|
October 17, 2007
Relationship between the Armenian and Jewish Genocides
to be Presented at World’s Largest Holocaust Education Week Program
Toronto, Canada— As part
of the United Jewish Association’s Holocaust
Education Week in Toronto, November 1-11,
the largest such program in the world, the
Zoryan Institute, through one of it sister
Divisions, has been invited to jointly
organize a thought provoking public lecture,
“Nazi Germany, the Armenians and the Jews.”
The lecture will be presented by Prof. Eric
D. Weitz, Distinguished McKnight University
Professor of History and Arsham and
Charlotte Ohanessian Chair in the College of
Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota.
Prof. Weitz, in his exploration of many
points of interconnection between the
Armenian Genocide and the Jewish Holocaust,
discusses: the influence of the Armenian
Genocide on Raphael Lemkin in his having
genocide declared a crime in international
law; the Nazi reaction to Franz Werfel’s
novel, The Forty Days of Musa Dagh; the
novel’s impact on the Yishuv and on Jewish
resistance during World War II; how the lack
of punishment for the perpetrators of the
Armenian Genocide gave confidence to Hitler
to declare in August 1939, when justifying
to his generals his plan to kill, oppress,
and brutalize the Poles, "Who, after all,
speaks today of the annihilation of the
Armenians," and believe that he could get
away with exterminating Jews and committing
other crimes against humanity. Prof. Weitz,
will conclude his sobering lesson of the
impact of history with an examination of
German officials involved in Ottoman Turkey
who went on to become Nazi leaders and
supporters.
Prof. Weitz will be speaking at 7:30pm both
at the Temple Har Zion, 7360 Bayview Ave,
on Tuesday November 6 and at the Armenian
Youth Centre, 50 Hallcrown Place, on
Wednesday November 7.
The mission of the Holocaust Education Week
is to provide “truth in education and
dignity in remembrance,” said Lorraine
Sandler, Chair, UJA Federation Holocaust
Centre of Toronto. This year over 25,000
people will participate in one or more of
the 150 programs offered throughout the
city.
“We are very pleased to be part of Holocaust
Education Week where Prof. Weitz is
discussing the many direct connections
between the two genocides. First, because we
believe that education and awareness-raising
activities are essential for preventing the
gross violation of human rights and
genocide. Second, because sharing
scholarship on, and testimonies from, many
tragedies powerfully illustrate the
universal nature of the problem, the
necessity of it being the concern of us all,
and, in particular, with the Armenian
Genocide and the Holocaust, how impunity for
genocide emboldens future perpetrators,”
commented George Shirinian, Executive
Director of Zoryan Institute.
This program is organized by the
International Institute for Genocide and
Human Rights Studies (A Division of the
Zoryan Institute), with the participation of
the Armenian Community Centre of Toronto,
the Armenian General Benevolent Union of
Toronto, and the Canadian Jewish Congress
Ontario Region.
For more information visit
www.holocausteducationweek.com or
contact the Zoryan Institute (416-250-9807
or
zoryan@zoryaninstitute.org)
|
