11.01.2021 Greater Lafayette Holocaust Remembrance Committee recipient of the State of Indiana Never Again Ambassador Award

12.07.2021 Quo Vadis, Aida?: History Movie Night - click for details.

The Horrors of Genocide in Bosnia: Universal Lessons of Rhetoric, Rage, and Resilience


And Still We Rise: A Novel about the Genocide in Bosnia, this a truth-based fiction that follows one family's journey from the concentration camps of Prijedor, Bosnia, to their eventual resettlement in the U.S. This book is a testimonial to the constancy of hope that must be ever-present if one is to heal from unbearable atrocities. Jordan will offer both an historical context for the genocide and its current manifestations and insight into how individuals who survived the trauma can find a sense of balance in their lives. Lastly, his presentation is a call to action for all of us to be vigilant to the grim consequences of authoritarianism.

December 9, 2021, 7:00 - 8:30 PM EST

Watch Presentation on YouTube
Watch Presentation with American Sign Language (ASL) on YouTube

The event featurd a presentation by Jordan followed by a discussion with Nick Schenkel, Library Director at West Lafayette Public Library, and a live audience Q&A lead by Rebekah Klein-Pejšová, Professor of History and Jewish Studies, Purdue University.

 


 

Jordan Steven Sher

Jordan Steven Sher

Author

And Still We Rise Jordan Steven Sher’s interest in the genocidal aggression in the early 1990s by nationalist Serbs in Bosnia began when he wrote his book about the stories of two women who were children at the time. For this book, he conducted interviews with immigrants to the United States. However, his interest turned to alarm as he learned more through extensive research and by speaking with other survivors of the genocide. His new-found knowledge, in addition to his prior professional career working with people who had experienced other forms of trauma, informed the writing of his new novel, And Still we Rise. In this story of survival and resilience, Elvir and his fifteen-year-old son Amir are sent to the Omarska concentration camp where torture and death haunt them daily. Elvir's wife, Hajra, and their two younger children, Halima and Danis, are imprisoned in another camp called Trnopolje. They survive the atrocities that are visited upon them, including rape and witnessing beatings and murder. Elvir's brother, Tarik, is transferred to Trnopolje from another camp but disappears a short time later. The Kovacevics eventually leave the camps and reconnect with Tarik's wife, Merjem. The families' trajectories lead them to journey as refugees, first to Croatia, then to Germany, and finally to America where they begin to establish roots in their new home.

Jordan Steven Sher is a former social worker and teacher. Sher's first book, Our Neighbors, Their Voices: True Stories of Immigrant Exodus, 2019, chronicles the stories of immigrants to the U.S. His second book, And Still We Rise, is dedicated to giving voice to survivors so that their stories about the genocide in Bosnia and its aftermath can counter the narrative of denial and revisionism in present-day Serbia and Republika Srpska. Sher lives with his wife in Northern California.

Author's Website
Nick Schenkel, West Lafayette Public Library, book review
The Social Workers Radio Talk Show - A discussion about genocide in Bosinia with Jordan Steven Sher.

Mission Statement

The goals of the Greater Lafayette Holocaust Remembrance Committee, initiated by Rabbi Gedalyah Engel and the Mayors of Lafayette and West Lafayette in 1981, are to continue awareness of the Nazis' War against the Jews from 1933-1945, to honor the victims and survivors of the Holocaust, and to promote individual, community, and media responsibility for combating the forces of prejudice, hatred, and discrimination today.


Contact us: info@glhrc.org

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