“…there is something utterly mysterious in old photographs, that they are almost designed to be lost, they’re in an album which vanishes in an attic or in a box, and if they come to light they do accidentally, you stumble upon them. The way in which these stray pictures cross your paths, it has something at once totally coincidental and fateful about it. Then of course you begin to puzzle over them, and it’s from that that much of the desire to write about them comes.” [1] – W.G. Sebald Isabelle (left) and Leopold Szneer (right) in Blankenberge, Belgium, 1949 [2] On November 7, 2023 ..read more

The Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Memorial Library’s Oskar Schindler Archive is pleased to announce the publication of a new research guide (also known as “LibGuides” or “library guides”) on Holocaust History. It will connect Chapman University students, faculty, and staff with resources to support their research and scholarly activities on the history of the Holocaust. With multiple objectives in mind, we created this guide to: Identify databases, e-books, etc., on topics and themes related to the history of the Holocaust. Provide tips and guide researchers in using the above resource ..read more

After a year of virtual events absent the excitement that comes from sharing in-person programs, the Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education resumes on-campus events this fall. As we have seen so often over the last year, bringing awareness and knowledge of the Holocaust to our students and to the broader community is more crucial than ever. False analogies between current events and the events of the Holocaust abound and are a constant reminder of the fragility of memory and the dangers posed by antisemitism and other forms of bigotry. Unfortunately, each year there are fewer and fewer survivo ..read more

Join us for our virtual commemoration at 7 p.m. on April 21. Accessing the event link prior to this time may result in an error message. Save the event to your calendar on our events page. In this difficult time of separation, we at the Rodgers Center send you our heartfelt wishes for your continued health and safety. We deeply miss the opportunity to come together as a community at our spring events. A few weeks ago, we regretfully canceled the awards ceremony for the 21st Annual Holocaust Art and Writing Contest—an event that is the culmination of a year of work. We plan to have a virtual ce ..read more

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the Soviet army’s liberation of Auschwitz, the largest concentration camp complex established by Nazi Germany. Built in a swamp near the town of Oświęcim, Poland, it came to be comprised of three camps: a prison camp, a killing center, and a forced labor camp. Jews were transported by train to Auschwitz from 1942 to November 1944. In mid-January 1945, as the Soviet Union Army approached the camp, the Schutzstaffel (SS) guards began evacuating prisoners from Auschwitz. Nearly 60,000 prisoners were sent west or northwest on death marches. All prisoners suffere ..read more

Tiana Taliep is an Archivist for the Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Memorial Library and Archive at Chapman University since September 2017. Previously, she worked as a Processing Archivist at the New York Public Library. Tiana earned her B.A. in History from  Brooklyn College, and Master’s in Library and Information Science with a certification in Archives and Preservation of Cultural Material from Queens College. She is a second-year student in the War and Society Mater’s program at Chapman University. This summer I was privileged to be one of 20 participants from over 400 applicants ..read more

On January 13, 2020, the Oskar Schindler Archive received a donation from Mitchell Raff, whose father, Moshe Rafalowicz (Mac Raff), survived the Holocaust. Rafalowicz was born on December 12, 1919, in Sosnowiec, Poland. Before the invasion and occupation by Nazi Germany, Moshe worked as an upholster. He was liberated from Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on April 15, 1945. The materials in this collection date from 1945 to 1957. The 12 years that separate his displaced persons camp card and his certificate of naturalization indicate the struggles of postwar displacement and statelessness for J ..read more

This fall, the Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education and the Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Memorial Library welcomed archivist Alec Kirkwood to the team. He will be working with the collections in the Oskar Schindler Archive and assisting students and outside scholars with research requests. Learn more about Alec and his role with the Rodgers Center and Samueli Holocaust Memorial Library in the interview below: 1. What is your name and title?My name is Alec Kirkwood, and I am the Archivist for the Oskar Schindler Archive. 2. In what department of the Leatherby Libraries do you work?My depar ..read more

In Douma, Syria, a horrific poison gas attack takes 60 lives and injures thousands more.  Once again, we are confronted by the inhumanity of humanity.  With suffering and death, murder and brutality, in the here and now, why bother to remember what occurred more than 70 years ago? In his latest book, In Broad Daylight: The Secret Procedures behind the Holocaust by Bullets, Father Patrick Desbois, who will speak at the annual Evening of Holocaust Remembrance at Chapman University on Thursday, April 12, at 7 p.m., reflects on that question and much more.  In his chilling account o ..read more

The Oskar Schindler Archive has been fortunate to have Will Hoskin as an Archivist Intern since September 2021. He is an Animation and Visual Effects major and a Holocaust History minor and has utilized a cross-disciplinary approach to working in an Archive. Will was kind enough to answer some questions for us. How did you get involved with the Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Memorial Library and Oskar Schindler Archive?When I was a sophomore here at Chapman, I began looking into some history classes to fill my GEs. I came across Dr. Harran’s Germany and the Holocaust class, and enrolled. I lo ..read more