The Annual Scholars’ Conference on the Holocaust and the Churches was founded in 1970 by Franklin H. Littell and Hubert G. Locke. The ASC provides an invaluable forum for scholars to discuss and advance Holocaust research, ensuring the valuable lessons of the Holocaust remain relevant for today’s world.

This year marked a watershed moment in the history of the ASC, as the first time it was hosted virtually allowing audiences from around the globe the opportunity to attend. Rather than a traditional multi-day conference, the 51st Annual Scholars' Conference featured three distinguished speakers that addressed the past, present, and future of Holocaust studies.

If you missed these lectures, you can view them by clicking the names below:

Ackerman Center Distinguished Lecture: Dr. Yehuda Bauer, “Denial and Distortion of Holocaust Memory"

Michael and Elaine Jaffe Lecture: Dr. Mehnaz Afridi, “Shoah Through Muslim Eyes”

Mitchell L. and Miriam Lewis Barnett Lecture: Pieter Kohnstam, “A Chance to Live: A Family’s Journey to Freedom”

Preeminent Holocaust historian Dr. Yehuda Bauer, who attended the inaugural ASC in 1970, presented the first of three lectures of the day with the Ackerman Center Distinguished Lecture, “Denial and Distortion of Holocaust Memory.” Dr. Bauer discussed issues surrounding the history of denial and distortion of Holocaust memory that emerged both during and after the Second World War. He emphasized that the denial and distortion of memory should be at the center of concern for the post-Holocaust world for this and future generations.

Dr. Bauer is Professor Emeritus of History and Holocaust Studies at the Avraham Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Academic Advisor to Yad Vashem

Dr. Bauer pointed out that the earliest form of Holocaust denial originated during the Holocaust when the Nazis taunted Jewish prisoners by asserting that even if they survived that no one would believe them. Dr. Bauer argued that politics motivated the rise of Holocaust denial in the West. He remarked that the challenges that arose in the postwar period stemming from the efforts to establish democratic governments in formerly Nazi-controlled territories now under Allied occupation significantly impacted the construction of national narratives that required historical revision in order to move forward.

Dr. Bauer highlighted a crucial moment in the history of Holocaust denial occurred in 1999, with the court verdict that set a legal precedent declaring that “the Holocaust was a proven fact” resulting from legal proceedings initiated by infamous Holocaust denier David Irving, who brought a libel suit against renowned Holocaust historian Deborah Lipstadt in response to listing Irving as a prominent Holocaust denier in one of her books.

Dr. Bauer described distortion as a fundamentally different phenomenon that is utilized by various national collective groups to disavow them of any culpability in the perpetration of the genocide of the Jews. He further clarified that these groups do not deny that the Holocaust happened, nor do they dispute the extermination of the Jews, but that they differ from denial in how they define their collective agency of involvement in such crimes. Dr. Bauer outlined some of the common features that characterize Holocaust distortion narratives, including publicly sanctioned and professed specific national wartime roles that promote a collective identity based on stories of heroism, resistance, revolt, and rescue in terms of a united opposition to the Nazi invaders and in their efforts to save their Jewish population from extermination. Dr. Bauer argued that Holocaust distortion is significantly concerning for its deliberate omission of the participation of the local governments and populations in Nazi-occupied territories, of which without their collaboration the Final Solution would not have been possible.

Dr. Bauer concluded by emphasizing the importance of opposing Holocaust denial and distortion whenever it appears, and that the only way we can do so is to continue our commitment to Holocaust education, research, and the freedom of expression that freely allows public discourse about the history of the Holocaust.

Dr. Mehnaz Afridi, Director/HGI, Holocaust, Genocide & Interfaith Education Center, Manhattan College, presented this year’s Michael and Elaine Jaffe Lecture, based on her book, Shoah Through Muslim Eyes, where she discussed her research concerning the complexities of the perception of memory involved in the history of the Holocaust.

Dr. Afridi began the discussion by outlining her academic approach to studying the Holocaust as one that crosses multiple disciplines, which provides new ways of looking at the event from different historical perceptions and geographical areas. She highlighted the importance of exploring the geographies of the Holocaust that have often been overlooked in comprehensive histories of the subject. By expanding the traditional European territorial boundaries into North Africa and the Middle East provides a better understanding of the different realms of victimhood through a more inclusive history of the period.

Dr. Afridi concluded her lecture by emphasizing the importance of exploring understudied parts of perspective and collective memory that have been overlooked in the historiography of the Holocaust.

Pieter Kohnstam, Holocaust survivor and member of the Board of Directors for The Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect presented the Mitchell L. and Miriam Lewis Barnett Lecture “A Chance to Live: A Family’s Journey to Freedom,” based on his memoirs of growing up as a Jewish child fleeing Nazi persecution during the Holocaust.

Kohnstam shared his own experiences, as well as those of his immediate family that detailed his harrowing journey to freedom after being forced to flee for their lives multiple times to avoid being captured by the Nazis. His remarkable story of survival began before he was born when his father was forced to flee Germany for Amsterdam after being denounced as a producer of degenerative art. The experience of his parents highlights the radically changing circumstances for German Jews taking place in Germany prior to Hitler’s assumption of power in 1933.

An especially interesting portion of Kohnstam’s discussion involved the relationship between his family and the family of Otto Frank, the father of Anne Frank, who posthumously gained worldwide attention when Otto published her famous diary. The Kohnstam and Frank families resided in the same apartment building and developed a close relationship, visiting each other almost on a daily basis.

In 1942, when conditions worsened for the Jews of Amsterdam, both the Kohnstam and Frank families faced the difficult decision to flee, go into hiding, or report for deportation. While the Franks prepared to move into the Secret Annex, which would become their new home and hiding place, the Kohnstam family decided to leave Amsterdam, embarking upon an unimaginable journey that spanned through the Netherlands traveling south mostly on foot until they reached safety in Argentina.

Visit Pieter Kohnstam's official website to learn more about his incredible story.

Please join us for our annual Spring Lecture Series. You can find more information regarding each lecture and register for these and other events by visiting our events webpage.

The Ackerman Center began commemorating Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Yom HaShoah, in 2016 by having students, staff, faculty, and members of the community recite poems in various languages. This year's event will again be held virtually. Please check the event's webpage for highlights from previous years and updates about the details for this year as they develop.

If interested in participating by reading a poem or prose excerpt in any language, please contact cynthia.rogers@utdallas.edu.

Season 2 of the Ackerman Center Podcast began at the end of January. Each episode will focus on a specific event of the early years of the Third Reich.

Ackerman Center Podcast Episodes: Season 2:

Jan. 31: 1933 | The Reichstag Fire and the Enabling Act

March 14: 1934 | Hitler and Mussolini meet in Venice

Mar. 28: 1935 | Nuremberg Laws

April 25: 1936 | The Olympics in Berlin

*May 30:1937 | The Pacific War: The Rape of Nanking -and-

1938 | Eichmann and the “Office of Jewish Emigration”

All past and future episodes are available for streaming on the podcast's website and other streaming platforms.

*Note: the season finale on May 30th will have two episodes.