Events

Making Global Connections

 Spring 2026 Programs

In person programs take place at the Kupferberg Holocaust Center unless noted otherwise. Events are free and open to all, but registration ahead of time is required and visitors must show ID upon entering the campus at Queensborough Community College (QCC). On site parking is available and for directions to QCC’s campus, please visit https://www.qcc.cuny.edu/about/index.html#gettingHere.

For elevator access, enter the QCC Administration building and follow signs for the KHC.

Holocaust Memory/International Holocaust Remembrance Day Commemoration (Online only)
Resisters: How Ordinary Jews Fought Persecution in Hitler’s Germany
Tuesday, January 27, 2026 at 6:00pm EST
Register to watch online: https://tinyurl.com/we54zydp

Between 1933 and 1945, hundreds of Jews resisted persecution in Nazi Germany and annexed Austria, including public protest and taking pictures to document persecution, despite being often heavily punished by the regime. The fact that so many German Jewish women and men of all ages, educations, and professions resisted obliterates the common view of Jewish passivity under Nazi persecution. In commemoration of the 81st anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland, Dr. Wolf Gruner presents a new and broader definition of resistance including five different kinds of individual acts, and a large set of new sources, ranging from police and court records to survivor testimonies and photographs. Dr. Gruner holds the Shapell-Guerin Chair in Jewish Studies and is Professor of History at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles since 2008. He is the Founding Director of the USC Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research since 2014.

The event is organized by the Harriet & Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center (KHC) and is underwritten by the Eva Bobrow Memorial Fund. It is co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights at Rutgers University; the Reiff Center for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution at Christopher Newport University; the Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center in White Plains; the Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at Western Washington University; the Holocaust, Genocide & Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan University; the Institute for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention at Binghamton University; the Genocide Studies Program at Yale University; the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Salem State University; and the Sam and Frances Fried Holocaust and Genocide Academy at University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Holocaust Memory & Jewish Identity in Latin America and the Caribbean Series (In Person & Online)
A Forgotten Story of Holocaust Refuge in Bolivia
Wednesday, March 4, 2026 at 12:00pm EST
Register to watch online: https://tinyurl.com/4pm2vxmu
Register to attend in person: https://tinyurl.com/mrephh64 

During the critical years of the Jewish refugee crisis, one unlikely country opened its doors: Bolivia. At the time, Bolivia was perceived as a poor and struggling nation, still recovering from the devastating war with Paraguay (1932–1935). Yet, against all expectations, the country welcomed around 20,000 Jewish refugees. Why did Bolivia become a refuge for many when other Latin American countries turned people away? Join anthropologist and historian Dr. Sandra Gruner-Domic as she explores the dynamics of the refugee community in Bolivia, as well as the geopolitical inferences and responses to migration of undesired people in unexpected regions.

The event is organized by the Harriet & Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center (KHC) and is underwritten by the Eva Bobrow Memorial Fund. It is co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights at Rutgers University; the Reiff Center for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution at Christopher Newport University; the Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center in White Plains; the Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at Western Washington University; the Holocaust, Genocide & Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan University; the Institute for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention at Binghamton University; the Sam and Frances Fried Holocaust and Genocide Academy at University of Nebraska at Omaha; the Holocaust Education & Resource Center at Kean University; and the Martin-Springer Institute at Northern Arizona University.

KHC-NEH Lecture (In Person & Online)
From Swastika to Jim Crow: The German Jewish Refugee Scholars Hired at HBCUs 
Thursday, March 5, 2026 at 12:00pm EST
Register to watch online: https://tinyurl.com/54zvpkru
Register to attend in person: https://tinyurl.com/2a72yh44 

From Swastika to Jim Crow tells the story of German Jewish scholars who joined the faculty at historically Black colleges and universities in the South and the challenges of leaving one oppressive society for another. In this discussion, documentarians Joel Sucher and Steven Fischler will share their process making the film, from working with local historian Gabrielle Edgecomb to interviewing retired professors such as philosopher Ernst Manasse who taught at North Carolina Central University for almost 40 years, and the students they mentored, including Obama administration advisor and economist Joyce Ladner. 

This event is part of the 2025-26 Harriet & Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center (KHC) and National Endowment for the Humanities Colloquium, “Resistance, Resilience and Reinvention: Artists and Academics Escaping Nazism.” It is co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights at Rutgers University; the Reiff Center for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution at Christopher Newport University; the Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center in White Plains; the Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at Western Washington University; the Holocaust, Genocide & Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan University; the Institute for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention at Binghamton University; the Human Rights Institute at Kean University; and the Queens College Center for Jewish Studies.

