Commemoration

Each year, the Holocaust Resource Center delivers two hallmark events - the Murray Pantirer Scholars’ Lecture and Yom Hashoah memorial service - in addition to various commemorative activities with Kean University’s Human Rights Institute; communities with a history of genocide, including Cambodians and Sudanese; and organizations such as Jewish Foundation for the Righteous and Facing History and Ourselves.

Murray Pantirer Annual Scholars Lecture Series

Named for the late Holocaust survivor and HRC founder Murray Pantirer, the dynamic annual lecture series has attracted thousands of visitors to the Kean University campus. Among the noted guest scholars, theologians, survivors and dignitaries are: 

• Nobel Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel z”l
• Chief Rabbi of Israel Israel M. Lau
• Deborah Dwork (Clark University)
• Sir Martin Gilbert z”l
• Christopher Browning (UNC - Chapel Hill)
• Gerda Weissman Klein

Recordings of all lectures are available through the HRC Library. 

We are pleased to share with you part of the 1986 Murray Pantirer Memorial Scholar Lecture with honored guest Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor, Author and Activist, Nobel Peace Prize Winner: 

Murray Pantirer Memorial Scholar Lecture

Save the Date: December 3, 2019 @7pm

Join us for a community program featuring Dr. Rebecca Erbelding, author of the award winning book Rescue Board:The Untold Story of America's Efforts to Save the Jews of Europe.

December 3rd is #GivingTuesday. Donations are welcomed and appreciated. 

Yom Hashoah

Save the Date: April 20, 2020

Each spring, the HRC partners with the Holocaust Council of Greater MetroWest to present the Yom Hashoah memorial program. Last year’s program featured an intimate dinner and public program featuring Robert Bielsky, the youngest son of partisan commander Tuvia Bielski, performances by local Jewish choirs, and an impromptu performance of The Partisan Song by surviving Bielski partisan, Anna Monka. 

Elsewhere, the HRC has co-presented Kristallnacht/The November Pogrom programs with Kean Ocean and Ocean County College, and collaborated on various initiatives with Kean University’s Human Rights Institute, Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, and Master of Arts in Holocaust and Genocide Studies Program. We are also interested in partnering with religious communities, educational institutions and nonprofit organizations.

Voices Lost...Voices Born: Music by Jewish Composers of the Holocaust Era

Save the Date: November 12, 2019 @7pm

Join us for a commemorative concert in remembrance of Kristallnacht. The concert features The Hudson Chamber Players. 

Kristallnacht Commemoration Event

Save the Date: November 13, 2019 @6pm

Join us for a Kristallnacht Commemoration Event featuring Holocaust survivor Sami Steigmann.

Kizito Kalima: Survivor of the Rwandan Genocide

Save the Date: November 21, 2019 @7pm

Join us for a community program featuring Kizito Kalima, Survivor of the Rwandan Genocide and founder of the Peace Center for Forgiveness and Reconciliation.