The Hong Kong Holocaust and Tolerance Centre was in China on May 26 and 27, 2017. Holocaust survivor Henry Friedman was joined by HKHTC Director of Education Simon K. Li (Visiting Educator, Anne Frank House) and our Board Director Glenn Timmermans (Professor, University of Macau) to present workshops relating to Holocaust and genocide education. The conference was attended by hundreds of educators from different communities in South China.

 

 

HKHTC was proud to host a dialogue seminar with our guest Holocaust survivor Henry Friedman at the University of Hong Kong’s SPACE campus on May 22, 2017. It was a full house with dynamic audience from different generations. A very memorable evening and discussion.

In a recent article for their school newspaper, HKIS students reflected on the visit of Sergeant Rick Carrier, liberator of Buchenwald and veteran of the Second World War, during which he addressed an estimated 800 students.

From their powerful words, it appears Sergeant Carrier’s account sensitized them not only to the power and importance of first-hand testimony, but also to the complexity of that time in history. We hope the students will continue on their quest to learn more about the events and processes of the Second World War and the Holocaust.

On Wednesday, January 28, HKHTC Director of Education, Simon Goldberg, delivered a talk at the “Talking Genocides” forum organized by the School of Modern Languages and Cultures at Hong Kong University to mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. 50 doctoral students and academics were in attendance.

Simon’s talk dealt with the scholary discourse on Holocaust representation and issues within the field of comparative genocide studies. Fellow panelist and moderator, Dr Roland Vogt of HKU’s Department of European Studies, addressed the role of the Holocaust in European political imagination and culture. Finally, Dr Facil Tesfaye of HKU’s African Studies Department discussed the role of census data/statistics in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and its legacy for African politics and peacekeeping on the continent.

Dr Tesfaye’s new book, Statisques(s) et génocide au Rwanda: La genèse d’un système de catégorisation génocidaire, was also launched on this occasion.

The exhibition ‘Surviving Evil’ was extensively reported in the media.

We have had additional coverage from  The Standard, Hong Kong Magazine, SCMP listings-editors choice, Jewish Times Asia, and Asian Jewish Life as well as Sing Tao and Ta Kung Pao in the Chinese press.

Mrs Atzmon’s visit to Macau was covered by the Portugese language paper hojemacau.

Photos from Mrs Atzmon’s school visits as a gallery or a slide show can be viewed here.

Please click here to see coverage of our exhibition at Hong Kong University Museum and Art Gallery.

We are delighted that this was featured in the Young South China Morning Post, since this is a very important target group for our educational mission.

This exhibition has also been covered by a column in the Hong Kong Ecomomic Journal, Ming Pao, Le Petit Journal, The House News and Xinhua Website as well as featured as ‘pick of the day’ in the SCMP listings and 24 hours. There was a prominent listing in the now closed HK Magazine.

It was with great honour that we welcomed Mr Nobuki Sugihara, son of Consul Chiune Sugihara, a Righteous Among the Nations, for our September events. Mr. Sugihara spent a week in Hong Kong, from September 18th – September 25th. During his stay, he opened a new, original exhibition on Righteous Among the Nations from Asia, including his father Chiune Sugihara who helped an estimated 10,000 Jewish people escape from Nazi controlled Lithuania.

The opening event for the “Asian Righteous Among the Nations” exhibition took place at the University of Hong Kong, on September 19 followed by a film Sugihara: Conspiracy of Kindness and a Q&A with Mr. Sugihara. Mr Sugihara also spoke at Asia Society (in conversation with Mr Ronnie Chan, the Chairman of Asia Society Hong Kong) as well as the Hong Kong Jewish Community Centre. Besides, Mr Sugihara also spoke to several hundred school students, discussing his father’s work and the importance of standing up to evil.

Please click here for more photos from our September events with Mr Nobuki Sugihara.

On 12 September 2016, we were delighted to co-organize a public screening and discussion event with the Faculty of Law, Faculty of Arts, and eSRT in Law, Language, Literature of the University of Hong Kong (HKU):

Of Many – Screening and Discussion with Linda Mills, the Director

Dr. Linda Mills, Director
Co-Founder, Of Many Institute for Multifaith Leadership
Co-Chair, Of Many Advisory Board

Date: Monday, 12 September, 2016
Time: from 6:00pm
Venue: Room 723, Cheng Yu Tung Tower, Centennial Campus, University of Hong Kong

About the film: Set Against the dramatic backdrop of violence in the Middle East and the tension between Jewish and Muslim students on college campuses, Of Many focuses on the surprising and transformative relationship between an orthodox rabbi and imam, who serve as university chaplains in New York City. Through a series of voyages to communities struck by catastrophe, we witness young religious Jews and Muslims working together and overcoming long-standing divides. Timely and humorous, this short documentary offers an inspiring and hopeful narrative in the face of a seemingly irreconcilable conflict.

About the Director: Linda G. Mills is the inaugural Lisa Ellen Goldberg Professor and Vice Chancellor for Global Programs at New York University, and Co-Chair of the Advisory Board of the Of Many Institute. Mills, born in Los Angeles, California co-directed the documentary, Auf Wiedersehen: ‘Til We Meet Again, a film that explores the intergenerational transmission of trauma from the Holocaust to 9-11. The film was an official selection at eight film festivals, including the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival where Auf Wiedersehen won an audience award, Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival and the Vienna Jewish Film Festival. Dr. Mills is also an accomplished producer; her projects include The Reality Show: NYU, which received the 2010 Silver Award from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) and The Heart of Intimate Abuse, for which she received a Telly Award. Her scholarly work challenges the current paradigms of domestic abuse by rethinking how we respond to violence in intimate relationships.

On June 1st, HKHTC hosted Dr David Silberklang (Senior Historian, Yad Vashem’s International Institute for Holocaust Research) at Hong Kong University for its last teachers’ workshop of the 2014-2015 academic year.

Dr Silberklang’s talk was entitled: “When Did They Decide? Understanding and Teaching the Development of the Final Solution”. In addressing this question, Dr Silberklang referred to German documents and Jewish reports and suggested approaches to broaching the subject with students.

The HKHTC was delighted to jointly host two exhibitions, in collaboration with Hong Kong University and the Goethe-Institut HongKong of the artwork of renowned Holocaust survivor and artist Sara Atzmon.

Mrs. Atzmon’s Holocaust-themed work was on display from February 25th- May 4th at the University Museum and Art Gallery at Hong Kong University and concurrently, in April at the Goethe Institut Hong Kong.

The exhibition opening on February 25th was widely reported in the press.

The exhibition was also profiled in HK Magazine, The Standard, Sing Tao, as well as ‘Editors choice’ in the SCMP weekend listings for the full run of the exhibition.

Over 460 students visited the exhibition as part of organised school tours.