Voices of Hope to host the Descendants of the Shoah Conference at the University of Hartford.

Submitted

On Nov. 11, 2018, Voices of Hope is hosting a New England Descendants of the Shoah Conference. This is a daylong conference for Holocaust survivors, descendants and the general community. We are holding it at the University of Hartford in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford, The Jewish Community Foundation, The Mandell JCC, The Jewish Historical Society, Jewish Family Services, Jewish Hartford European Roots, ADL Connecticut, and the Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Hartford.

There will be two hour-long sessions in the morning, which will include the following topics: A Second Generation Authors Panel, Life Before and After the Shoah, How Can Children of Survivors Be Helpful in the Classroom, a Conversation with Survivors, Learning Yiddish, Family Stories: Memory Work and the Meaning of the Holocaust, and the Politics of Genocide.

Professor Omer Bartov, from Brown University, will provide a keynote address during lunch entitled: The Life and Death of My Mother’s Hometown: Anatomy of the Holocaust.”

The two hour-long afternoon sessions will include: How to Research and Document Your Family History, Second Generation Memoirs and Fiction, Who We Are and Why We Came, Carrying the Torch – A Conversation with the Third Generation, Escape Tunnel of Ponar, How to Write a Memoir, and Our Parents, Our Children, Ourselves-Responsibilities of the Second Generation.

There will be several authors, educators and historians and two films: “The Numbers on Great-Grandpa’s Arm” and “Through the Eye of the Needle.” Books will be available for sale by conference presenters and local authors.

Continental breakfast, lunch and snacks will be provided (laws of Kashrut observed).

This conference is an opportunity to raise consciousness about Holocaust history, personal experiences, and the continuity of remembrance. Through insightful dialogue, conversation and discussion, we will connect with our past by honoring and acknowledging those who perished, while providing support to inspire our descendants and the community at large to never forget.

To register, see the schedule for the day, learn about the speakers and see a description of the sessions, click here.

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