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CHGS News | April 2016
From the Director
States and organizations around the country and the world have set
aside April to be a month of genocide awareness, education and action against genocide.
 
Why April? Several genocides over the last century began in this month. The events leading to the Armenian genocide started in April 1915. The Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh fell to the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime in April 1975. Hutu extremists launched their plan to exterminate the entire Tutsi civilian population of Rwanda in April 1994.
 
April 1943 is also the month in which the few remaining Jews in the Warsaw ghetto rose in a desperate but heroic revolt against their oppressors. Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, was later established to commemorate those events, which represent unprecedented destruction but also courage, resilience and hope. (...)
 
As we move through April, it is important to remember the quote from Holocaust historian Robert Abzug: "We must recognize that if we feel helpless when facing the record of human depravity, there was always a point at which any particular scene of madness could have been stopped." In that spirit, this month we remember the victims of genocide and honor those who have worked tirelessly to stop it.
 
Thank you for supporting the work of the Center. 
 
Alejandro Baer
Director and Stephen C. Feinstein Chair

(Article truncated; read full text here.)
CHGS Blog Success Story!
In January, the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies launched its own blog. The blog is a new and exciting way to showcase research and insight from students and faculty from the University of Minnesota community. Beyond featuring a complete archive of stories from the CHGS newsletter, such as the timely Eye on Africa Series, the blog includes entries from a variety of disciplines in the humanities and the social sciences.
Ukraine's controversial song entry, "1944," addresses the deportation of 240,000 Crimean Tatars to Central Asia by Joseph Stalin in 1944.

The blog has been extremely successful so far. In just the three months since its launch, the blog has already been read by hundreds of visitors from more than two dozen countries. User data shows that people come and stay to read several articles in a sitting. Amongst the most popular content has been the Center's interview with Dr. Adam Muller from the University of Manitoba, Eurovision: Genocide Comes to Pop Culture, and reviews of the films Son of Saul and If I Were that Warrior

Check out the blog regularly to get the latest on CHGS commentary and research at the forefront of Holocaust and genocide studies. If you're interested in contributing your work, please contact Joe Eggers.
Interview
by Natalie Somerson

In February 2016, the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies welcomed Pedro Correa Mart�n-Arroyo to discuss his research. Correa presented a lecture titled "The Spanish Paradox", which examined the Spanish government's policies towards the Jews, and how these were influenced by actors both within and outside the country. Read the interview by UMN undergraduate student Natalie Somerson on the CHGS Blog.
CHGS Blog Highlights
newsGenocide News Digest
by Joe Eggers

Recent news has included many items related to historical and contemporary genocide, including the attribution of the term genocide, as well as its denial. 

by Wahutu Siguru

Read the latest in our Eye on Africa Series about the risks to journalists and their reporting in African nations. 
CHGS Spring 2016 Programming
Thursday, April 14, 7:00 PM
University Hall, McNamara Alumni Center
2016 Ohanessian Lecture
PETER BALAKIAN, Colgate University

Organized by the Ohanessian Chair, cosponsored by the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.
Tuesday, April 19, 4:00 PM
1210 Heller Hall 
EDITH SHEFFER, Stanford University  
'No Soul': Hans Asperger and the Nazi Origins of Autism

Organized by the Center for Austrian Studies, cosponsored by the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.
Wednesday, April 20, 6:30 PM
1210 Heller Hall 
ARLENE STEIN, Rutgers University

With introductory comments by Ken Engel, Director of CHAIM: Children of Holocaust Survivors Association in Minnesota. Reception and book signing to follow talk.

Organized by the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, made possible by the generosity of individual supporters, cosponsored by the Children of Holocaust Survivors Association in Minnesota (CHAIM), and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas (JCRC).
Friday, April 22, 12:00-1:30 PM
120 Blegen Hall
Human Rights Award Ceremony

The Human Rights Program will announce award winners for the Inna Meiman Human Rights Award and Sullivan Ballou Award, as well as interdisciplinary human rights research awards. CHGS will announce the 2016-2017 Badzin Fellow at the event as well. Lunch (and cake!) to be served. Join us for the celebration!

Presented by the Human Rights Program, cosponsored by the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.
Wednesday, April 28, 3:30-5:00 PM
1114 + 1183 Social Sciences Building 
JOACHIM J. SAVELSBERG
Professor of Sociology and Law, Arsham and Charlotte Ohanessian Chair, University of Minnesota

Professor Savelsberg will speak on his latest book Representing Mass Violence: 
Conflicting Responses to Human Rights Violations in Darfur.

Presented by the African Studies Initiative, cosponsored by the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and the Department of Sociology.
Wednesday, April 27, 6:00-8:00 PM
Wilson Library, 1st Floor
Exhibition Opening!
"Displaced: The Semiotics of Identity"

Exhibition opening reception of CHGS collection of art and artifacts in conjunction with the work of local artists. Curated by students from the workshop "Be the Curator: Curatorial Theory and Practice" (ARTS1490/3490), lead by instructor Deborah Ultan Boudewyns. 

