Grieving Over the Terrorist Attack on October 7th
The Institute of Holocaust and Genocide Studies grieves for the lives cut short by the terror attack in Israel on October 7th. We echo President Biden's statement that we strongly condemn the attacks on innocent civilians. We feel sympathy for those families who do not know where their loved ones are. We pray that the people who were kidnapped are quickly released, and we hope the violence comes to an end soon. If you would like to help the victims of these attacks who will need assistance in the coming days and weeks ahead, please see the organizations listed below.
Jewish Federations are responding, working with their core partners to support victims of terror, help rebuild damaged infrastructure, and address the unprecedented trauma caused by this horrific attack.
Magen David Adom works to ensure that 33,000 paramedics, EMTS, first responders, and first-aid providers -- volunteers and staff -- have the training, equipment, and medical supplies they need to treat all injured and ill people in Israel.
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Our RVCC community stands in solidarity with people of all races, ethnicities, nationalities, sexualities, gender identities, faiths, countries of origin, and differently-abled people. We believe that racism and hate in any form toward any individual or group are unacceptable. We continue to strive to educate our community and beyond about existing structural racism and inequalities. We are dedicated to celebrating our diverse RVCC community.
Since 1981, The Institute of Holocaust & Genocide Studies at Raritan Valley Community College has offered diverse educational programs for teachers, students, and the broader community. Through our unique programming, the Institute—a collaboration between RVCC and the Jewish Federation of West-Central New Jersey (formally known as the Jewish Federation of Somerset, Hunterdon & Warren Counties) —promotes historical awareness and cultural understanding to address the implications of historical events in the world today.
The Institute of Holocaust & Genocide Studies offers a range of services and programs for middle and high school students/educators, college faculty, as well as the broader community, such as:
- Outstanding educational events and exhibitions
- Informative educator workshops
- Engaging webinars
- Thought-provoking presentations
Additionally, “Learning Through Experience,” the Institute’s cornerstone educational program, began as a one-day program more than 39 years ago and has educated more than 150,000 middle and high school students and educators with a unique series of guest speaker workshops addressing the Holocaust and genocide. Learning Through Experience is now offered both virtually and in person.
The work of the Institute is also a vital part of the educational experience on campus. The Morris and Dorothy Hirsch Research Library of The Holocaust, Genocide, and Racism is located on the second floor of the College’s Evelyn S Field Library. In addition to housing the traveling exhibits the Institute brings to campus, the Hirsch Research Library offers books, a video collection, reference materials for research and study, and an area for classroom instruction. The research library provides a wealth of new and current information directly connected to the programs and events offered by the Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. RVCC professors and educators in the wider community are encouraged to bring their classes to see the exhibits on display.
For information regarding programming, resource information, or annual events, contact Michelle Edgar, Program Specialist, michelle.edgar@raritanval.edu, 908-526-1200, x8735.
Fall 2023 Programs
The exhibit, webinars and performances are all free of charge, and open to the public, however, registration is required.
Online and In-Person
Exhibition:
Three Years, Eight Months, and Twenty Days: The Cambodian Atrocities and the Search for Justice
When: on display August 30 through December 20
Where: Raritan Valley Community College, 118 Lamington Road, in Branchburg 08876
To schedule a visit of the exhibition on view at the College, contact Michelle Edgar, RVCC Program Specialist, at michelle.edgar@raritanval.edu.
School and community groups are invited to schedule a free tour of an exhibition, Three Years, Eight Months, and Twenty Days: The Cambodian Atrocities and the Search for Justice. The exhibition, on loan from the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, is being hosted by the Institute of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at RVCC.
The exhibition features prints created from dozens of photographs and artwork of survivors of the genocide in Cambodia.
Three Years, Eight Months, and Twenty Days refers to the amount of time the Cambodian people were subjected to starvation, labor, and execution under the Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s. Between the inhumane treatment of the collective farms and the infamous killing fields, approximately one-quarter of Cambodia’s population was killed. The reign of terror ended when Cambodia was invaded by Vietnamese troops and their Cambodian supporters in January 1979. Despite this, many leaders operated with impunity in remote parts of the country for over a decade. Only recently has the country been able to confront those responsible within a relatively new legal framework.
Created in partnership with the Center for International Human Rights, Northwestern School of Law, and the Sleuk Rith Institute, the exhibition details the history of the Pol Pot regime, the devastation of the Cambodian population, and the long process to prosecute the perpetrators.
Eyewitness Account of the Cambodian Genocide
When: Friday, September 22, from 10-11am
Watch the Recording: click here
Author Loung Ung will present An Eyewitness Account of the Cambodian Genocide, Friday, September 22, from 10-11 a.m. Ung will discuss how she miraculously survived the Khmer Rouge during the Cambodian Genocide. Ung is not only a survivor of genocide, but also a bestselling author, public speaker, activist, and co-screenplay writer of First They Killed My Father, a critically acclaimed 2017 movie directed by Angelina Jolie. The film is based on her award-winning memoir, First They Killed My Father.