There are two ways to screen the film:

In Person at the KHC:
Thursday, March 5 at 1:00pm EST immediately after the filmmakers’ talk

Streaming:
Information on how to access the film online will be sent out 48 hours prior to the event

Partner Event/Virtual Student Workshop Grades 9-12 (Online only) 
Enemies of the State: The Nazi Persecution of LGBTQ+ People
Friday, March 6, 2026 at 12:00pm EST
Register to watch online: https://tinyurl.com/ty9f3dhv

This virtual student workshop featuring the Pink Triangle Legacies Project and designed especially for students in grades 9 through 12, describes the experiences of German LGBTQ+ people under Nazi rule, and the destruction of the vibrant LGBTQ+ communities that had emerged during the Weimar years. The program will address the targeting, torture, and murder of tens of thousands of gay Germans through archival evidence.describes the experiences of German LGBTQ+ people under Nazi rule, and the destruction of the vibrant LGBTQ+ communities that had emerged during the Weimar years. The program will address the targeting, torture, and murder of tens of thousands of gay Germans through archival evidence.

This program is organized by the Holocaust Resource Center at Kean University and co-sponsored by the Kupferberg Holocaust Center.

KHC-NEH Professional Development Workshop (Online only)
Pedagogy, Human Rights & Philosophy in the Face of Oppression
Friday, March 13, 2026 at 10:00am EDT
Register to watch online: https://tinyurl.com/mf5rsne2

In this workshop, QCC philosophy professor Dr. Shannon Kincaid will introduce participants to both the idea of discussion-based pedagogy, as rooted in American Pragmatism, and to its implementation in teaching texts that speak to the theme of the 2025-26 KHC-NEH colloquium, Resistance, Resilience and Reinvention: Artists and Academics Escaping Nazism. Key examples will come by way of academics that fled oppression.

This event is part of the 2025-26 Harriet & Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center (KHC) and National Endowment for the Humanities Colloquium, “Resistance, Resilience and Reinvention: Artists and Academics Escaping Nazism.” It is co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights at Rutgers University; the Reiff Center for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution at Christopher Newport University; the Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center in White Plains; the Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at Western Washington University; the Holocaust, Genocide & Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan University; and the Institute for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention at Binghamton University.

KHC-NEH Lecture (In Person & Online)
Across Continents and Generations: Poetry as Memory and Witness
Tuesday, March 17, 2026 at 12:00pm EDT
Register to watch online: https://tinyurl.com/2p9u2at6
Register to attend in person: https://tinyurl.com/3dh9hkha

Join us for a poetry reading with acclaimed poets Julia Kolchinsky and Luisa Muradyan, who came to the United States from Ukraine in the 90’s as Jewish refugees and are both descendants of Holocaust survivors. They will share work from their books PARALLAX and I Make Jokes When I’m Devastated, which deal with raising children under the shadow of intergenerational trauma and the war against Ukraine. They will also read from their forthcoming collaborative collection, When The World Stopped Touching, an unfiltered account of mothering young children through quarantine written during the pandemic. 

This event is part of the 2025-26 Harriet & Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center (KHC) and National Endowment for the Humanities Colloquium, “Resistance, Resilience and Reinvention: Artists and Academics Escaping Nazism.” It is co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights at Rutgers University; the Reiff Center for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution at Christopher Newport University; the Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center in White Plains; the Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at Western Washington University; the Holocaust, Genocide & Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan University; the Institute for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention at Binghamton University; and the Martin-Springer Institute at Northern Arizona University.

KHC Open House (In Person)
Monday, April 13, 2026 between 12:00pm and 4:00pm EDT
Register to attend in person: https://tinyurl.com/yck9w8m5

Come visit the KHC and tour the Center’s permanent exhibitions about the Holocaust in Europe and The Concentration Camps: Inside the Nazi System of Incarceration and Genocide. 

Holocaust Memory/Yom HaShoah Commemoration (Online only)
Monday, April 13, 2026 at 6:00pm EDT
Remembering to Remember: What Memorial Monuments Teach Us About the Holocaust (and Ourselves)
Register to watch online: https://tinyurl.com/6drb3cmr

Since the end of World War II Holocaust memorial monuments have been made in scores of shapes, sizes, forms and with text in many languages, initially for Jewish audiences, and then in more recent decades for a wider public, intended to teach broader lessons or meet political objectives. Given the breadth of these memorials, what roles do and/or should they play in art, history, commemoration, and education? Using the expansive data from the International Holocaust Memorial Monument Database, to which he has been a lead contributor, Dr. Samuel Gruber, President of the International Survey of Jewish Monuments, reveals how these memorials both reflect and shape Jewish and other collective memories over the past 80 years.

