New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education

09/17/2026

Please join The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Study at Drew University for "American Pogroms: How Forgotten Massacres Shape America" with Professor Daniel L. Byman

Tues, September 22, 2026 | 4:00 PM EST | Virtual Program

Terrorism expert and Georgetown University Professor Daniel Byman joins us to discuss his latest book, American Pogroms (Oxford University Press, 2026). While the term "pogrom" is most often associated with organized anti-Jewish violence in Tsarist Russia, Byman argues it applies just as accurately to two centuries of American history — from attacks on Catholics and Mormons, to the killing of thousands of ethnic Mexicans in Texas, to the murder and mass expulsion of Chinese workers from the American West, to repeated deadly assaults on Black communities. In each case, this violence helped entrench systems of injustice that left minority groups politically and economically marginalized.

Byman warns that today's rising polarization and selective news consumption have coarsened public discourse — and with it, the risk that communal violence could return.

Professor Byman is on the faculty of Georgetown's School of Foreign Service and Department of Government, directs the Warfare, Irregular Threats, and Terrorism Program at CSIS, and is an editor at Lawfare.

This is a free event, but registration is required.

🎟️ Register here:

This talk will be held virtually on Google Meet ONLY. All registrants will receive an email with a Google Meet link 2-3 days before the event. Attendees do not need a Google account to join the program. Please fill out this form to register and help the Center track attendance. This talk is FREE and...

09/17/2026

📢 Join us for "Eve Adams: Daring Life, Dangerous Times" with Dr. Jonathan Ned Katz

Wed, September 23 | 2:30–4:00 PM | Virtual (Zoom Webinar)

In 1912, Jewish Polish immigrant Chawa Złoczower arrived in the U.S. and helped publicize Emma Goldman's anarchist speeches. She would go on to become Eve Adams — touring the country selling radical magazines and, in 1925, publishing Le***an Love, a pioneering collection of stories about the women she'd met. Her activism drew the attention of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, leading to her deportation and eventual murder in Auschwitz.

Historian Jonathan Ned Katz, author of The Daring Life and Dangerous Times of Eve Adams (2021), joins us to discuss her remarkable story of resistance — and what it means for our own troubled moment.

Presented as part of the 2026-27 Kupferberg Holocaust Center (KHC) & NEH Colloquium, "Storytelling in/as Resistance." CHGS at Ramapo College is a proud cosponsor.

🎟️ Register for the Zoom Webinar: https://tinyurl.com/5cepswap
📍 In-person option (Queens): https://khc-9-23-2026.eventbrite.com

09/15/2026

Save the date! 🌹 The Sister Rose Thering Fund at Seton Hall University presents the Fifteenth Annual Dr. Marcia Robbins-Wilf Lecture on Sunday, October 25, 2026, in Bethany Hall. Registration begins at 1:30 p.m., with the program starting at 2 p.m.

This year's lecture welcomes Ethan Schwartz, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible at Villanova University, who will present "What Exactly is Prophetic about Social Justice: A Jewish Critique of a Progressive Christian Ideal" — a timely look at interreligious dialogue and biblical prophetic tradition.

The event is free and open to the public thanks to the generosity of the Dr. Marcia Robbins-Wilf Lecture Endowment.

Registration: https://www.shu.edu/sister-rose/wilf-lecture.html?utm_source=short_url&utm_medium=postcard&utm_campaign=artsci_robbinswilf

08/27/2026

For 50 years, New Jersey has led the nation in Holocaust and genocide education — and this fall, we're bringing that history full circle.

We're honored to host our first Legacy Partner Meeting, bringing together the original curriculum writers of 1974 and the two generations of educators who carried their work forward. Together, they'll reflect on how NJ Holocaust education has evolved, celebrate the progress made, and shape where this vital work goes next.

Three generations of curriculum writers, one mission: ensuring the lessons of history continue to inform how we teach tolerance, memory, and moral courage in our classrooms today.

We hope this becomes an annual tradition — because the work of remembrance is never finished.

