This Year At QCC's Kupferberg Holocaust Center

Queensborough Community College (QCC) Kupferberg Holocaust Center will begin a unique series of events and resources in February.

United Nations ambassadors, a Holocaust Seder, a lawyer who took Hitler to court, an unknown savior of hundreds of Jewish children, survivors of the Shanghai ghetto, GI Jews and a world-renowned cantor come together to educate current and future generations about the ramifications of unbridled prejudice, racism and stereotyping and to preserve an historical record of genocide that is highly relevant for all ethnicities and cultures.

A new exhibit, Diplomats of Mercy, which opens in February and highlights the deeds of diplomats from various countries to help Jews find safe passage and refuge during the Holocaust, is followed this spring by the center's new permanent photographic exhibition depicting the history of the Holocaust.

The Bagels, Books & Talk program for Queens Holocaust Survivors continues every other Friday.

In March, the 2nd Annual Memorial Concert will feature Cantor Sol Zim and the JEM Children's Choir, while in April, the center will host its first Intergenerational Holocaust Freedom Seder.

The Eva Bobrow Memorial Lecture Series presents the story of Anti-Nazi lawyer Max Hirschberg's "Ghetto Shanghai" and "GI Jews of World War II".

In April will be a screening of "Nicholas Winton - The Power of Good". The center's permanent cinema collection offers over 1,000 films relating to the Holocaust, Genocide, human rights and Jewish studies.

The library, along with more than 5,000 books and hundreds of Holocaust related artifacts, now includes Sala's Gift: My Mother's Holocaust Story, the historical biography by Dr. Ann Kirschner, Dean of the CUNY Honors College, which was presented by Dr. Kirschner at the 2006 Fall Presidential Lecture Series.

"The Holocaust came to an end more than 60 years ago," explained Dr. Arthur Flug, executive director of the Kupferberg Center. "Yet the challenges that have emerged from this period relating to government sponsored terror, hatred as a toll of society, and the responsibility of the individual in times of moral crisis are not only still with us, but challenge us on a daily basis. The programs, artifacts and individuals who make up the Kupferberg Holocaust Center are a dynamic force in meeting these challenges."

On April 26, QCC's 20th Annual Partners for Progress Gala salutes Melvyn I. Weiss, senior and founding partner of Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman LLP, on April 26th. Selected as the Kupferberg Holocaust Resource Center Partner of the Year, Weiss is being recognized for his many humanitarian efforts throughout his career and personal life, on behalf of Holocaust Victims.