羞羞视频

Donation of听massive collection documenting the Holocaust preserves material amassed to refute Holocaust deniers and boosts CU-羞羞视频鈥檚 archives that chronicles post-Holocaust Judaism, particularly in the West

In his 羞羞视频 office, David Shneer gestured to material on his table. A rare book there documents the sketches of the building of Auschwitz. Only five copies exist, and the Mazal Holocaust Collection, recently donated to the university, has two.

鈥淭he actual operations of genocide, we鈥檙e going to learn a lot more about that,鈥� said Shneer, the Louis P. Singer Chair in Jewish History and director of the Program in Jewish Studies.

The donation of the Mazal Holocaust Collection to CU-羞羞视频 is indisputably significant. This is a collection that initially grew from a man鈥檚 passion to document the falsehoods spread by Holocaust deniers, and it has been used in court for just that purpose.

It is the life work of Harry W. Mazal, a retired businessman from Mexico City who made San Antonio, Texas, his home and became an internationally recognized Holocaust collector and researcher.

But Shneer says the Mazal Holocaust Collection is broader than its name suggests. It documents a story of 鈥渄arkness to light, death to life鈥� in post-Holocaust America and Europe.

Considered the world鈥檚 largest privately owned Holocaust archive and the most significant U.S. collection outside of the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., the collection comprises more than 20,000 books and 500,000 documents, pamphlets, photographs and other materials, including original transcripts of the Nuremburg trials. Five thousand of the volumes are limited editions and rare books.

As a historian of the 20th century Jewish experience, though, Shneer is especially interested in how people remember World War II. 鈥淭his archive will now become one of the premier places to study memory, especially in places behind the former Iron Curtain, in, say, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and even the Soviet Union, where our American research libraries are actually quite poor.鈥�

CU-羞羞视频 now has rare volumes from the late 1940s of survivors living in Poland and writing in Yiddish about their experiences during the Holocaust.

鈥淚 am constantly blown away by the materials that are in our archive,鈥� Shneer said. On his desk sat aerial photographs of Birkenau and Auschwitz taken in 1944 鈥渄ocumenting the unfolding of the war through the lens of war photographers.鈥�

鈥淗olocaust denial is not something one can rationally argue with, because it鈥檚 not really an argument based in reason. It鈥檚 an argument based in particular prejudices like anti-Semitism.鈥�

Yet Holocaust denial persists, even in college classrooms, Shneer noted. 鈥淭he archive here at CU-羞羞视频 is now going to be a key source for arguing against that kind of contemporary Holocaust denial.

鈥淭his archive is obviously primarily about the Holocaust because that鈥檚 what the collector鈥檚 initial impetus was,鈥� Shneer said. 鈥淏ut it was very clear to me when I was down in San Antonio that he was not just interested in proving that the Holocaust happened. He was also interested in the fact of Jews鈥� survival.鈥�

The documents CU-羞羞视频 will preserve with this archive are broader than a repository of evidence further documenting the historical truth of the Holocaust, Shneer said.

Taken as a whole, the collection is a 鈥渄arkness-to-light, death-to-life story,鈥� he said. In some respects it differs from collections such as Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, the world鈥檚 largest archive dedicated to the Holocaust.

鈥淭he story of 鈥榙arkness to light鈥� at Yad Vashem is from the Holocaust to the founding of a nation-state for Jews. From a place of powerlessness in Europe, Jews move to a place of power in the state of Israel,鈥� Shneer said.

鈥淎nd that鈥檚 not untrue. It鈥檚 just not the story we want to tell here,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he story we want to tell here is what happens to Judaism, the culture and life that Jews maintained after the war and Holocaust.鈥�

"Holocaust denial is not something one can rationally argue with, because it鈥檚 not really an argument based in reason. It鈥檚 an argument based in particular prejudices like anti-Semitism.鈥�

While critically important, the material on the Holocaust is one part of the story the archives tell, he said. 鈥淭he story we tell here at the University of Colorado is that after the Holocaust, the United States became the primary, global generator of forward thinking forms of Jewish culture, life and religion.鈥�

Shneer acknowledges that this assessment is provocative. 鈥淚t鈥檚 effectively what one might call a post-Zionist argument. If a Zionist argument suggests that Jews needed a nation-state to protect Jews, a post-Zionist statement doesn鈥檛 say that鈥檚 not true, but it says that鈥檚 not the only truth to be told.鈥�

Quoting Rabbi Irwin Kula, from Clal in New York, credited with being an intellectual inspiration for the ideas underpinning the archive, Shneer said now that the world is generally safe for Jews, it鈥檚 time to stop worrying about the continuity of the people and time to start worrying about the purpose of the people. 鈥淲hat do this group of people who call themselves Jews have to contribute to the global conversation? We鈥檙e telling that story here at CU.鈥�

Shneer puts it another way. 鈥淚f Jews, for the previous 2,000 years, have been an embattled minority, and Judaism therefore took shape in that social reality of being an embattled minority in the Mediterranean and Europe, what happens鈥攁nd this is what鈥檚 so radical鈥攚hen Jews are no longer an embattled minority, like in the United States?鈥�

The Mazal Holocaust Collection will be housed within the Archive of Post-Holocaust American Judaism. This archive examines Judaism and the Jewish experience through the lens of religious, cultural and social movements in America, as well as various philosophies of Judaism and Jewish organizations from the late 1940s to the present.

The Archive of Post-Holocaust American Judaism includes the most complete collection of materials documenting the Jewish Renewal movement, including the personal collection from the movement鈥檚 founder, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, as well as rabbis Arthur Waskow, Leah Novick and Michael Lerner, who also is editor of Tikkun magazine. Together these collections describe the revitalization of Judaism in America since World War II, emphasizing the cultural, ethical and mystical traditions in Judaism and Jewish culture that blossomed in the postwar United States.

Noted scholar Shaul Magid, professor of religious studies and the Jay and Jeannie Schottenstein Chair in Modern Judaism at Indiana University Bloomington, who recently served as the Bender Visiting Scholar at CU, champions ideas demonstrated by CU-羞羞视频鈥檚 Archive of Post-Holocaust American Judaism in his most recent book on American Post-Judaism.

鈥淭he Mazal Holocaust Library was everything to Harry,鈥� said daughter Aimee Mazal Skillin of Lone Tree, Colo. 鈥淚t was his heart and soul, and he made it his mission to debunk Holocaust deniers. His archive material was vast and CU has the capability to maintain, restore and share these valuable resources with the world.鈥�

The materials were donated to Archives and Special Collections in CU-羞羞视频鈥檚 University Libraries and the Program in Jewish Studies. 鈥淭he collection will enhance scholarship and support research initiatives in a variety of disciplines and programs,鈥� said Steven Leigh, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

鈥淥ne of Harry鈥檚 missions in life was education,鈥� said Skillin. 鈥淭he fact that CU has the resources to make these archives available to students and scholars alike promotes education of the Holocaust. We have no doubt that Harry is smiling from above and are grateful that his collection will live on and continue to educate.鈥�

The Program in Jewish Studies is seeking help to make this collection available to the public; The听听has been established for this purpose, and donations can be made on-line听.听