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2023 Powell-Heller Conference for Holocaust Education:

“Africa and the Holocaust”

Oct. 25-27, 2023
Thanks to the generosity of donors this event is free and open to the public.

The 15th Annual Powell-Heller Conference for Holocaust Education will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 25th – Friday, Oct. 27th in the Anderson University Center, Regency Room. Our conference will explore “Africa and the Holocaust” as its theme. In this conference our speakers will be exploring the under-researched experience of Jews living on the continent of Africa and how World War II and antisemitic policies impacted those communities. It will also delve into the Jewish refugee experience, Jewish-Muslim relations in African countries, and how the legacy of colonialism intersects with genocide. Keynote speakers’ information will be forthcoming.

  • Nancy Powell speaks before the keynote address titled “Sub-Saharan Africans and the Holocaust” during the 15th Annual Powell-Heller Conference for Holocaust Education, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023, at PLU. (PLU Photo / Emma Stafki).
    Nancy Powell speaks before the keynote address titled “Sub-Saharan Africans and the Holocaust” during the 15th Annual Powell-Heller Conference for Holocaust Education, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023, at PLU. (PLU Photo / Emma Stafki).
  • Convener and faculty emeritus Robert Erickson introduces Dr. Edward Kissi, Associate Professor in the Department of Africana Studies at the University of South Florida, before his keynote address titled “Sub-Saharan Africans and the Holocaust” during the 15th Annual Powell-Heller Conference for Holocaust Education, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023, at PLU. (PLU Photo / Emma Stafki).
    Convener and faculty emeritus Robert Erickson introduces Dr. Edward Kissi, Associate Professor in the Department of Africana Studies at the University of South Florida, before his keynote address titled “Sub-Saharan Africans and the Holocaust” during the 15th Annual Powell-Heller Conference for Holocaust Education, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023, at PLU. (PLU Photo / Emma Stafki).
  • Dr. Edward Kissi, Associate Professor in the Department of Africana Studies at the University of South Florida, delivers his keynote address titled “Sub-Saharan Africans and the Holocaust” during the 15th Annual Powell-Heller Conference for Holocaust Education, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023, at PLU. (PLU Photo / Emma Stafki).
    Dr. Edward Kissi, Associate Professor in the Department of Africana Studies at the University of South Florida, delivers his keynote address titled “Sub-Saharan Africans and the Holocaust” during the 15th Annual Powell-Heller Conference for Holocaust Education, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023, at PLU. (PLU Photo / Emma Stafki).
  • Dr. Elizabeth Baer, Research Professor of English and African Studies at Gustavus Adolphus College, delivers her speech titled “German Genocide in Africa and the Third Reich: Imperialism, Race, and Sexual Violence” during the 15th Annual Powell-Heller Conference for Holocaust Education, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, in the AUC at PLU. (PLU Photo / Sy Bean)
    Dr. Elizabeth Baer, Research Professor of English and African Studies at Gustavus Adolphus College, delivers her speech titled “German Genocide in Africa and the Third Reich: Imperialism, Race, and Sexual Violence” during the 15th Annual Powell-Heller Conference for Holocaust Education, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, in the AUC at PLU. (PLU Photo / Sy Bean)
  • Dr. Terrence Peterson, Assistant Professor at Florida International University and a faculty affiliate in the Holocaust and Genocide Studies Program at FIU, delivers his speech titled “Vichy and the Jews of Tunisia at the Crossroads of Colonialism and the Shoah,” during the 15th Annual Powell-Heller Conference for Holocaust Education, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, in the AUC at PLU. (PLU Photo / Sy Bean)
    Dr. Terrence Peterson, Assistant Professor at Florida International University and a faculty affiliate in the Holocaust and Genocide Studies Program at FIU, delivers his speech titled “Vichy and the Jews of Tunisia at the Crossroads of Colonialism and the Shoah,” during the 15th Annual Powell-Heller Conference for Holocaust Education, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, in the AUC at PLU. (PLU Photo / Sy Bean)
  • Carol Heller speaks before the keynote address titled “Wartime North Africa” during the 15th Annual Powell-Heller Conference for Holocaust Education, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, at PLU. (PLU Photo / Emma Stafki).
    Carol Heller speaks before the keynote address titled “Wartime North Africa” during the 15th Annual Powell-Heller Conference for Holocaust Education, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, at PLU. (PLU Photo / Emma Stafki).
  • Convener Dr. Christopher Browning, the Frank Porter Graham Professor of History at the University of North Carolina, introduces Sarah Abrevaya Stein before her the keynote address titled “Wartime North Africa” during the 15th Annual Powell-Heller Conference for Holocaust Education, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, at PLU. (PLU Photo / Emma Stafki).
    Convener Dr. Christopher Browning, the Frank Porter Graham Professor of History at the University of North Carolina, introduces Sarah Abrevaya Stein before her the keynote address titled “Wartime North Africa” during the 15th Annual Powell-Heller Conference for Holocaust Education, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, at PLU. (PLU Photo / Emma Stafki).
  • Sarah Abrevaya Stein, the Sady and Ludwig Kahn Director of the Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies and the Viterbi Family Chair in Mediterranean Jewish Studies at UCLA, delivers her the keynote address titled “Wartime North Africa” during the 15th Annual Powell-Heller Conference for Holocaust Education, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, at PLU. (PLU Photo / Emma Stafki).
    Sarah Abrevaya Stein, the Sady and Ludwig Kahn Director of the Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies and the Viterbi Family Chair in Mediterranean Jewish Studies at UCLA, delivers her the keynote address titled “Wartime North Africa” during the 15th Annual Powell-Heller Conference for Holocaust Education, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, at PLU. (PLU Photo / Emma Stafki).

PLU’s mission to support the education of our students and larger community on issues of diversity and justice are intimately connected to the study of the tragedy of the Holocaust. Students can see that marginalization of a minority group, such as the Jews of Nazi Germany, can lead to life-threatening situations culminating in one of the world’s modern genocides. Issues of distortion and denial make the process of reconciliation and healing less likely and serve as an insult to the memory of all those whose lives were destroyed in the Holocaust.

Conference Schedule

Check out this year’s conference schedule.

Schedule

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