Co-sponsored by the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, the University of Minnesota Libraries, and the Department of Art.
Thursday, May 5, 4:00 PM
710 Social Sciences Building
Holocaust Memorial Day  
SIDI N'DIAYE, United States Holocaust Memorial
and Museum

Organized by the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, cosponsored by the African Studies Initiative and the Human Rights Program, held in conjunction with the Holocaust, Genocide, and Mass Violence (HGMV) interdisciplinary graduate student group.
Sunday, May 15, 3:00 & 4:30 PM
Sokol Czech Slovak Community Center

Performance of the Musical Drama Broucci (Fireflies), based on the Czech folktale and performed at the Terezin / WWII Jewish camp-ghetto of Theresienstadt.

Presented by the Czech Slovak Sokol Minnesota, the Twin Cities Czech and Slovak School, the Czech and Slovak Cultural Center of Minnesota, the Honorary Consulate of the Czech Republic in Minneapolis, and the University of Minnesota's Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and Center for Austrian Studies. 
Monday-Thursday, June 2
0-23
609 Social Sciences Building
Summer Educator Workshop

This week-long seminar will take a comparative approach to the genocides in Rwanda and Darfur. Participants will gain content knowledge about the origin and legal ramifications of the term genocide, and how various groups, such as the United Nations and the Media, addressed the two genocides.

Sponsored by the African Studies Initiative and the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.
UMN Events
The African Studies Initiative presents an international exhibition at the University of Minnesota:

Usakos - Photographs Beyond Ruins: 
The Old Location Albums, 1920s to 1960s 

Unknown Cecilie Geises, All Red netball team, sports fields, Usakos old location, c. 1950 8.5 x13.5 cm Cecilie Geises collection
An exhibition that centers on three private photographic collections owned by four female residents of the small town in central Namibia called Usakos runs from April 5-23 in the Regis West Gallery in the Regis Center for Art (West).

Thursday, April 7, 2016 
5:15 - 6:15 PM
Opening reception, with remarks by LORENA RIZZO, University of Basel, as well as a walk-through talk on the exhibition.

Thursday, April 21, 2016
2:00 - 3:00 PM
InFlux Space, Regis Center for Art (East)
Capstone remarks by GIORGIO MIESCHER and LORENA RIZZO, University of Basel
Join us that afternoon for capstone remarks and Q&A
University of Minnesota Duluth will host a series of Holocaust Commemoration Events:

Thursday, April 7, 2016, 12:00 PM
Kirby Student Center's Kirby Rafters
DEBORAH PETERSEN-PERLMAN, and ALEXIS POGORELSKIN, UMD
"Escape to Sweden: The Flight of Danish Jewish Refugees" 

Monday, April 11, 2016, 
7:00 PM
Bohannon 90
KATHRYN WINTER, author of Katrina, will speak on her experiences as a child during the Holocaust in Bratislava.
Events presented by the Departments of Asian Languages and Literatures, German, Scandinavian and Dutch, French and Italian, Spanish and Portuguese Studies, and the Institute for Global Studies as part of the 2016 Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Conference:

Thursday, April 7, 12:30 PM 
1210 Heller Hall 
"Converging Realities," a musical performance by Global Studies 2015 alum Wendy Freund. 
She will perform her original composition, for guitar, voice, and drum. Original lyrics are in Hebrew. Lunch will be served. 

"Converging Realities" is a 3 movement suite for guitar, voice and dumbek, addressing questions of national identity in Israel by evoking different genres of music present in the region.
Friday, April 8, 12:30 PM
1210 Heller Hall
Screening of the short film "Rahil," written and directed by Global Studies student Ricardo Bennett Guzman.
Q&A with the director to follow. Lunch will be served.

In "Rahil," a young Palestinian woman confronts the realities of living in a war zone, reflecting on memories of the past, imagining conversations with her ancestors, and working through the fear and exhaustion in her present moment to continue dreaming of a future Palestine.
Opportunities for Students
HGMV Interdisciplinary Graduate Group

The Holocaust, Genocide and Mass Violence (HGMV) group is an active collaborative of graduate students, faculty, and invited scholars. CHGS co-facilitates the workshop series with the Human Rights Program. Meetings provide opportunities for students to engage in the development of research projects by providing and receiving constructive feedback. 

Meetings for Spring 2016 will take place on Thursdays at 4:00 PM in 710 Social Sciences. For more information or to get on the mailing list, see the CHGS website.
Upcoming Events for Students

Thursday April 7th, 4:00 PM
HGMV: "Unpacking Narratives," a text-based conversation on the case of Israel-Palestine, facilitated by HGMV participants Adey Almohsen (History) and Courtney Gildersleeve (CSCL).
PREREGISTRATION is REQUIRED, on a first-come, first-served basis. If you are interested in attending this graduate-student working group, please contact Erma Nezirevic, HGMV Coordinator, to sign up and receive the requisite reading material.

