Annual Program Archives

The Jacksonville State University Holocaust Remembrance began in 1982 as a project of the JSU Wesley Foundation. Over the years, attendance at the remembrance program has grown from a short event attended by 25 people to the current annual programs which often have an attendance of several hundred from the campus and surrounding communities. The annual Holocaust Remembrance is made possible by the JSU Holocaust Remembrance Committee in cooperation with the JSU Student Government Association. Faculty, students, and community members participate in order to remember Holocaust victims and in the hope that, through education, an event such as the Holocaust can be prevented from ever happening again.

Past Program Information

2024 Holocaust Remembrance Program
Date: Tuesday, 9 April 2024
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Speaker: Christopher Berdy | Speaker Biography
Location: Merrill Hall Auditorium, B10
Program Description: Chris Berdy is a partner in the law firm of Butler Snow LLP.  Active in the community, Chris is on the Board of Directors of the Alabama Holocaust Education Center, and he is the AHEC’s president-elect. Chris is a second-generation Holocaust survivor, and he shares the story of his father’s survival in occupied France following his grandparents’ and extended family members’ expulsion from Vienna after the Nazi annexation of Austria in 1938. Chris is a dual citizen of both the United States and Austria. 

2023 Holocaust Remembrance Program
Date: Tuesday, 18 April 2023
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Speaker: Brenda Hancock 
Location: Merrill Hall Auditorium
Program Description: As a second-generation Holocaust survivor, Brenda Hancock learned from her mother, Nicole (Cecile Widerman) Holland, and her uncle, Robert (Widerman) Clary, how the Nazi regime destroyed their idyllic childhood on Ile St. Louis in Paris, France.  Unlike her uncle and thirteen other members of their immediate family in Paris, her mother managed to escape Nazi-occupied Paris and joined the Forces Françaises De L’Interieur, the French Resistance. Robert, after 31 months of incarceration in the camps at Ottmuth, Blechhammer, Gross Rosen, and Buchenwald, was the only survivor of the family members taken to concentration camps. 

2022 Holocaust Remembrance Program
Date: 5 April 2022
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Keynote Speaker: Eli Pinhas
Location: Merrill Hall Auditorium

2021 Holocaust Remembrance Program
Date: 15 April 2021
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Keynote Speaker: Ann Mollengarden
About the Speaker: Ann Mollengarden is the daughter of Dr. Robert May, a Holocaust survivor.
Location: The 2021 Remembrance Program was held virtually. 

2020 Holocaust Remembrance Program
The 2020 Holocaust Remembrance was cancelled due to campus restrictions occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic

2019 Holocaust Remembrance Program
Date: Tuesday, 2 April 2019
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Leone Cole Auditorium, Jacksonville State University
Keynote Speaker: Eli Pinhas

2018 Holocaust Remembrance Program
The 2018 Holocaust Remembrance was cancelled due to the tornado which struck JSU on 19 March 2018

2017 Holocaust Remembrance Program
Date: Thursday, 13 April 2017
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Stone Center Theater, Jacksonville State University
Keynote Speaker: Dr. James Sedlis 

2016 Holocaust Remembrance Program
Date: Tuesday, 5 April 2016
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Stone Center Theater, Jacksonville State University
Keynote Speaker: Ms. Esther Levy, second generation, daughter of a Holocaust survivor. 

2015 Holocaust Remembrance Program
Date: Tuesday, 14 April 2015
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Stone Center Theater, Jacksonville State University
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Robert May, Holocaust survivor. Dr. May will be accompanied by his daughter, Ann Mollengarden.

Robert May was born in Germany in 1926. The May family had owned a dry goods store for several generations, and May's father was cantor at the local synagogue. But when Hitler came to power in 1933, anti-Semitism threatened the family business and forced Robert to leave school and stay with his aunt in Frankfurt. During Kristallnacht in 1938, Robert's school and synagogue were burned, and his aunt's apartment ransacked. A month later, Robert escaped Germany through the Kindertransport, a British program that allowed Jewish children under 17 to enter England, as long as they could support themselves. Robert's father and mother managed to join him in London two days before the war began, and the family emigrated to the U.S. in 1940. Robert's aunt, with whom he stayed in Frankfurt, and the uncle who sponsored his Kindertransport both perished in Auschwitz. (Speaker information courtesy of the Birmingham Holocaust Education Center.)

