Samuel Kassow Presents on the Lives of Jews during the Holocaust

Samuel Kassow, historian of the history of Ashkenazi Jewry at Trinity College, holds two talks in Milwaukee on March 8th and 9th:
“History and Catastrophe: The Secret Warsaw Ghetto Archive of Emanuel Ringelblum”
Tuesday, March 8 at 7 p.m.
Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center

During World War II Jews resisted not only with guns but also with pen and paper. Even in the face of death they left “time capsules” full of documents that they buried under the rubble of ghettos and death camps. The Ringelblum archive in the Warsaw Ghetto buried thousands of documents. But of the 60 people who worked on this national mission, only three survived. This will be their story.

Co-sponsors: Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center, Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center, and Lux Center for Catholic Jewish Studies at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology.

“In Those Nightmarish Days: Ghetto Reportage and Holocaust Witnessing”
Wednesday, March 9 at 7 p.m.
4th Floor Conference Center of the UWM Golda Meir Library

In the Warsaw and in the Lodz ghettos Jewish journalists like Joseph Zelkowicz and Peretz Opoczynski wrote reportage that individualized the ghetto experience and conveyed events in ‘real time.’ Though neither survived each left dramatic descriptions of different aspects of ghetto life. This lecture will explain why this ghetto reportage was so important.

Co-sponsor: Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center