Online Opening of the Exhibition:
Three Years, Eight Months, and Twenty Days: The Cambodian Atrocities and the Search for Justice
When: Thursday, October 5, 8-9pm
Where: Zoom Meeting
To register: click here
The Holocaust Institute will present an online opening of the exhibition, Three Years, Eight Months, and Twenty Days: The Cambodian Atrocities and the Search for Justice. For three years, eight months, and 20 days, the Khmer Rouge regime, led by Pol Pot, ruled Cambodia. The group enacted a program of harsh internment and torture and subjected the Cambodian people to inhumane living conditions, starvation, forced labor, and forced marriage. David Scheffer, U.N. Secretary-General's Special Expert for U.N. Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials, former U.S. Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues, will offer a more detailed account of what occurred in Cambodia from 1975-1979. Ambassador Scheffer will explore the ideas of survival, response, documentation, and justice.
ETTY: AN INSPIRING ONE-WOMAN SHOW WITH SUSAN STEIN
When: Thursday, November 2nd, 7 pm - 8:30 pm (In-person)
Where: An in-person, Community-Wide Kristallnacht Remembrance at the RVCC Nash Theater
To Register: email michelle.edgar@raritanval.edu
Etty Hillesum is a young Jewish Dutch woman writing diaries in Amsterdam during the Second World War. In these diaries and later, her letters from Westerbork concentration camp, Etty bears witness to what it means to be human and commits herself to a radical choice: not to hate, even as she opens her heart to the horrors unfolding around her. She wrestles to write about the life she is living — her loves, her work, her humor, her spirituality, and her transformation.
This one-woman play, performed by actress/playwright, Susan Stein, told in Hillesum’s own words, opens us to the moment of her becoming, just as the world around her is coming undone. The second act asks the audience to join the conversation, with Susan Stein, fostering dialogue on human rights, resistance, and personal responsibility.
To register for this free in-person event, contact Michelle Edgar, Program Specialist, at michelle.edgar@raritanval.edu. This community wide event is being co-sponsored by The Jewish Federation of West-Central New Jersey, The Shimon & Sara Birnbaum JCC, Jewish Family Service of Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren Counties,The Holocaust Memorial & Education Center and 3GNJ-Grandchildren of Holocaust Survivors.
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ETTY: AN INSPIRING ONE-WOMAN SHOW WITH SUSAN STEIN
When: Friday, November 3rd, 10 am - 11:30 pm (Online)
Where: Zoom Meeting
To Register: click here
Etty Hillesum is a young Jewish Dutch woman writing diaries in Amsterdam during the Second World War. In these diaries and later, her letters from Westerbork concentration camp, Etty bears witness to what it means to be human and commits herself to a radical choice: not to hate, even as she opens her heart to the horrors unfolding around her. She wrestles to write about the life she is living — her loves, her work, her humor, her spirituality, and her transformation.
This one-woman play, performed by actress/playwright, Susan Stein, told in Hillesum’s own words, opens us to the moment of her becoming, just as the world around her is coming undone. The second act asks the audience to join the conversation, live & online with Susan Stein, fostering dialogue on human rights, resistance, and personal responsibility.
A Young Boy, A Dark Time, Commemorating Kristallnacht with Holocaust Survivor Mark Schonwetter
A Learning Through Experience Program for Middle/High School Students and the wider community.
When: Wednesday, November 8th, 10 am (Online)
Where: Zoom Meeting
To Register: click here
Mark Schonwetter will share his harrowing story of survival during the Holocaust as we remember the pogrom in Germany that happened on November 9th & 10th of 1938. As a child born in Poland in 1933, Mark, his sister, and their mother survived in the ghetto, in hiding, and managed to make a beautiful life for themselves after the war. Join us to hear this first-person account from Mark Schonwetter.
The exhibit and corresponding programs are being co-sponsored by the Jewish Federation of West-Central New Jersey. For additional information or to schedule a tour, contact Michelle Edgar, 908-526-1200, ext. 8735, or email michelle.edgar@raritanval.edu.
On September 30, 1944, her father and brother were shipped to Auschwitz and murdered in October of 1944. Ursula ended up in Camp c of Birkenau, which was part of the Auschwitz complex. The Germans shaved her head, stripped her of her clothes, and issued a prisoner’s suit – no underwear, no soap, and no towel or utensils. She was stripped of all human dignity. Chimneys were spewing out human ashes; a horrible smell permeated the air. She was eventually selected to do work and was put with non-Jews. There she met other girls and made life long friends.
In early winter of 1944-45 she was shipped to work in a munitions factory in a camp called Grunberg, a subcamp of Gross Rosen in eastern Germany; that camp was not as harsh as Auschwitz. Margit and the prisoners had a little more food to eat. There she met Gerda Weiss Klein, a well known Holocaust survivor and writer. Margit was taken on a death march to Bergen Belsen. She was liberated on April 15, 1945 in Bergen Belsen by the British, a very sick young girl of sixteen, all alone and without family. She was injured by an explosive set by the Germans intending to destroy the camp and had pleurisy and pneumonia.
Biography