2014 Holocaust Remembrance Program
Date: Thursday, 10 April 2014
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Stone Center Theater, Jacksonville State University
Keynote Speaker: Denise Lewis, daughter of Holocaust survivor Roger Blum

Ms. Lewis's father, Roger Nathan Blum, was born in Brumath, France in 1920. Encouraged by his parents, Roger left home at age nineteen, coming to Birmingham to stay with a cousin. Some of his family that remained in France were captured by the Nazis, while others went into hiding. In 1942, after being drafted by the U.S. Army, Roger returned to France where he was able to locate his immediate family with the help of the American Red Cross. Roger Blum passed away in 2007. (Speaker information courtesy of the Birmingham Holocaust Education Center.)

2013 Holocaust Remembrance Program
Date: Thursday, 11 April 2013
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Stone Center Theater, Jacksonville State University
Keynote Speaker: Mr. Max Steinmetz, Holocaust survivor
Between 1942 and 1945, from the time he was seventeen until he was twenty, Max Steinmetz was held in captivity in at least five ghettos or camps where he slaved as a laborer. Born in Târgu-Lăpuş, Romania, Max was the only member of his family to survive. When he was liberated in 1945, his 6'1" body weighted only eighty pounds. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1948. (Speaker information courtesy of the Birmingham Holocaust Education Center.)
NOTE: Due to severe weather, the 2013 Holocaust Remembrance event had to be cancelled.

2012 30th Anniversary Program
Date: Thursday, 19 April 2012
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Stone Center Theater, Jacksonville State University
Keynote Speaker: Mr. Max Herzel, Holocaust survivor
Photos from the 2012 Remembrance, courtesy of JSU Photographic Services

2011 Program
Date: Thursday, 7 April 2011
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Stone Center Theater, Jacksonville State University
Keynote Speaker: Mr. Herbert Kohn, Holocaust survivor
"JSU to hold Holocaust Remembrance" article in the 6 April 2011 Anniston Star

2010 Program
Date: Thursday, 15 April 2010
Location: Stone Center Theater, Jacksonville State University
Keynote Speaker: Benjamin Hirsch
"Holocaust survivor to speak at JSU" article in the 10 April 2010 Gadsden Times
Photos from the 2010 Holocaust Remembrance, courtesy of JSU Photographic Services 

2009 Program
Date: Monday, 13 April 2009
Location: Stone Center Theater, Jacksonville State University
Keynote Speaker: Ruth Siegler
Mrs. Ruth Siegler is a Holocaust survivor who was born in 1927 in Sinzenich, Germany. In 1942, she and her family were deported to the concentration camp at Auschwitz (Birkenau). Ruth and her sister were the only members of her immediate family to survive. They were liberated by the Russian Army and eventually emigrated to the United States. Mrs. Siegler currently lives in Birmingham, Alabama. | More Info
Photos from the 2009 Holocaust Remembrance, courtesy of JSU Photographic Services

2008 Program
Date held: 3 April 2008
Location: Ernest Stone Center Theater, Jacksonville State University
Keynote Speaker: Mr. Jack Bass
Mr. Bass was born in 1923 in a small town in Germany. Mr. Bass and his mother moved to Berlin in 1937. In 1942, he was arrested by the SS and sent to the concentration camp at Auschwitz. After being sent to various other camps, including Dachau, Mr. Bass was liberated by American troops and emigrated to the United States, where he has lived ever since.


2007 Program
Date held: 5 April 2007
Location: Ernest Stone Center Theater, Jacksonville State University
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Eugen Schoenfeld
Dr. Schoenfeld's book, My Reconstructed Life

2006 Program
Date held: 6 April 2006
Location: Ernest Stone Center Theater, Jacksonville State University
Keynote Speaker: Aisic Hirsch

2005 Program
Date held: 31 March 2005
Location: Ernest Stone Center Theater, Jacksonville State University
Keynote Speaker: Riva Hirsch

2004 Program
Date held: April 2004
Location: Ernest Stone Center Theater, Jacksonville State University
Keynote Speaker: Max Steinmetz
" Forwarding the Message of the Holocaust" article in The Chanticleer (8 April 2004)
" Can You Imagine It Could Happen Again?" column in The Chanticleer (8 April 2004)
" Never Again" article in The Anniston Star (28 March 2004)

