. He has also completed a book about Chinese diplomat Feng Shan Ho who was the Chinese ambassador in Vienna during the Holocaust and through his efforts saved thousands of Jews in Austria in 1938. For this, Ho has a memorial on The Avenue of the Righteous at Yad Vashem.
For more information on this and all South Jersey Holocaust Coalition events and activities, visit the Coalition’s website at www.HolocaustCoalition.com or their Facebook page at “South Jersey Holocaust Coalition.” You may also e-mail HolocaustCoalition@gmail.com or call 302-265-3870.
