Alliance for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide

I hope you will consider joining us for what I hope will be remarkable sessionsthis Sunday and next!

It is with great sadness that we share news of the death on January 24th, 2021 of Claude Ganz, a local Holocaust survivor. Claude fled Germany during the Hitler regime. His family went to France where they were arrested in 1941 by French collaborators. Placed in a deportation camp, Claude and his family escaped on foot to Switzerland in the winter of 1943. After four years of internment as a refugee in Switzerland, Claude came to California in 1947 because of an uncle...Continue reading

We are pleased to announce the 38th Annual Sonoma State University Holocaust and Genocide Lecture Series, Overcoming Adversity on Tuesdays, January 26th to May 11th, 2021 from 5-6:50 p.m. via Zoom. PLEASE NOTE: New time. All lectures are free and open to the public. Do share this with others who may be interested in attending. To request the Zoom link, please send an e-mail by noon on the Sunday prior to [email protected] with your full name and the date(s) of the lecture...(s) you would like to attend. If you are not currently on our mailing list, would you also let us know how you found out about the series and if you attended one of our lectures previously? Sorry to have to ask, but we need to ensure Zoom security, especially for the students enrolled in the course. If you would like to receive a copy of our annual newsletter later this month with more information about the Alliance, please also send us your mailing address. All the best for 2021, Barbara Dr. Barbara Lesch McCaffry, President Alliance for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide and Professor Emerita, Hutchins School of Liberal Studies Sonoma State University http://web.sonoma.edu/holoc/POLS%20307.2021.flyer.final.pdf

Our sister organization -- The Friends of Rwanda Association (F.O.R.A.) -- is holding its first ever Virtual Gala on January 8th starting at 6:15 p.m. PST. It will include LIVE SPECIAL GUESTS, an inspiring program, touching stories, exciting auction items, and fun entertainment! Please RSVP by clicking this link: https://paybee.io/vevent.html or emailing [email protected].

Eight decades after the Holocaust began, people worldwide pause todayInternational Holocaust Remembrance Day, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenauto honor the memory of Europe’s Jews, who were targeted for annihilation. https://www.ushmm.org//international-holocaust-remembrance

March 10: CONFRONTING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DENIAL: IS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ENOUGH? Maral N. Attallah, Distinguished Lecturer, Humboldt State University

In honor of Kristallnacht on November 9th, the citizens of Hamburg were asked to light a candle and to place it next to the stumbling stones of all of the Jewish victims who lived in that city and died in the Holocaust. Thank you Deborah Brownstone for sharing this with us. May we never forget.

We are saddened to report the sudden death of Louis Kenneth Hopfer on October 22nd. Lou was a Holocaust descendant who had been working with the Alliance Education Committee to share his mother's story of survival with local middle and high school students. We mourn his loss and the loss of his voice in our community and send condolences to his family and friends. https://www.legacy.com/obituar/pressdemocrat/obituary.aspx... Donations in his name to the Alliance to support Holocaust and Genocide Education can be sent to: Alliance for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide Center for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide Sonoma State University 1801 E. Cotati Avenue Rohnert Park, CA 94928-3609

The Mitzvah Project Sonoma State University Monday, November 9, 1-2 p.m. via Zoom The SSU German Program invites you to a special event on November 9 to remember the infamous Kristallnacht/Night of Shattered Glass that took place on November 9, 1938, which marked the beginning of the Nazi genocide. "The Mitzvah Project," a play by Roger Grunwald, focuses on the fate of tens of thousands of Mischlinge (half Jewish/non-Jewish people) who fought in Hitler's army and yet we...re murdered in Nazi concentration camps. The play encourages us to learn from the past and to make connections between racial persecution in German history and disturbing racially driven acts of violence in this country today. We must do everything we can to stop it! Playwright and actor Roger Grunwald will share via Zoom his one-person play, directed by Annie McGreevey, followed by a brief lecture and time for Q&A. The Alliance for the Study of the Holocaust and Genocide will be co-sponsoring this event. Members of the community who wish to particIpate should respond to this invitation by e-mail to [email protected] with your full name by no later than noon on Thursday November 5th. Professor Michaela Grobbel send you the Zoom link on Friday, November 6. Please use your full name on screen when you join the Zoom link for the event.

We are sharing a message from our sister organization Armenians of the North Bay. Apologies for the short notice. As you may know, Armenian is at war with Azerbaijan. Our own city of San Francisco has been attacked with 3 Azeri hate crimes at the SF KZV School and arson at St. Gregory Armenian Church parish hall offices. Due to these Azeri aggressions, the Armenian Youth Federation of San Francisco has organized "Armenians United - March Against Azeri Aggression" this Saturday, October 10th at 11:30AM at the Golden Gate Bridge. Face masks and social distancing will be required and strictly enforced. More details on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/events/387157668979810/ or www.sfbayecalendar.com. All are welcome.

For those who missed the initial screening.

Well worth watching. If you are local and related to a Shanghai survivor do get in touch as we may have a lecture on this topic in the series at Sonoma State in the Spring. Contact us at [email protected]