Max Eisen Lecture in Holocaust Studies
Trent University honours the memory of Dr. Max Eisen C.M. '18 (hon) through an endowed lecture that continues his legacy of educating the public about the Holocaust and upholding human rights.
Dr. Eisen (1929 – 2022) was a Holocaust survivor who travelled to schools and community centres across Canada to tell his stories about surviving the horrors of the Second World War. He was appointed a member of the Order of Canada – the nation’s highest honour – for his commitment to Holocaust education. Dr. Eisen was also an award-winning author who shared his experiences in Auschwitz in his best-selling memoir By Chance Alone. Dr. Eisen believed deeply in the value of education, not just as a personal value, but as a reflection of his Jewish values and culture that the Nazis tried to destroy. Trent University was fortunate to host Dr. Eisen on several occasions to share his stories with students, staff, faculty, and the greater community. In 2018, Trent awarded Dr. Eisen an honorary degree in recognition of his efforts in Holocaust education and the promotion of human rights.
The Max Eisen Lecture in Holocaust Studies is an endowment initiative begun by Professor Emerita Carolyn Kay, who won multiple teaching awards and served as principal of Lady Eaton College over her 32-year career.
After losing Prof. Kay to cancer in December of 2023, her family, colleagues, former students, and friends committed to honouring her dedication to Holocaust Studies with this annual lecture. Those who wish to support this effort are welcome to contribute to the endowment through the donate button on the side menu.
The Shattering of the Assumptive World: A Family Story
Dr. Peter Suedfeld
Dean and Professor Emeritus, University of British Columbia
Monday, September 23, 2024
7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Market Hall Performing Arts Centre (140 Charlotte Street, Peterborough)
Lecture Recording
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.
About Peter Suedfeld
Peter Suedfeld was born in Budapest, Hungary. In the 1940s, his Jewish family was forcibly scattered by the Nazi occupiers and their local supporters. Many relatives, including his mother, died in Auschwitz; others were slave labourers on the front lines of the war, or in the ghetto of Budapest, under dire circumstances. After the war, the survivors reunited; most left Hungary. Peter survived in an orphanage, as a hidden child with false documents. He and his father eventually emigrated to the U.S. Peter moved to Canada in 1972, and until his retirement worked at UBC, first as Professor and Head of the Department of Psychology and later as Dean of Graduate Studies. Most of his over 300 scientific publications and eight books examine how human beings cope and thrive despite challenging, adverse, dangerous, and even traumatic circumstances. Among many other honours, he has been invested as an Officer of the Order of Canada, elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and selected to receive the first honorary doctorate conferred by the Université de Nîmes.