2024: A Personal History from the Holocaust in Hungary,
with Tibor Klopfer, 2nd Genertion Survivor

Tibor presents stories of his family’s experiences as Hungarian Jews in the Holocaust. His mother, Manci, was deported from a ghetto in rural Hungary to Auschwitz-Birkenau. She was moved to an industrial slave labor camp and ultimately was liberated from the Bergen-Belsen concentration near Hannover, Germany. His father, Michael, was processed through Auschwitz and worked in forced labor camps before being liberated from Dachau, near Munich, Germany. He lost all his immediate family, including his first wife and two young daughters. Tibor's Uncle Alex, his mother’s youngest brother, thirteen years of age at the beginning of the war, witnessed the devastation of his family and survived a whirlwind of farm and industrial forced labor camps before being liberated from an Austrian factory camp. With family photos, maps and other illustrations, their stories and the stories of other family members Tibor will put human faces on historical events and provide a perspective on the Holocaust that transcends sterile renditions of dates, events and statistics.

2024: What has a Man with a 'Genocidal Machete' Got to do with a Belgian Military Officer?: Commonalities and Differences between the Hutu Genocide in Burundi (1972) and Tutsi Genocide in Rwanda (1994),
with Dr. Jeanine Ntihirageza, Survivor, Professor of Linguistics

Dr. Ntihirageza reflects on her own experience which led her to analyze the deeply painful chapters in the histories of Burundi and Rwanda. In both cases, the division of the Hutu and Tutsi by the Belgian colonial administration played a crucial role in the genocide of one group against the other. In Rwanda, as opposed to Burundi, the state has promoted and supported public and collective memorialization. This presentation will contrast the structural mechanisms of silence and impunity orchestrated by state actors and analyze the political, legal, and socio-psychological factors that sustain such conditions. It underscores the urgency of breaking the cycle of silence to foster healing, reconciliation, and a viable path toward truth and accountability.

2023: Virtual Discussion and Q&A
with Dr. Ilana Blum, Survivor, Physician, Professor of Medicine

Dr. Ilana Blum is the daughter of the ship’s physician, Dr. Horia Lobel, who perished when the Struma was destroyed. Because she was pregnant, Dr. Blum’s mother had remained in Romania, expecting to join her husband in Palestine at a later date. Christian friends gave mother and daughter refuge. Ilana grew up in Communist Romania with a Catholic identity and did not discover she was Jewish until she was in her early teens. In 1958 Dr. Blum and her mother emigrated to Israel.

2023: Stars without a Heaven: Children in the Holocaust
Opening Reception, Yad Vashem Exhibit

2023: From Neighbors to Enemies: The Bosnia-Herzegovina War

In a follow-up to Jordan Steven Sher’s GLHRC presentation on Bosnia in the Fall of 2021 (Never Again: Bosnia), Enisa Spahić and Hasena Begić of South Bend will discuss their experiences during the Bosnian War in the early 1990s and their refugee experiences in the United States.

2023: “Nobody is going to break us”
A History of Russian Aggression in Ukraine

In this presentation, Dr. Amber Nickell, Assistant Professor of History at Fort Hays State University, will examine the long history of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and the Russian Federation’s imperial aggression, demonstrating that systemic violence, cultural erasure, and Russian chauvinistic rhetoric are part and parcel of historical Russian imperialism in Ukraine.

2022: "The Art Cured Me!",
with Tibor Spitz, Survivor, Engineer, Artist

After the war, Tibor became an engineer specializing in glass. While traveling between Cuba and Czechoslovakia he was able to seek asylum in Canada. He and his wife, Noemi, eventually settled in Kingston, NY. Upon retiring at 68, Tibor became a full-time artist. His work has been shown in many exhibits. Tibor will share his experiences during WWII and his art.

2022: Educators Workshop - Expressing the Inexpressible",
with Tibor Spitz, Survivor, Engineer, Artist

The educator workshop was a hands-on experience focused on bringing the arts into the classroom to deepen our understanding of the Holocaust. Participants had the opportunity to speak with Holocaust survivor Tibor Spitz about how his art helped him recover from inexpressible trauma.

2021: State of Indiana Never Again Ambassador Award

The Greater Lafayette Holocaust Remembrance Committee was recognized by the Indianapolis Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) and the Indiana Civil Rights Commission (ICRC), for its commitment to Holocaust education by being awarded the State of Indiana's Never Again Ambassador Award at the State's 23rd Annual Holocaust Remembrance Program that was held on Tuesday, November 9, 2021, at the Capitol in Indianapolis. Award presentation and acceptance speach by Sarah Powley.

2021: The Horrors of Genocide in Bosnia: Universal Lessons of Rhetoric, Rage, and Resilience,
with Jordan Steven Sher, Author

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.

2021: My Journey Through Life,
with Sam Wachs, Holocaust Survivor

Sam Wachs was five years old and in hiding with his mother on a neighbor's farm. When his mother was murdered by Nazis, the farmer's wife carried him to his aunt, who was interned in a forced labor camp. Sam was the only child in the camp. Sam will share his post-WWII journey across three continents, from Poland to Argentina and finally to Israel.

2020: A Discussion with Oscar Singer, Holocaust Survivor

Oscar Singer survived two concentration camps and labored in four others in Poland during World War II. He was imprisoned from ages 14 to 20. He will share his life story with the help of his daughter, Lee.

2019: The Vast Landscape of the Holocaust,
with Frank Grunwald, Holocaust Survivor

Frank (Michael, or 'Misa') Grunwald was only six when German troops entered Czechoslovakia in March 1939. By mid-1942, Misa and his family were moved to the Nazi-occupied Terezin concentration camp and a year later to Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in Poland.