Max Eisen Lecture on Holocaust Studies
If you misserd Trent University’s inaugural Max Eisen Lecture in Holocaust Studies this past September (2024) entitled The Shattering of the Assumptive World: A Family Story presented by Dr. Peter Suedfeld, the full recording can be found here. It is a deeply impactful narrative of Dr. Suedfeld’s family, their Holocaust experiences, and the lasting outcomes.
Lecture Abstract:
Two families, joined in marriage, lived as ordinary Hungarian citizens for several centuries. Their accustomed way of life changed drastically when in the 1940s the Holocaust focused on the Jews of Hungary. Over the next few years, they lost all rights, possessions, and protection from the state. Eventually, all younger men became slave labourers for the army; other family members were deported to concentration camps, mostly to Auschwitz, where many were murdered; and most of the rest were crammed into the ghetto. Peter, the sole child in both families, was hidden in an orphanage. The talk describes the diverse nature of their experiences and of how the survivors rebuilt their lives, with new homes, new work, and in some cases new families.