Lev Raphael will be visiting NMU’s campus and the Marquette community from Sunday, April 7 through Tuesday, April 9 to discuss second-generation Holocaust survivors and the effects of genocide on future generations.
Carol Strauss, a German studies professor at NMU, along with Temple Beth Sholom, the Marquette Interfaith Forum and various NMU departments coordinated the events across the Marquette community.
“We thought to broaden the discussion about the Holocaust beyond this Holocaust, and hopefully there will never be another one like that,” Strauss said. “But there have been genocides and there continues to be genocides so we want to broaden it to that subject.”
A Holocaust Memorial Service will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 7 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on 201 Ridge St. in Marquette.
Raphael will be the keynote speaker for the event, “Healing Hatred,” along with multiple faith group members leading in prayers and songs.
“I think it’s also important to have the emphasis on that it’s not being held at a temple,” Strauss said. “It’s being held by the Interfaith Forum. It’s fantastic that this community has that connection.”
According to Strauss, the focus of “Healing Hatred” will be on the genocides happening around the world today.
“If we don’t have a continual reminder of genocide then we either don’t care about the fact that it’s taking place even today as we speak somewhere in the world but that we tend to think that the Holocaust was a horrible phenomenon and that it has passed and that this can’t happen again,” Strauss said.
Raphael will also meet with the NMU Holocaust and Modern Language classes on Monday, April 8 to talk with students on “Pasts Present: Memory, Identity and Time.”
Raphael will also present “Unexpected Journey: A Jewish-American Author Discovers Germany and Himself” at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 8 in the Lake Erie Room of the University Center.
He will be presenting his memoir “My Germany” with a discussion to follow.
“Both events are going to be very different, they will be educational and they will also be entertaining even though some people don’t think it’s possible that anything involving the Holocaust can be entertaining,” Raphael said. “But they will learn a lot and both events should be thought provoking. Students will have ample opportunities to ask questions so that their voices can be heard too.”
Along with the Holocaust Memorial Service and visiting NMU students on campus, Raphael will be visiting Gwinn High School on Tuesday, April 9.
Both events will be offered free of charge to students, faculty, and the Marquette community.
Lev’s presentations are co-sponsored by Marquette community organizations and university offices, which include the Marquette Interfaith Forum, Temple Beth Sholom, NMU President’s Committee on Diversity, ALLIES, Office of the Provost, College of Arts and Sciences, Departments of History and Modern Languages and Literatures.
Lev Raphael is the author of 24 books in a wide variety of genres. Many of his books have been translated into dozens of languages. He has also published hundreds of stories, essays, articles and reviews in newspapers, magazines and journals.
Raphael has done hundreds of invited readings and speaking tours across the United States, Canada and Western Europe.
For more information about the event or Lev Raphael email [email protected] or visit Raphael’s website at www.levraphael.com.
