News Briefs - Spring/Summer 2005

Last Living Prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials to Deliver Keynote Address at Hatikvah First Anniversary Dinner

Whitney R. Harris, who is the last living prosecutor who worked at the Nuremberg Tribunal in 1946, will give the keynote address at the first anniversary dinner to commemorate the creation of Hatikvah’s permanent exhibit.

Whitney Harris graduated from University of California Berkley School of Law in 1936 and was appointed at the end of World War II by the Organization of Strategic Services (OSS) to investigate war crimes in Europe.  Because of his extensive knowledge of German intelligence, Whitney prosecuted Ernst Kaltenbrunner, head of the Reich Security Office in Nazi Germany, which directed the activities of the Gestapo and the Secret Police (Sicherdienst or SD). 

Attorney Harris is highly regarded in the legal field and is a dynamic speaker.  To hear him speak in person is a special opportunity for the Springfield area.  He is an outspoken proponent of international tribunals that have been built upon the legacy of Nuremberg.

The dinner will take place on Sunday evening, October 2, 2005 at Chez Josef.  RSVP by September 19 – Call Hatikvah at (413)734-7700 for reservations.

Association of Holocaust Organizations:  New England Region

Hatikvah has taken the lead in organizing a New England Region chapter of the Association of Holocaust Organizations.

The Association of Holocaust Organizations (AHO) was established in 1985. Its purpose is to serve as a network of organizations and individuals who work professionally for the advancement of Holocaust programming, awareness, education, and research. There are over 150 Holocaust Education Centers in the United States and Canada and 47 in Europe, Israel, Latin America, and Japan.

The first meeting of the New England Region took place at Hatikvah on September 12, 2005. Dr. William Shulman, professor of history at Queensborough College in New York, founder and president of the AHO facilitated the meeting and assisted in organizing the New England Region chapter. Approximately 16 people representing 8 Holocaust Education Centers, 3 university-based, attended the meeting.

Workshops, Programs, and Consulting Services

Hatikvah conducted several important teacher training workshops and workshops for students this year including Smith College; Westfield State College; Teachers in high schools and middle schools in Springfield, Northampton, Providence, RI and Hartford, CT.  We also collaborated with the Basketball Hall of Fame and WGBY-TV conducting teacher training workshops.

Hatikvah provided consulting services to several theater groups in the Greater Springfield area who performed Holocaust plays including the Drama Studio, Panache Productions, Westfield State College, Hampshire Players, and Hartford Stage.

In addition to the community Yom HaShoah Program, Hatikvah organized a trip to see a performance at Hartford Stage of “Rose”, a one-woman show about a Holocaust survivor.  Hatikvah will participate in Camp Interfaith Youth, a Bnai Brith Anti-Defamation League prejudice reduction program.  Hatikvah will also co-sponsor an Interfaith Kristallnacht Commemoration with Elms College on November 7.

Visitors to the Permanent Exhibit

Since it opened on October 19, 2004, “A Reason to Remember” has had approximately 2,500 visitors.  People have come from 19 high schools and middle schools, 8 colleges and universities, 15 synagogue and church groups, and 9 community organizations from the Greater Springfield area, other counties in Western Massachusetts, the Greater Boston area, Northern Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont.  We anticipate tripling the number of visitors to the permanent exhibit in our second year.

Hatikvah Website

Please visit our redesigned and expanded web site at: www.hatikvah-center.org. Come back often for updated information.

Traveling Exhibit

We are now working on developing a traveling version of our permanent exhibit that can be put on display in other parts of the United States and Canada.  Nineteen Holocaust Education Centers have already expressed interest in renting it.