About the Fred Marcus Memorial Holocaust Lecture

The Fred Marcus Memorial Holocaust Lecture is under the auspices of the Holocaust Awareness Institute of the Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Denver. HAI, which promotes Holocaust awareness and education in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region, is the ideal organization to house the lecture and to continue and further its place as a significant event in the Denver community.

The lecture was created in 2003 in memory of Fred Marcus, a beloved Jewish educator and a survivor of the Shanghai ghetto. For many years, Fred served as a member of the Speakers Bureau of the Holocaust Awareness Institute, teaching students and members of churches and synagogues about the Holocaust.

2010 Lecture

The 2010 Fred Marcus Memorial Holocaust Lecture will take place on Sunday, March 14, 2010 at 4 p.m. in the Infinity Park Event Center, International Ballroom, 4400 E. Kentucky Ave., Glendale, Colorado.

The lecture will feature Dr. Ann Weiss, author of The Last Album: Eyes from the Ashes of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Her fascinating presentation will recount the discovery of the only known surviving collection of photos from a whole transport and her 20-year journey researching the stories behind them. Ann will show photos from the collection during her talk and will sign copies of her book during the reception. To read about Ann and her project, go to www.thelastalbum.org.

Reservations are necessary for all attendees by February 28, 2010. The cost of the lecture is $15 a person. (There is no charge for students and Holocaust survivors.) We encourage you to place reservations online at www.alumni.du.edu/fredmarcus, or — if you don't have internet access — by calling HAI's event reservation line at 303-871-3097.

For further information on the Fred Marcus Memorial Holocaust Lecture, contact Shoshana Zeldner at the Holocaust Awareness Institute, 303-871-3013.

Past Lectures

2009

A sellout crowd of 500 people attended the 7th Annual Fred Marcus Memorial Holocaust Lecture where they were inspired by the film "Nicholas Winton: The Power of Good." The film details the heroic efforts of Nicholas Winton, a 29-year-old stockbroker who in 1939 saved 669 Czech children by bringing them to Britain on Kindertransports and finding foster homes for each of them. He told no one of his deeds--including his wife--until about 15 years ago she found the records in their attic. Tomas Graumann, one of "Winton's Children," introduced the film and spoke of his own experiences of leaving his family and being cared for by a single woman in Scotland. 2009 Sponsors

2008

The 2008 featured speaker was Dr. Shirli Gilbert, Karten Lecturer in Modern Jewish/non-Jewish relations at the University of Southampton, England. Dr. Gilbert is the author of Music in the Holocaust: Confronting Life in the Nazi Ghettos and Camps (Oxford University Press, 2005), the first large-scale critical account of the role of music among communities imprisoned under the Nazis. She enlightened the audience with a discussion of the place of Yiddish songs among partisans, ghetto dwellers, and camp inmates, enriching her talk with actual recordings from the time.

2007

The speaker at the fifth annual lecture was Robert Bielsky, whose father and two uncles saved 1200 Jews in the forests of Poland during World War II. He was introduced by Denver resident Paula Burger who, as an eight-year-old child, lived in the forest with the Bielsky group. This absorbing and little known story is detailed in a book called The Bielski Brothers by Peter Duffy (HarperCollins, 2003), as well as in a recent documentary on the History Channel. The lecture, which took place in the Driscoll Ballroom at the University of Denver, was attended by a sellout crowd of 500.

2006

The fourth annual Fred Marcus Memorial Holocaust Lecture took place on April 2, 2006, at Temple Sinai in Denver, Colorado. The sold out event featured a lecture entitled "Shanghai Revisited: The Refugee Diaries of Fred Marcus" by Rena Krasno and Audrey Friedman Marcus.

Following the lecture, 25 former refugees in Shanghai were honored for their courage in surviving the difficult years in China and for becoming successful and contributing American citizens. Each received a booklet called "Flight and Rescue," published by the United States Memorial Holocaust Museum, that features an excellent chapter on Jews in Shanghai. In addition, a certificate was awarded to all of the "Shanghailanders," informing them of a generous donation made in their honor to the Sino-Judaic Institute for the continuation of research about the Jews in China.

Participants adjourned to a delightful reception that featured the opening of the exhibit "Shanghai: Refuge During the Holocaust." (See the following for information on the exhibit, which will remain at Temple Sinai through April 27, 2006.) Guests were also treated to delicious kosher Chinese hors d’oeuvres and Chinese music. Rena Krasno signed copies of the many books she has written, and there was a display of books on the subject of Jews in Shanghai. The films "Shanghai Ghetto" and "Port of Last Resort" were available for viewing.

2005

The 2005 lecture was given on April 17 by Anna Rosmus, who uncovered the Nazi past of her hometown of Passau, Germany, and has devoted her life to fighting against anti-Semitism and bigotry through her writings and lectures. Prior to the lecture, the audience viewed the Academy Award nominated foreign film, "The Nasty Girl," about Anna’s experiences as a young German battling the establishment.

2004

On March 28, 2004, Pierre Sauvage, a noted filmmaker and child survivor, told the story of the residents of the French town of Le Chambon, who rescued him and his family, along with 5,000 other Jews. His film "Weapons of the Spirit," about this rescue effort, preceded the lecture.

2003

The first Fred Marcus Memorial Holocaust Lecture took place on May 2, 2003, just one year after the death of Fred Marcus. The featured speaker was Rabbi Theodore Alexander, Fred’s lifelong friend from Berlin, Shanghai, and San Francisco. "Port of Last Resort," a film about the Shanghai Jewish experience, was shown the next evening.

These lectures each attracted more than 500 people, and were co-sponsored by a wide range of Jewish organizations and businesses, as well as individuals and foundations.