WHAT: Stetson University will host the 10th anniversary Bernard Weiner Holocaust Memorial Lecture, The Architecture of the Holocaust.
WHO: This year’s speaker will be Paul Jaskot, Ph.D., professor in the Department of History of Art and Architecture, at DePaul University in Chicago. His lecture is entitled, “The Architecture of the Holocaust” and draws on his research into how the Nazis built their concentration camps using forced inmate labor, as well as the testimonies of surviving laborers.
Jaskot earned a Ph.D. in art history from Northwestern University and has written several books, including “The Architecture of Oppression: The SS, Forced Labor and the Nazi Monumental Building Economy “(London: Routledge, 2000). His research has mostly examined the cultural history of National Socialist Germany and its impact on art and architecture.
WHEN: Thursday, April 6, 7 p.m., in Rinker Auditorium inside the Lynn Business Center, 345 N. Woodland Blvd., DeLand, Florida, 32723. This event is free and open to the public.
The Bernard Weiner Lecture Series at Stetson University was established by Dr. Sy Weiner of DeLand to honor the life and work of his brother, the late Bernard Weiner. Bernard Weiner was a leader in the development of Holocaust curricula for New York state schools and was one of the founders of the Rockland Center for Holocaust Studies, now the Holocaust Museum and Study Center, in Spring Valley, N.Y. The Bernard Weiner Lectures are presented annually to explore a variety of issues related to the Holocaust.
Auschwitz-Birkenau was the largest Nazi death camp and refers to the network of Nazi concentration and labor camps near Oswiecim, Poland. Historians estimate 2.1 million to 4 million people, mostly Jews, were murdered there. The majority of prisoners were killed in gas chambers, although many died from starvation, forced labor, disease, shooting squads and heinous medical experiments, according to the Jewish Virtual Library.
