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Religion in a Time of Crisis: In the Shadow of the Holocaust
During the latest installment of the Center for the Study of Religion’s “Religion in a Time of Crisis” series, panelists Dr. Michael Berenbaum and Dr. Aaron Hass will discuss Susan H. Brown’s recent memoir. A stirring collection of poetry and prose, Circles: A Legacy will serve as an occasion to talk about the ways in which the Holocaust impacted Jewish beliefs and practices. Raised by a Holocaust survivor mother and an ideologue socialist father, Brown recreates childhood and coming of age experiences riddled with secrets, fears and uncertainty. Berenbaum is a rabbi, writer, filmmaker, current director of the Sigi Ziering Institute, and professor at American Jewish University. The author and editor of eighteen books, he also co-produced the Academy Award-winning One Survivor Remembers: The Gerda Weissmann Klein Story and has served as historical consultant on other award-winning films and History Channel specials. Hass, professor emeritus of psychology at Cal State Dominguez Hills and Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine, is an expert on the generational trauma stemming from the Holocaust. His book about children of survivors, “In the Shadow of the Holocaust: The Second Generation,” was a nominee for a Pulitzer Prize in nonfiction. Berenbaum and Hass will join Brown for a discussion of her book, a multi-generational tapestry across countries and continents.
This event co-sponsored by the Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies.
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Susan Brown, a daughter of survivors, (mother at Bergen Belsen, father in Rákosi’s prison), a hidden Jew, guarded her secrets. Born in Communist Hungary in 1947, she escaped to Austria in 1957. In 1969 she settled in Los Angeles, finally free to voice her ideology and religion. As a speech therapist with multiple language degrees, she translates her skills to teach children to communicate. Her writing explores history, Judaism and her identity as an outsider.
Michael Berenbaum is a writer, lecturer, and teacher consulting in the conceptual development of museums and the development of historical films. He is director of the Sigi Ziering Institute: Exploring the Ethical and Religious Implications of the Holocaust at the American Jewish University where he is also a Professor of Jewish Studies. He was the Executive Editor of the Second Edition of the Encyclopaedia Judaica. For the three years, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation. From 1988–93 he served as Project Director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, overseeing its creation. He was Deputy Director of the President’s Commission on the Holocaust where he authored its Report to the President. Berenbaum is the author and editor of twenty-two books, scores of scholarly articles, and hundreds of journalistic pieces. His work in film has earned Emmy Awards and films he was worked on have earned Academy Awards.
Aaron Hass, professor emeritus of psychology at Cal State Dominguez Hills and Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine, is an expert on the generational trauma stemming from the Holocaust. His book about children of survivors, “In the Shadow of the Holocaust: The Second Generation,” was a nominee for a Pulitzer Prize in nonfiction.