(BRANCHBURG, NJ) -- The Institute of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Raritan Valley Community College will host “The Fragility of Democracy, Reflections on the Weimar Republic, and Why the Holocaust Still Echoes in the World Today,” a hybrid event with Dr. Michael Berenbaum, Thursday, April 18, 2024 from 11:00am to noon.

The event, which is free of charge and open to the public, may be viewed virtually or attended in-person in the Event Center at RVCC’s Branchburg campus.

For many years, the Holocaust was taught at a time when democracies were robust and confidence in democracy was growing, but that is not the case today. Historians now feel obliged not only to do justice to the past, but also to explore its implications for the present and future and consider what happened in the years before the Nazis’ rise to power. It was a rise that transformed a fragile democracy into an authoritarian and, ultimately, a totalitarian regime.

Author and editor of 22 books, Dr. Michael Berenbaum served as Project Director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum from 1988-93, overseeing its creation. Dr. Berenbaum was the conceptual developer of more than a dozen museums. Most recently, he curated the award-winning special exhibition, “Auschwitz: Not Long Ago, Not Far Away.” He recently was appointed by California Governor Gavin Newsome as a member of the Governor’s Commission on Holocaust and Genocide Education.

During the RVCC event, Peppy Margolis, former Director of the Institute of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, will be recognized for her 15 years of work at RVCC, as well as her significant impact on Holocaust education in New Jersey.

Registration to attend the program either in-person or virtually is required. Click here for the registration page.

The event is co-sponsored by the Jewish Federation of West-Central NJ; the NJ Commission on Holocaust Education; the Shimon and Sara Birnbaum JCC’s Helen and Sol Krawitz Holocaust Education & Memorial Center; Jewish Family Service of Somerset, Hunterdon, and Warren Counties; and 3GNJ. 

Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) is located at 118 Lamington Road in Branchburg, New Jersey.