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Brueggeman lecture to link Holocaust to Sept. 11

Holocaust survivor Yaffa Eliach to talk on the importance of bridging past, present, future

09/03/03

Yaffa Eliach, a Holocaust survivor and current Brueggeman chair in the department of theology, is talking “On the Bridge Between a Vanished Past and a Safe Present and Future” on Thursday, Sept. 18, in the Schiff Family Conference Center. The talk is open to the public and free of charge.

“On the Bridge Between a Vanished Past and a Safe Present and Future” addresses the need to study the past—specifically the Holocaust—to ensure that history is truthfully presented today. Eliach hopes to address more recent tragedies, such as the Sept. 11 attacks, to enforce the idea that, if society does not learn from mistakes and tragedies of the past, history can and does repeat itself.

Eliach is a professor and author who dedicates her life to teaching others about the Holocaust and the way of life it destroyed. In addition to being a Holocaust survivor herself, Eliach is the founder of America’s first Center for Holocaust Studies, the creator of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s permanent 1,500-photo “Tower of Life” exhibit, and a former member of President Jimmy Carter’s Holocaust Commission. Currently, she is a professor emeritus of Judaic studies at New York’s Brooklyn College. Her latest project is a living history museum in Israel that recreates a pre-World War II Jewish village. She also is a contributing editor to Encyclopedia Judaica and the Women’s Studies Encyclopedia.

The late Edward Brueggeman, S.J., created the Brueggeman chair in theology lecture series in 1981 to encourage interreligious-ecumenical studies. Since then, many theologians and religious thinkers have come to Xavier to discuss topics that promote better relations among Jews, Christians and other faiths.

The evening begins with introductory remarks by James P. Buchanan, director of the Brueggeman Center for Dialogue, and continues with Eliach’s lecture at 7:45 p.m., an open discussion at 8:45 p.m., and concludes with closing remarks at 9:30 p.m. For more information, contact the department of theology at 513 745-2009.