08/20/2026

NJ Commission on Holocaust Education - Member Spotlight - Maud Dahme

Maud Dahme plays an integral role for the Holocaust Commission, serving as its Chair for the third straight year as well as a moving speaker traversing the state to discuss her personal story of being a hidden child during the Holocaust. Maud has inspired thousands of children and adults as she recounts her dangerous childhood during the occupation of her homeland in World War II. Maud was just 6 years old in 1942 when she was forced to go into hiding with her 4-year-old sister, Rita, to avoid the deportations of the Jews that were starting in her home country, the Netherlands. Maud’s parents had to make an agonizing decision to save their two little girls and had them placed into a Christian family’s home. Over the course of WWII, the sisters were taken in by families who risked their lives to save the girls. Maud and Rita had to change their names and assume Christian identities. They survived 3 years as hidden children and the starvation that ravaged the Netherlands, not knowing what happened to their families. When the Netherlands was liberated in May of 1945, Maud and Rita were reunited with their parents, who were also in hiding. However, most of their extended family—three grandparents and an aunt, uncle, and cousins—were murdered at the Sobibor death camp. Being reunited with their parents, whom they barely remembered, and readjusting to a new life was difficult for the girls. To start anew, Maud’s family emigrated to the United States in 1950. After having a career at Pan American World Airlines, getting married, and raising a family, Maud wrote a book about her experiences entitled Chocolate, The Taste of Freedom, and, in 2006, her life as a hidden child received national attention when a documentary, The Hidden Child, was broadcast on PBS. Determined to make a difference in her home state of New Jersey, Maud was at the forefront of developing statewide Holocaust education when the Advisory Council began in 1982 and again when the mandate for Holocaust education was legislated in 1994. Her dedication and devotion to education have kept her an active and important member of the Commission for many years, culminating in her being elected Chair for the past three years.
Maud is a dynamic speaker who is repeatedly requested by school districts all over the state. Her personal testimony is appropriate for grades 5 and up.

If you would like to request Maud to speak at your school, community center, or house of worship, please email [email protected].

08/19/2026

August 19 - World Humanitarian Day

World Humanitarian Day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2008, and it honors humanitarian workers who risk their lives to provide aid in areas affected by war, natural disasters, and other crises. The day also serves to recognize, remember, and honor those who have lost their lives in service to others in conflict zones around the world. August 19th was purposely chosen as it commemorates the 2003 bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq, which killed 22 people. World Humanitarian Day also raises awareness of the millions of people worldwide who depend on humanitarian assistance and highlights the courage, compassion, and dedication of aid workers delivering food, medical care, shelter, and protection under some of the world's most dangerous conditions. Each year, the observance features a global campaign focused on strengthening support for humanitarian action around the world as well as support and protection for the aid workers who risk their lives in conflict and disaster zones.

To learn more: https://www.unocha.org/world-humanitarian-day

08/11/2026

August 11, 1978: The American Indian Religious Freedom Act was adopted

On this day, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) was adopted, officially recognizing the right of Native Americans to practice their traditional religions. This landmark legislation aimed to protect and preserve the inherent right of American Indians to believe, express, and exercise their traditional religious rights and cultural practices. AIRFA also addressed issues like access to sacred sites, freedom to worship through ceremonial and traditional rites, and the use and possession of sacred objects.

To learn more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-museum-american-indian/2018/11/30/native-perspectives-american-indian-religious-freedom-act/

08/09/2026

The International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples celebrates Indigenous Peoples and their knowledge and raises awareness of the needs of these groups. The Day highlights the rights of Indigenous Peoples to make their own decisions and carry them out in ways that are meaningful and culturally appropriate to them. The UN General Assembly (UNGA) decided to observe the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples annually on 9 August. The date represents the first meeting, in 1982, of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations. There are an estimated 476 million Indigenous Peoples in the world. They make up less than 6% of the world’s population but account for at least 15% of the world’s poorest. Indigenous Peoples represent over 5,000 different cultures in more than 90 countries.

To learn more: https://www.un.org/en/observances/indigenous-day

08/04/2026

Aug 4, 1944 - Anne Frank and the Others in the Secret Annex are Arrested

Acting on a tip from an informer, the N**i Gestapo captures 15-year-old Jewish diarist Anne Frank and her family in a sealed-off area of an Amsterdam annex above her father’s office. The Franks had taken shelter there in 1942 out of fear of deportation to a N**i concentration camp. They occupied the small space with another Jewish family, the Van Pels, and a single Jewish man, Fritz Pfeffer. They were aided by Christian friends, who brought them food and supplies. Anne spent much of her time in the so-called “secret annex” working on her diary. The diary survived the war, overlooked by the Gestapo that discovered the hiding place, but Anne and nearly all of the others perished in the N**i death camps. The only survivor of the “secret annex” was Anne’s father, Otto Frank. Anne’s diary provides a powerful and personal firsthand account of a young Jewish girl’s perspective during the Holocaust and has become an important piece of Holocaust literature worldwide.

To learn more: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/august-4/anne-frank-captured

Educator Resources: https://www.ushmm.org/teach/holocaust-lesson-plans/exploring-anne-franks-diary