Northeastern University Holocaust Awareness Committee
ELEVFl\TTH ANlvUAL
ROBERT SALOMOI\rlv10RTON 2\1EMORIALLEC11IRE
Thursday, May 22, 2003 Blackman Auditorium Ell Hall
HOLOCAUST AWARENESS:
A Time To Bear Witness 2003 Robert Salomon Morton Born in 1906 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Robert Salomon Morton was educated in the school of the Orthodox Synagogue, Kahal Adath Jeshurun. He was not only a witness to, but the personal target of Nazi persecution in the years leading up to the Second World War. A particularly harrowing experience in 1934 convinced him that he had no choice but to apply for emigration to the United States - thi s took three years, but finally resulted in his arrival in Boston. For many years he and his wife, Sophie, were caretakers and caterers of the Hillel Foundation at Harvard University.
It was during his time at Hillel that a chance meeting at a barbershop brought Mr. Morton together with Bill Giessen, then a postdoctoral fellow at MIT who had grown up and was educated in Germany during and following the Nazi period. The long-time friendship and ongoing conversation that resulted from this meeting helped to foster a sense of discovery between the two men. The annual Morton Lecture has been created as a way of memorializing a personality, which embodied a spirit of reconciliation and understanding. Past Morton Lecturers
1994- Dr. Michael Berenbaum Director of The Research Institute, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
1995 - Anja Rasmus German author, Historian and the subject of the film, "Nasty Girl"
1996 -Allan A. Ryan Internationally known author, lecturer and commentator, Professor of Human Rights, Boston College
1997 - John Weiss Professor of History, Lehman College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York
1998 - Pierre Sauvage Documentary Filmmaker, President of the Chambon Foundation
1999- James E. Young Professor of English and Judaic Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst
2000- AI Staggs Chaplain of Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas; Playwright
2001 - Deborah Lipstadt Dorot Professor of Modem Jewish and Holocaust Studies at Emory University, Atlanta
2002- Dr. Robert Mel son Award winning author and Professor of Political Science at Purdue University PROGRAM Welcome and Introductions Ann Grenell, Chair Holocaust Awareness Committee Address: Tim Blake Nelson
TIM BLAKE NELSON, is a graduate of Brown University and theJulliard Theather Center. As an actor, writer, and director, he is known to audiences for his versatility in film, behind the lens, and as a playwright.
As an actor, Nelson recently co-starred in ''The Good Girl" opposite Jennifer Aniston, in Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report," and the Coen Brother's ac claimed hit "0 Brother here Art Thou?" with George Clooney and John Turturro. Nelson is currently featured in Disney's "Holes" opposite Sigourney Weaver and Jon Voight. He has also acted extensively in New York Theatre.
As a playwright, Nelson's productions include "Eye of God" and "Anadarko." Nelson's second film "0", a contemporary adaption of Shakespeare's Othello, garned him a Best Director nod at the at the 2001 Seattle Film Festival and earned boxoffice and critical acclaim.
Nelson's ''The Grey Zone," which he wrote and directed, stars Harvey Keitel, Steve Buscemi, Mira Sorvino, David Arquette, Allan Corduner and Natasha Lyonne. ''The Grey Zone," based on actual events, is a dramatic story of the Sonderkommandos, one of the special squads of Jewish prisoners, placed by the Nazis in the excruciating moral dilemma of helping to exterminate fellow Jews in exchange for a few more months of life. The films chronicles the Sonderkommandos stuggle to organize the only armed revolt that would ever take place at Auchwitz.
''The Grey Zone is the story of the people trying desperately to give their lives meaning in a place designed to Kill," says Tim Blake Nelson. "Each character has a different definition of what a meaningful life is. And whilde there are peopel who act heroically at given points, this is not a film about heroes." The Commemoration is Administered by the Spiritual Life Office
The activities of the Commemoration have been planned by
The Holocaust Awareness Committee
Philip N. Backstrom, Jr. Walter Lind Samuel J. Bernstein Debra Mandel Christian Braidotti Jared McBride Kathy Brenner Beth Meltzer, Chaplain Janet Carr William Miles Ava Costello David Phillips Miriam Diamond Vivan Rubinstein Bill Giessen Diann Siegel Arvin Grabel Sally Solomon Colin Gracey, Chaplain Kristin Stanley, Co-Chair Ann Grenell, Chair Howard N. Steinberg Gerald Herman Helene Tischler JoshuaJacobson James Weiss Debra Kaufman Esther Williams Joan Krizack Michael Woodnick, Director, SLO Liz Larcano, Secretary Elizabeth Wyka Dara Liguori
Our sponsors are: Erust and Gustel Giessen Memorial Fund, Spiritual Life Office, History Department, Northeastern University Hillel, Office of the President, Office of the Provost, School of Law, Snell Library, Center for Interdisciplary Studies, Vivian Rubinstein, University College - School of General Studies. http://www atsweb.neu.edu/holocaust