2003 Program
Date held: April 2003
Location: Ernest Stone Center Theater, Jacksonville State University
Keynote Speaker: Henry Aizenman
" Annual JSU Event Remembers the Holocaust" article in The Chanticleer (17 April 2003)

2002 Program
Date held: April 2002
Location: Jacksonville State University
Keynote Speaker: Max Herzel
" JSU Holds 20th Annual Holocaust Commemoration Ceremony" article in The Chanticleer (18 April 2002)

2001 Program
Date held: April 2001
Location: Houston Cole Library, Jacksonville State University
Keynote Speaker: Henry Stern
" Paying Tribute to Those Who Paid the Ultimate Price" article in The Chanticleer (5 April 2001)
" Days of Remembrance Allows Holocaust Survivor to Tell His Story" article in The Anniston Star (13 April 2001)

2000 Program
Date held: April 2000
Location: Houston Cole Library, Jacksonville State University
Keynote Speaker: Jack Bass
" A Holocaust Survival Story" article in The Chanticleer (13 April 2000)
" JSU Hears a Survivor's Tale" article in The Anniston Star (14 April 2000)
" Days of Remembrance" article in The Mimosa (2000)

1999 Program
Date held: April 1999
Location: Houston Cole Library, Jacksonville State University
Keynote Speaker: Isaac Goodfriend

1998 Program
Date held: 19 April 1998
Location: Houston Cole Library, Jacksonville State University
Keynote Speaker: Leon Skurko
" JSU Remembers Holocaust Victims with Ceremony Today" article in The Chanticleer (16 April 1998)

1997 Program
Date held: 10 April 1997
Location: Houston Cole Library, Jacksonville State University
Keynote Speaker: Herbert Kohn
Photo of Herbert Kohn from The Chanticleer (17 April 1997)
" Holocaust Survivor Remembers" article in The Anniston Star (11 April 1997)

1996 Program
Date held: April 1996
Location: Houston Cole Library, Jacksonville State University

1995 Program
Date held: April 1995
Location: Houston Cole Library, Jacksonville State University
Keynote Speaker: Walter Israel
" Survivor Walter Israel Brings Different Story to Holocaust Commemoration" article in The Chanticleer (13 April 1995)

1994 Program
Date held: April 1994
Location: Houston Cole Library, Jacksonville State University
Keynote Speaker: Berny Lane
" JSU Remembers Holocaust Victims" article in The Chanticleer (14 April 1994)

1993 Program
Date held: April 1993
Location: Jacksonville State University
Keynote Speaker: Bernard Bimbaum
" Annual Holocaust Ceremony Features Survivor" article in The Chanticleer (15 April 1993)

1992 Program
Date held: April 1993
Location: Jacksonville State University
Keynote Speaker: Rabbi Fred Raskind
" Jewish Holocaust Victims Remembered" article in The Chanticleer (9 April 1992)

1991 Program
Date held: 11 April 1991
Location: Jacksonville State University
Keynote Speaker: Rabbi Fred Raskind
" Holocaust Ceremony Held Today" article in The Chanticleer (11 April 1991)

1990 Program
Date held: April 1990
Location: Jacksonville State University
Keynote Speaker: Ruth Seigler
" Survivor Speaks During Commemoration" article in The Chanticleer (12 April 1990)

1989 Program
Date held: April 1989
Location: Houston Cole Library, Jacksonville State University
" Commemoration Set" article in The Chanticleer (6 April 1989)

1988 Program
Date held: 12 April 1988
Location: Wallace School of Nursing Auditorium, Jacksonville State University
" Holocaust Service Slated April 12" article in The Chanticleer (7 April 1988)

1987 Program
Date held: 20 April 1987
Location: Houston Cole Library, Jacksonville State University
" Service to Commemorate Holocaust to be Held in Library" article in The Chanticleer (16 April 1987)

1986 Program
Date held: April 1986
Location: Houston Cole Library, Jacksonville State University
" Speakers Warn That Event Should Be Remembered" article in The Chanticleer (17 April 1986)

1985 Program
Date held: 18 April 1985
Location: Theron Montgomery Auditorium, Jacksonville State University
" Service Marks 40th Anniversary of World War II" article in The Chanticleer (25 April 1985)

1984 Program
Date held: April 1984
Location: Jacksonville State University

1983 Program
Date held: April 1983
Location: Jacksonville State University

1982 Program
Date held: April 1982
Location: Jacksonville State University