The event is organized by the Harriet & Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center (KHC) and is underwritten by the Yehoshua and Edna Aizenberg Holocaust Memorial Fund. It is co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights at Rutgers University; the Reiff Center for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution at Christopher Newport University; the Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center in White Plains; the Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at Western Washington University; the Holocaust, Genocide & Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan University; the Sue and Leonard Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic Studies at University of Miami; the George Feldenkreis Program in Judaic Studies at University of Miami; the Institute for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention at Binghamton University; the Sam and Frances Fried Holocaust and Genocide Academy at University of Nebraska at Omaha; the Cohen Institute for Holocaust & Genocide Studies at Keene State College; and the Legacy Foundation at Mount Hebron Cemetery.

Human Rights & the Museum Series (Online only)
Curation as Care
Wednesday, April 22, 2026 at 2:30pm EDT
Register to watch online: https://tinyurl.com/52breuhs

Join Dare Turner (Yurok Tribe), Curator of Indigenous Art at the Brooklyn Museum, for a discussion about the practice of community representation, engagement, and dialogue through the curation of historical and contemporary Native art in encyclopedic museums. Turner will address the concept of “curation as care” as it relates to her recent projects and her role in stewarding the Brooklyn Museum’s Indigenous art collection. She will also speak about the exhibition initiative she co-curated with Leila Grothe at the Baltimore Museum of Art entitled “Preoccupied: Indigenizing the Museum,” the reinstallation of the Brooklyn Museum’s American Art wing, and her collaboration with museum professionals and Indigenous knowledge keepers alike.

This event is part of the Harriet & Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center’s (KHC) Human Rights and the Museum Series, a collaboration between the KHC and the Museum and Gallery Studies Program in the Art and Design Department at Queensborough Community College (QCC). It is co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights at Rutgers University; the Reiff Center for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution at Christopher Newport University; the Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center in White Plains; the Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at Western Washington University; the Holocaust, Genocide & Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan University; the Institute for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention at Binghamton University; and the Human Rights Institute at Kean University.

KHC-NEH Lecture (In Person & Online)
Finding Refuge at Bryn Mawr: The Exiled Mathematician Emmy Noether
Thursday, April 23, 2026 at 12:00pm EDT
Register to watch online: https://tinyurl.com/y3nf5ecc
Register to attend in person: https://tinyurl.com/yh3tahmk

On November 7, 1933, Emmy Noether, the most eminent woman mathematician in Europe, arrived in New York after she was dismissed from the University of Göttingen. Dr. Qinna Shen, Associate Professor of German at Bryn Mawr College and author of A Refugee Scholar from Nazi Germany: Emmy Noether and Bryn Mawr College (2019), will reconstruct the story of how Noether found refuge in the U.S. and share ongoing efforts by mathematicians and physicists to honor her.

This event is part of the 2025-26 Harriet & Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center (KHC) and National Endowment for the Humanities Colloquium, “Resistance, Resilience and Reinvention: Artists and Academics Escaping Nazism.” It is co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights at Rutgers University; the Reiff Center for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution at Christopher Newport University; the Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center in White Plains; the Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at Western Washington University; the Holocaust, Genocide & Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan University; and the Institute for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention at Binghamton University.

KHC-NEH Lecture (In Person & Online)
Varian Fry: The Audacious American Journalist Who Saved Europe’s Artists from the Nazis 
Tuesday, April 28, 2026 at 12:30pm EDT
Register to watch online: https://tinyurl.com/4b2anz4w
Register to attend in person: https://tinyurl.com/2nju9d9h

August 1940. In New York, the Emergency Rescue Committee forms to save European artists blacklisted by Hitler. But who will go to southern France to find the artists and do the rescuing? Enter Varian Fry, a New York journalist with deep knowledge of the European political situation but zero experience saving high profile would-be emigrés. How did Fry end up in this vital and delicate position? How did he find the artists on his list? Where did the artists hide while they awaited visas, and how did Fry help them negotiate the tangled red tape of wartime immigration? How did Fry’s time in Marseille affect the rest of his life? In this presentation, novelist and professor Julie Orringer will take you on a virtual journey to wartime Marseille and show you how one daring American achieved the impossible: the saving of more than two thousand artists, including Marc Chagall, Max Ernst, André Breton, Hannah Arendt, and many others.

This event is part of the 2025-26 Harriet & Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center (KHC) and National Endowment for the Humanities Colloquium, “Resistance, Resilience and Reinvention: Artists and Academics Escaping Nazism.” It is co-sponsored by Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights at Rutgers University; the Reiff Center for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution at Christopher Newport University; the Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center in White Plains; the Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at Western Washington University; the Holocaust, Genocide & Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan University; the Institute for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention at Binghamton University; the Sam and Frances Fried Holocaust and Genocide Academy at University of Nebraska at Omaha; the Holocaust Education & Resource Center at Kean University; and the Martin-Springer Institute at Northern Arizona University.