Since it’s opening in 1971, Stockton University (then known as Stockton State College) has been in the forefront of addressing diversity, human and civil rights and this is exemplified by its commitment to Holocaust and Genocide Studies. Hundreds of students at 30 area high schools each year study the Holocaust and other genocides in Stockton Dual Credit Courses. “The Stockton undergraduate minor in Holocaust & Genocide Studies offers 26 courses and combined with the Master of Arts in Holocaust and Genocide Studies ensures that future generations learn the lessons and legacies of the Holocaust” explained Gail Rosenthal, Director of the Sara and Sam Schoffer Holocaust Resource Center.
Sara and Sam Schoffer Holocaust Resource Center programs are made possible through the generous support of Holocaust survivors and their families and others. The center - which attracted more than 10,000 people in 91 programs in 2021 - offers educator workshops, community programs, and resources. “Every year Stockton partners with Yad Vashem International School for Holocaust Studies to host the Wally and Lutz Hammerschlag Summer Educator Seminar,” Rosenthal highlighted. “In addition, many Israeli scholars of the Holocaust have been visiting professors at Stockton, including Dr. Yehuda Bauer.”
The Holocaust Resource Center has an exhibition dedicated to the Righteous Among the Nations rescuers who risked their lives to protect the Ullman family in Amsterdam. The Center also hosts a Holocaust survivor USC Shoah Interactive Biography and each year some 75 in-person and virtual tours are provided to school and community groups. The Holocaust Survivor Writing as Witness Project has published 75 memoirs of local survivors.
A new digital archive of Holocaust survivors from southern New Jersey is under development. It will focus on survivors who came primarily from Poland, Lithuania and Germany to begin their new lives in America by establishing poultry farms in southern New Jersey. To date, over 1,400 area Holocaust survivors are documented with more than 300 poultry farms run by survivors. “We have been interviewing survivors and their descendants and welcome others to contact us at gail.rosenthal@stockton.edu with any information they may have about Holocaust survivors from southern New Jersey,” Rosenthal said.
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Diane D’Amico
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Stockton University
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For more information: Stockton University
This article was written in cooperation with Stockton University