Holocaust survivors from Sonoma County will be honored for the first time in a special program to be held from 3 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 17 at Congregation Ner Shalom in Cotati.
The event is sponsored by Sonoma State University's Center for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide and the Alliance for the Study of the Holocaust, a long-standing University-community partnership.
Founding members of the Alliance and others who have made a significant contribution to Holocaust and genocide education will also be honored.
"The focus of the Sept. 17 event is to honor those in the community who survived Nazi tyranny, including those who were in the camps, were hidden during the war, were on the Kindertransport, or were able to leave prior to 1939," says Barbara Lesch McCaffry, President of the Alliance. "Other honorees made significant contributions to Holocaust education at Sonoma State over the past 23 years."
"Many of the Holocaust survivors who share their stories are now in their 80's and 90's," said Elaine Leeder, Dean of Sonoma State's School of Social Sciences. "We want to honor them now. In addition, it is through studying the Holocaust that we actively keep the memory of the victims alive."
The Alliance was formed in 1982 on behalf of the victims and survivors of the Holocaust and the need to tell their stories and learn from their experiences. The Center, part of SSU's School of Social Sciences, offers a lecture series on the Holocaust and genocide, which is the oldest program of its kind in the Western States
A photographic exhibit of local survivors by Ilka Hartmann will also be on display. Music will be provided by the Jubilee Klezmer Ensemble. Light refreshments, desserts, wine and non-alcoholic beverages will be served.
A majority of the more than 30 survivors currently living in Sonoma County are planning to attend. In addition to speaking in the Holocaust Lecture Series, some survivors have spent many hours visiting middle and high school classrooms, speaking with children about their experiences.
"Studying the Holocaust provides students with a framework for looking at genocide which is still happening today," said Myrna Goodman, Director of the Center. "It helps us understand the processes that contribute to other genocides and serves as a pre-warning signal for incipient genocide."
Goodman noted: "A powerful aspect of the lecture series has been the impact of the personal eyewitness accounts of the Holocaust survivors, and more recently the survivors of the Rwandan, Cambodian and Bosnian genocides. The series has inspired student activism in the service of genocide awareness."
The primary beneficiary of the Alliance's fund raising efforts is Sonoma State University's Holocaust Lecture Series which will begin its 24th season in January 2007 and run through May.
The lectures from the 2004-2006 series can be viewed at http://www.streaming.sonoma.edu.
Tickets for the event are $36 and $18 for children under 12 and low-income guests. For more information, contact Barbara Lesch McCaffry at (707) 664-2273 or visit http://www.sonoma.edu/holocaust/ash/events.htm.
The event is also co-sponsored by SSU's School of Social Sciences, SSU's Development Office, and the Jewish Community Center of Sonoma County.
