Anti-Defamation League Director Abraham Foxman Speaks at College of Saint Elizabeth, November 10, 2011

Posted on November 10, 2011

Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League and a Holocaust survivor, will share his Holocaust experiences at the College of Saint Elizabeth Kristallnacht Commemoration held November 10, 2011, at CSE. The event, which takes place in Dolan Performance Hall, Annunciation Center, at 7:30 p.m., is co-sponsored by the CSE Holocaust Education Resource Center and the Holocaust Council of MetroWest.

In addition to Foxman’s address, the evening, which is free and open to the public, includes music by the CSE Elizabeth Singers and a dessert reception sponsored by CSE alumna Yolanda Kunz, ’68, and her husband, Raymond.

Kristallnacht, or Night of Broken Glass, took place in Germany and Austria on November 9-10, 1938, when Jews were attacked and their homes, businesses, and synagogues were destroyed. The activities of that night signaled the beginning of the Holocaust.

The commemoration is part of the 21^st Annual College of Saint Elizabeth Week of Holocaust Remembrance, November 7 to 11, 2011. The week’s activities include in-class faculty sessions that are open to the public. These sessions include testimony by Holocaust survivors, four film screenings, and discussions. For more information about the week’s activities, visit www.cse.edu/holocaustcenter.

Foxman Brings Extensive Background in Jewish Issues

Foxman, who joined the ADL in 1965 and has been its national director since 1987, is world-renowned as a leader in the fight against anti-Semitism, bigotry and discrimination. He is the author of Jews & Money: The Story of a Stereotype; The Deadliest Lies: The Israel Lobby and the Myth of Jewish Control; Never Again?; and The Threat of the New Anti-Semitism. He was a member of the President’s United States Holocaust Memorial Council, appointed by Presidents Reagan, Bush and Clinton. He has been a participant in official Presidential delegations to special events in Europe and Israel.

Born in Poland in 1940, Mr. Foxman was saved from the Holocaust by his Polish Catholic nursemaid who baptized and raised him as a Catholic during the war years.  His parents survived the war, but 14 members of his family were lost. He arrived in America in 1950 with his parents. He has a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the City College of the City University of New York, graduating with honors in history. He holds a J.D. degree from New York University School of Law. He also did graduate work in advanced Judaic studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary and in international economics at The New School for Social Research. Foxman is fluent in several languages.