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Holocaust symposium hopes to bring history, stories to classrooms |
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Monday, 23 June 2008 |
by EDWARD SZTUKOWSKI
Intern News Reporter
The Seventh Annual Martin and Doris Rosen Summer Holocaust Symposium is being held at the Broyhill Inn & Conference Center and will continue until Friday.
The symposium kicked off Sunday with a presentation on the history of the Jewish people, followed by a complete kosher meal. Kosher food is food that conforms to Jewish laws.
The presentation on Jewish history featured a Torah relic from Nazi Germany, which awed many of the audience members.
 Dr. Peter Cohen, a professor at Clemson, reads from the Torah in Hebrew during the Holocaust Symposium. Photo by Shanel Boston
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“I found it very overpowering. It’s so old, and has survived so much,” said Chuck M. Wood, a sophomore history major.
The symposium was first organized with the help of the Judaic Holocaust
Peace Studies program along with Dr. Rennie W. Brantz, a history
professor within the program.
Brantz wished to help give teachers materials that would allow them to teach books such as Night and The Diary of Anne Frank.
“Our students knew bits and pieces about the books and setting of the
books, but they didn’t really know a good deal about the Jews or the
Holocaust. So we thought if we could prepare our teachers better, they
could give the students context and explain who the Jews are and were,”
said Brantz.
The idea of the symposium is not to just listen to the stories and
history of the Holocaust, but also to help translate it to classrooms.
“We’ve had over 200 teachers before, and we’re expecting 35 or 36 additional teachers this year,” said Brantz.
Teachers at a high school in Springdale have brought themed art created
by students to the symposium during previous years. This year’s theme
is the “kinder transport.”
“The kinder transport happened between 1938 and 1939 in Czechoslovakia
and Austria. The Jews there sent their kids under the age of 14 to
England. About 10,000 children were placed in homes and foster homes,”
said Brantz.
The symposium provides housing, educational materials and most meals
for the teachers, free of charge. Money is raised by the Boone Jewish
Community to pay for the provisions. The symposium relies on private
donations because Appalachian State University does not participate in
funding.
A keynote presentation will occur today at 7:30 p.m. featuring Dr.
Robert Jan van Pelt, a noted historian and leading expert on Auschwitz.
In a trial during the early years of 2000, Jan van Pelt proved that
Auschwitz had gas chambers.
One of the goals of the symposium is to bring the Holocaust into perspective.
“It’s hard to get your mind around the deaths of six million dead Jews.
We want to ask who they were, and why them,” said Brantz.
Although the symposium is oriented towards teachers, the public is
encouraged to attend as well. The symposium features notable historians
as well as actual holocaust survivors.
 Items from the Seventh Annual Symposium are on display at the Broyhill Inn & Conference Center through Friday. While the forum is oriented towards teachers, the event is open to the public. Photo by Shanel Boston
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