Friday, April 8, 5:00 PM 
CAROLYN DEAN, Yale University
The Making of the Secular Witness: David Rousset and the Voices of Suffering Humanity. 
This event is part of the Department of French and Italian's Graduate Conference: Thinking Community, and is not open to the public.

Thursday, April 21, 4:00 PM 
MAR�A JOS� M�NDEZ GUTI�RREZ, Department of Political Science
HGMV: "The soundtrack of war: 'Narcocorridos' and drug war violence in Latin America"
Funding Opportunities

The Institute for Global Studies offers the Dunn Peace Research Scholarship, available to current UMN undergrad and graduate students. The J. W. G. Dunn, Jr., Scholarship for Foreign Research on International Peace was developed to provide an annual award for a University of Minnesota student to pursue research abroad dealing with issues of direct relevance to international peace.

Application deadline: Noon on Friday, April 15, 2016

Please see the attached flyer for more information. Detailed scholarship application guidelines are available on our website.  

Questions can be directed to Lydia Brosnahan, scholarship coordinator at the Institute for Global Studies: (612) 626-3950 or [email protected].
Calls for Papers

United States Holocaust Memorial and Museum
Deadline for submission: April 15, 2016 
 
Landscapes of Displacement: Borderlands in Comparative Perspective
San Diego Mesa College, CA, September 23-24, 2016
Deadline for submission: April 22, 2016

International Association of Genocide Scholars Special Publication
Deadline for submission: July 1, 2016

The International Journal of Transitional Justice
Deadline for submission: July 1, 2016

Rolling deadline
Upcoming Conferences 
Community Events
Sunday, April 17, 4:00-5:30 PM
Friends Meeting House

50 years ago, the Catholic Church took a major step toward improving its historically troubled relationship with Jews. Yiscah Brachah, JCRC Speakers Bureau, will discuss the Nostra Aetate declaration. Find more information here.
Sunday, May 1, 6:30 p.m.
$5
Film Screening: "Woman in Gold"

The 2015 movie tells the story of Maria Altmann who attempts to reclaim Nazi-seized family possessions, including Gustav Klimt's "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I." For more information, please contact Susie Greenberg.
YOMHASHOAHTwin Cities Yom HaShoah Commemoration

Wednesday, May 4, 2016, 7:00 PM

Speaker: Donald Burris, co-counsel on the Nazi looted-art case that inspired the recent film, Woman in Gold. Featuring family stories about Holocaust artifacts by Holocaust survivor Eva Gross and 3rd Generation Judi Shink.

The 2016 Yom HaShoah Commemoration is free of charge and open to the public.

The Yom HaShoah Commemoration is co-sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas, Children of Holocaust Survivors Association in Minnesota (CHAIM), Beth Jacob Congregation, the Minneapolis Jewish Federation, the Jewish Federation of Greater St. Paul, and Generations After MN.

For more information, please contact Susie Greenberg.
Thursday, May 5, 2016, 7:00-9:00 PM


Award-winning Minnesota artist and art instructor, Rowan Pope, collaborated with middle and high school students from Breck School to capture Joe Grosnacht's life through short stories and illustrations; the result is Six Chairs: A Holocaust Survivor's Story. 
New Open Access Books and Journals
Edited by Corry Guttstadt, Thomas Lutz, Bernd Rother, Yessica San Rom�n

This volume offers a trans-national, comparative perspective on the varied reactions of the neutral countries to the Nazi persecution and murder of the European Jews. It includes a chapter by CHGS director Alejandro Baer and historian Pedro Correa entitled "The Politics of Holocaust Rescue Myths in Spain."

The volume is based on the conference papers of the international
conference of the same name which was held in November 2014 in Madrid. The conference was originally funded through IHRA's Grant Program and co-sponsored by CHGS, among other organizations. The entire volume can be downloaded for free at this link.

Oxford University Press

Refugees and those who migrate for other reasons are a pressing issue. The editors of Holocaust and Genocide Studies offer this special edition on refugees, featuring selected articles from past issues. Read as a whole, these essays begin to offer some elements of perspective.
Support CHGS
In This Issue
From the Director
CHGS Blog Successes
Genocide in the News
CHGS Spring Events
UMN Events
Opportunities for Students
Community Events
Yom HaShoah Commemoration
Books and Journals
In the News
- ISIS is Committing Genocide
- Kerry: Genocide Not Occurring in Myanmar
- Radovan Karadzic Convicted
- 40th Anniversary of Argentine Coup
- Imre Kertesz (1929-2016)

The Holocaust and Jewish Identity

Seeing Holocaust Survivor Stories in the Books They Left Behind
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Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies | 214 Social Sciences | 267 19th Ave. S. | Minneapolis | MN | 55455