Cohen Institute for Holocaust & Genocide Studies

✨The inaugural 2026 Youth Leadership Institute is in the books! ✨

For six days, 14 students representing 12 high schools came together at the Cohen Institute to explore one of the world's most pressing questions: What does ethical leadership look like in the face of hatred, injustice, and genocide?

Through seminars, leadership workshops, conversations with experts, and discussions with a survivor of the Rwandan genocide, students challenged themselves to think critically about history, human rights, and their own responsibility as future leaders. Their final projects reflected not only what they learned, but how they plan to make a difference in their own communities.

The week was filled with thoughtful conversations, new friendships, and inspiring moments that reminded us why genocide education matters. We are incredibly grateful to our faculty, guest speakers, staff, and supporters who made this inaugural program possible.

We're already looking forward to welcoming our next cohort of young leaders.

Student experiences like these are at the heart of our archives work. Through hands-on internships and archival projects, students gain practical skills, professional experience, and meaningful connections to history that shape their future paths.

Help support opportunities for students by making your gift at: https://giving.keene.edu/holocaust-and-genocide-special-collection-gift-fund/

Harold Cohen was a U.S. Army Tech Sergeant in the 116th AAA Gun Battalion during World War II. He documented his experience across Europe, including the liberation of the Nordhausen concentration camp, offering a deeply personal glimpse into both wartime service and life on the home front.

This collection features photographs, drawings, military uniform jackets, and hundreds of letters exchanged between Hal and his wife, Bev, during the war. Generous donor support makes preservation of collections like Hal's possible, ensuring that these deeply personal stories are protected and made accessible for future generations.

Make your gift at: https://giving.keene.edu/holocaust-and-genocide-special-collection-gift-fund/

Every document preserved is a story protected for the future.

Your support helps protect materials such as the Benno Elkan sculpture casts, Zweig family stars, photos, passports, the Luis Crespo de los Arcos collection, and more. Swipe through to learn how your gift will be used!

Make your gift at: https://giving.keene.edu/holocaust-and-genocide-special-collection-gift-fund/

Sally and Simon Grubman were survivors of the Lodz ghetto and numerous N**i concentration camps, including Auschwitz. After the war, Simon and Sally reconnected and decided to get married. They moved to Canton, Ohio, where they lived and had two sons.

The Grubman Collection, housed in the KSC Archives, features photographs, written accounts, and a filmed interview with Dr. Jim Grubman, the son of Sally and Simon. The Grubman family is committed to Holocaust education and encourages people, especially students, to examine their own experiences and the world around them to stop injustices wherever possible.

Donor support aids in the preservation of collections like the Grubman collection, allowing current and future students to benefit from the lessons of history. Make your gift at: https://giving.keene.edu/holocaust-and-genocide-special-collection-gift-fund/

One week left to register for the Cohen Institute's 2027 Study Tour to Spain! 🇪🇸 ✈️

This immersive educational experience invites participants to explore Spain’s complex history, memory landscapes, and contemporary efforts to confront the legacies of the past. Through site visits, discussions, and shared learning, participants will gain new perspectives on history, memory, and education.

This Study Tour offers an opportunity to engage with history while thinking critically about how we teach and remember the past.

Learn more about the Spain Study Tour: https://www.keene.edu/academics/cchgs/about/study-tours/

Don't miss your chance to join this transformative learning experience—registration closes in one week! 🌍

Check out the latest episode of "Memory. Evidence. Change." - "From Cambodia to New Hampshire: Bodie Barton's Journey of Survival, Family, and Gratitude" 🎙️

The Cohen Institute's podcast, produced in partnership with the KSC Department of Journalism, continues to spotlight voices shaping the fields of Holocaust and Genocide Studies. In this third episode, Bodie Barton reflects on his childhood in Cambodia, the sudden violence that shattered his family's life, and the years of displacement, hunger, and loss that followed under the Khmer Rouge regime.

Learn more and listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/from-cambodia-to-new-hampshire-bodie-bartons-journey/id1864755599?i=1000773006392

Please follow or subscribe — and share with others who might be interested in listening! Links in bio.

Not just studying history -- working with it. 📜

Students regularly work with the Holocaust and Genocide Special Collection at the KSC Archives by handling artifacts, analyzing primary sources, and engaging with the realities of genocide in a tangible way.

Your support helps preserve these collections and sustain the teaching archive for future students. Make your gift at: https://giving.keene.edu/holocaust-and-genocide-special-collection-gift-fund/