Rider University will host the annual Dorothy Koppelman Memorial Holocaust Lecture through the Julius and Dorothy Koppelman Holocaust/Genocide Resource Center on Sunday, May 18, at 1 p.m. in the Bart Luedeke Center Cavalla Room. Stanlee Stahl, the executive vice president of The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous (JFR), will deliver event’s keynote address. Stahl, a renowned expert on Holocaust rescue, will detail the work of the men and women who risked their lives, as well as the lives of their families, to rescue, save and hide Jews during the World War II-era pogrom carried out by Nazi Germany.

In particular, Stahl will focus on the theme of Rescue in Poland, where, under Nazi occupation, all members of a household faced death if they were found to be harboring Jews in their homes – the most severe penalty for the offense in all of occupied Europe.  These rescuers are immortalized today by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority in Israel, as the “Righteous Among Nations,” or “Righteous Gentiles” – non-Jews who risked their loves to save Jews during the Holocaust.
The New York-based JFR was founded in 1986 for the dual purpose of Holocaust education and to provide pensions and other financial assistance to rescuers who survive today. “We have a debt that can never be repaid to the men and women who rescued Jews during the Holocaust,” Stahl said. “Their stories will endure as models of the best in human behavior during the worst of times.”
In addition to preserving the legacy of the rescuers and documenting their stories, the JFR also provides financial help to support more than 1,200 rescuers in 26 countries who are, by now, aging and often living in poverty.

The Dorothy Koppelman Memorial Holocaust Lecture is a tribute to a woman who gave generously of her time and resources to sustain the center, now named for her and her husband, according to Dr. Harvey Kornberg, associate professor of Political Science and co-director of the Julius and Dorothy Koppelman Holocaust Center.

The Holocaust/Genocide Resource Center was established at Rider in 1984 to gather and disseminate educational material and to explore the ramifications of the Holocaust and other genocides through conferences, discussion groups and workshops. The Center serves the University, other institutions of higher learning, secondary and primary schools, and the community. In 1993, the Center was renamed to honor Julius and Dorothy Koppelman, whose commitment and generosity has guaranteed the Center’s continued existence.

Each year at its annual dinner, the JFR has reunited a survivor and a rescuer, flying them in from wherever in the world they may now live. The JFR also runs an internationally lauded Holocaust teacher education program for middle and high school teachers and Holocaust center personnel.