Israel and the Holocaust mini-course
This mini-course, Israel and the Holocaust, examines the relationship between two of the most significant events in modern Jewish history, the Holocaust and the creation of the State of Israel. The State of Israel has always existed in an uneasy relationship with the Holocaust (Shoah). On the one hand, Israel was faced with the challenge of taking in hundreds of thousands of Holocaust survivors as new citizens of the state, many of whom were discouraged from sharing their traumatic wartime experiences with their fellow citizens. On the other hand, the destruction of European Jewry and the failure of Western democracy to protect the Jewish minority in Europe seemed to vindicate the Zionist worldview, even as classical Zionism argued that the Jewish people deserved a state on the basis of their deep historical connection to the Land of Israel. By tracing the evolving relationship to the memory of the Holocaust (Shoah), we can also trace shifting conceptions of Israeli self-understanding and identity, Israel's relationship to the wider world, its neighbors, the Jewish Diaspora, and the Jewish past.
The three class sessions Mondays 2/3, 2/10, 2/24 classes will examine:
- The immediate aftermath of the Holocaust and the relationship between WWII and the creation of the state of Israel
- The history of Israel's relationship to the memory of the Holocaust
- The present and future of Holocaust memory in Israel after October 7
4:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Educational materials and dinner included.
IN-PERSON (2/10 over Zoom)
Location: Rutgers College Avenue Campus, New Brunswick
Presenters
Avinoam J. Patt is the Maurice Greenberg Professor of Holocaust Studies, Inaugural Director, Center for the Study of Antisemitism at New York University. He holds a B.A. in Religion (Judaic Studies Concentration) from Emory University and a Joint Ph.D. in Hebrew and Judaic Studies and Modern European History from New York University. Dr. Patt previously held the Doris and Simon Konover Chair of Judaic Studies at the University of Connecticut, where he served as Director of the Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life. From 2007-2019 he was the Philip D. Feltman Professor of Modern Jewish History at the University of Hartford, where he served as director of the Museum of Jewish Civilization. He also worked previously as the Miles Lerman Applied Research Scholar for Jewish Life and Culture at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. He is the author of multiple books on Jewish responses to the Holocaust, including his newest book, Israel and the Holocaust, will be published by Bloomsbury Press as part of its Perspectives on the Holocaust series in 2024.
Colleen Tambuscio is the Pedagogical Consultant to the MTI and has served in this position for over twelve years. She is a long time special education and regular education teacher and a leading voice in Holocaust education, both in New Jersey and nationally. She is the founder and president of the Council of Holocaust Educators, a statewide professional development organization, and is an educational consultant to the NJ Commission on Holocaust Education. She established a Holocaust education curriculum at New Milford High School which now includes two elective classes: “The Holocaust, Genocide and Human Behavior” and “Contemporary Genocide: A Call to Action.”
Colleen was honored by Princeton University and by the New Milford Educational Foundation. In 1998, Colleen was named a Mandel Fellow to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and continues to serve as a U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Regional Educator. Colleen earned an MA in Jewish-Christian Studies from Seton Hall University.
Here There Are Blueberries
January 26, 2025
Free tickets for teachers were generously funded by The Ruth Landau Albu and Erna Landau Meyer Holocaust Survivor Memorial Fund.
Hailed as the “best theatre of the year” (Los Angeles Times), Here There are Blueberries is a celebrated new production from Tony-nominated director Moisés Kaufman and the Tectonic Theater Project (The Laramie Project).
In 2007, a mysterious album featuring Nazi-era photographs arrived at the desk of an archivist at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. As curators unraveled the shocking truth behind the images, the album soon made headlines and ignited a debate that reverberated far beyond the museum walls. Based on real events, Here There Are Blueberries tells the story of these historical photographs—what they reveal about the perpetrators of the Holocaust, and our own humanity.
Click Here for Educational Resources from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum
Click HERE to learn more about the photographs that inspired Here There Are Blueberries
Anderson Cooper interviews Moisés Kaufman, Amanda Gronich, and Dr. Rebecca Erbelding about Here There Are Blueberries and the photo album that inspired the play. Click HERE to watch (Available with Paramount plus subscription).
Teacher Roundtable