MTSU will host the Ninth Biennial Holocaust Conference to give participants the opportunity to hear first-hand accounts of what happened during the World War II genocide.
The Conference is sponsored by the Holocaust Studies Committee, which is housed in the College of Liberal Arts. Events are scheduled from Oct. 22 to 24 in the James Union Building.
“The conference focuses on one of the most important events of the 20th century,” said Mark Byrnes, associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts. “One of the key elements is that some of the survivors and liberators will be in attendance – that is an opportunity that will not be around forever.”
There are a number of free events open to the public including “The Paperclip Project,” a presentation of a monument made from millions of paperclips by middle-school students in Whitwell, Tenn.; a panel discussion featuring Holocaust scholar Randy Jackson; and two discussions from Gerhard L. Weinberg.
Weinberg is an author and Holocaust historian who is set to receive the 2009 Pritzker Military Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing. His panel discussion, called “Racial Hatred: Black African Victims of Nazism,” is scheduled for Oct. 23.
On Oct. 23 at 10:20 a.m., a two-hour panel, “Survivors and Liberators,” will feature liberators Jimmie Gentry of Franklin, Tenn. and James Dorris of Chattanooga. Also speaking will be four Holocaust survivors: Eva and Eric Rosenberg of Nashville, Judy Cohen of Toronto, and Frances Cutler, a Nashville survivor who grew up in France during World War II.
“I felt unhappy, alone and confused – I was only 4-years-old,” Cutler said. “I was aware that we were at war, [but] I certainly wasn’t aware I was Jewish.”
Cutler said she was too young to fully comprehend what was really going on, but looking back there are memories that truly stand out in her subconscious mind.
“I remember having nightmares of people being lined up against a wall and people shooting them,” Cutler said. “It seeped into the psyche of a young girl.”
Cutler said her parents had to put her into a children’s home when she was 3-years-old – just after the Germans entered Paris. Cutler was then placed on a farm with a Catholic family and numerous orphanages before she was able to escape to America with her great aunt.
“My father joined the French resistance – he was wounded in war and died in battle,” Cutler said. “My mother did not survive – she was brought to Auschwitz and died there.”
Cutler said her mother was 28-years-old when she died, and her father perished before his 30th birthday.
“Even though there had been news camps that showed what had been done, people still didn’t believe it,” Cutler said. “The American population did not want to talk about the Holocaust.”
Cutler said when she got older she was able to meet other survivors, an opportunity that provided her with a support group. However, she said it was difficult growing up as there were few survivors her age to talk to and to share their similar stories.
“Even though one hopes that this would never happen again, genocides continue,” Cutler said. “We haven’t learned from history; we haven’t learned to treat others as human beings.”
To register to attend the conference, or to learn more information about the free events, visit mtsu.edu/~holoed.
Conference sheds light on ghosts of the Holocaust
Published: Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Updated: Wednesday, October 21, 2009
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