Pages

A 21st Century Resource Center

The Mercer County Holocaust-Genocide Resource Center is located on the West Windsor, NJ, campus of Mercer County Community College. We are dedicated to providing the most current resources on Holocaust and genocide education for the 21st Century classroom. Learn more about us at mccc.edu/holocaust.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

June 2, 2015- 8:30 am to 1:30 CONFERENCE



Utilizing Resources -the State wide Educators Conference was held  in the Mercer County Community College conference center from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm. Panelists presented information on how to design lesson plans for various grade levels. Professor Elizabeth DeGiorgio prepared
a presentation and materials for participants and also met with individual teachers to answer questions.

At The Conference,.Lynn Azarchi, executive director of the KIDSBRIDGE museum participated in the Educator’s workshop. Each year a Holocaust & Genocide Awareness award is given to a student that has demonstrated an altruistic act of generating awareness, empathy and action for Holocaust and/or Genocide education. Nominations are made by Mercer County Superintendents, 4th through 12th Grade School Principals, and 4th through 12th grade Teachers and Guidance Counselors in Mercer County. A team of independent judges from the community, and representatives from the Advisory Commission of the Mercer County Holocaust/Genocide Resource Center reviewed the nominations and selected the winners.

2015 KIDSBRIDGE Winner

Jared Miller is a 9th grade student dedicated to generating genocide and anti-bullying awareness in the student population. Nominated by Robbinsville High School Social Studies Teacher Angel Dolina, Jared is the winner of the Fourth Annual Youth Holocaust and Genocide Competition (2015). Jared used the following quote, “Nobody is superior or inferior, everyone is equal whether a bully chooses to accept it or not” throughout his efforts to spread awareness in his high school. Troubled by those who unknowingly turned a blind eye to mass killings, Jared created presentations about the Armenian, Holocaust, Cambodian, and Rwandan genocides, which were displayed during lunch at his school. He found ways to link bullying prevention to the hatred generated from genocides, making his message clearer and easier to understand for his classmates.
Continuing his efforts, Jared solely organized an awareness day that impacted 900 high school students. He is in the process of inviting a Holocaust survivor who lived in a concentration camp, to make a presentation to help the student population gain a better understanding of the horror of genocide. In his first year of high school, Jared has made vast strides in increasing the knowledge of these topics in Robbinsville High School. There is no stronger compliment than one being such a positive role model and inspiration to other students at such a young age.

Saul Goldwasser Writing award
The Saul Goldwasser Writing Award and the 2014 Youth Holocaust and Genocide awareness award were presented at this conference. The 3rd annual Saul Goldwasser Writing Award. The award was presented to Jennifer Vitella a MCCC Honor student. Jennifer read her winning piece to the audience.







April 28, 2015 The Greek-Jewish Experience - 4:30 p.m.



April 28, 2015
The Greek-Jewish Experience - 4:30 p.m.
lecture and discussion with author and filmmaker Isaak  Dostis

 Isaak Dostis is an American-born filmmaker, writer, and actor who now lives full time in
 Ioannina, Greece. He is a member of the small Greek-Jewish community there, but previously
 lived in the New York Metro area where he was a founder of the lower Manhattan museum about
Greek speaking Jewish people known as the "Romaniotes,"  housed in Kehilla Kadisha Janina.
 Isaac Dostis, shared with our community about the Jews of Greece and his Romaniote heritage.
 The effect of the Holocaust on the Jews of Greece is not well known in North America. Because
 of the in- flux of German and PolishJews in the mid-20th century, the devastation of the Ashkenazi
 Jews became the image of the Holocaust in many minds. The Sephardic and Romaniote populations
 were also devastated, and the Romaniote, already a dwindling population, was almost eliminated.
 Both the city of Ioannina and the island of Corfu boasted large Romaniote populations until 1944.
 Until the 20th century, there was a thriving Jewish community in Ioannina. The Romaniote Jews
 lived amicably alongside their Christian and Muslim neighbors. In the beginning of the 20th
century, there were around 7000 Jews. They held jobs as tradesmen and craftsmen, and owned homes
 in the town. Many left, along with their Greek contemporaries, in the turmoil

April 23, 2015 Auction of Souls (Ravished Armenia) and Discussion - 12 noon



To commemorate  the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide Ravished Armenia, also
as Auction of Souls was screened. It  is a 1919 American film based on the autobiographical
book Ravished Armenia by Arshaluys (Aurora) Mardiganian, who also played the lead role in the
 film. It depicts the 1915 Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman Empire from the point of view of
 Armenian survivor Mardiganian, who plays herself in the film. The first half of the film shows
Armenia as it was before Turkish and German devastation, and led up to the deportation of priests
and thousands of families into the desert. One of the concluding scenes showed young Armenian
women flogged for their refusal to enter Turkish harems and depicted the Turkish slave markets.
The total number of people killed as a result has been estimated at between 800,000 to 1.5 million.
The starting date is conventionally held to be 24 April 1915, the day Ottoman authorities rounded
up and arrested, subsequently executing some 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders
 in Constantinople.

April 16, 2015 Commemoration of Yom Hashoah: Holocaust Memorial Day -12 noon




Dr.  Myra Weiner put together a strong program of poems and artwork to commemorate Yom HaShoah
on April 16. After opening remarks,students recited seven poems with artwork being shown on a large
screen. A brief comment on the art was given before each poem. After the poetry reading, eleven
candles were lit in memory of those murdered by the Nazis in World War II. Dr. Goodkin  ended
 the program with closing remarks.

March 26, 2015 Holocaust Survivors' Third Luncheon - 12 noon outside the Holocaust and Genocide Resource Center



March 26, 2015
Holocaust Survivors' Third Luncheon - 12 noon  outside the Holocaust and Genocide Resource Center
Survivors Shared Firsthand Holocaust Lessons with MCCC History Students
Four survivors of the Nazi Holocaust shared their stories with history students on March 26.  This was
 the last of three sessions they have presented this year.  The Mercer CountyHolocaust-Genocide
Resource Center (MCHGRC) welcomed back Dr. Vera Goodkin andDr. Charles Rojer, and
newcomers Henry and Ruth Eisenberg, who were escorted by their son Shelly, of Hamilton. All
shared their harrowing stories of struggle and survival during World War II.

PHOTOGRAPHY and THE HOLOCAUST



A relationship between the photographic image as cultural artifact and the Holocaust as an historical
 event and analyzing photographic images for use in the classroom were the topics explores
at this event which  took place in CM110, West Windsor Campus
The lecture was hosted by MCCC History Professor Craig Coenen who, with  Professor Jack Tabor, led a Study Abroad tour to Poland in 2013 that included visits to the Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps, the Treblinka killing center, and the Warsaw Ghetto.
During his lecture, Tabor explored the relationship between the photographic image as cultural artifact, and the Holocaust as an historical event. His talk examined the ways photography served the ability to understand, and to some extent bear witness, to the plight of the millions who perished at the hands of the Nazis.