Worlds We Have Lost: A Dialogue

The Bullock Texas State History Museum and the Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies present a discussion and remembrance of the fabric of life lost to war and genocide. Steven J. Fenves, a Holocaust survivor of a Hungarian-speaking Jewish family from Yugoslavia, and historian Robert H. Abzug will discuss a central reality of Nazi genocide often obscured by the lurid sensationalism of Nazi propaganda and the haunting scenes from the liberated camps—the near complete annihilation of irreplaceable communities of Jewish individuals, families, and institutions.

Dr. Fenves will describe the family and society in which he was raised and its destruction at the hands of the Nazis and local collaborators, as perceived and remembered by a thirteen-year old boy. He will attempt to address the question of how much the Jews in his town knew and feared what their fate might be, as well as how much they might have repressed. Most of all, he will discuss what was lost in the way of cultural richness and continuity as well as human life.

The evening's program will include an introduction by Gregory L. Fenves, President of the University of Texas at Austin. A reception will follow the program.

Please note: RSVPs to this event are currently at capacity. There will be a standby line at the door and if space becomes available, guests in standby will be seated on a first come first served basis.

About the Panel

Steven J. Fenves is a University Professor Emeritus, Civil and Environmental Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. Until his retirement from active teaching in 1998, Fenves worked in the research fields of design standards, engineering databases, knowledge-based systems, machine learning, and comprehensive design environments. He currently lives in Washington, D.C. where he shares his stories of growing up during World War II and the Holocaust with the public at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Robert H. Abzug is Audre and Bernard Rapoport Regents Chair of Jewish Studies and Professor of History and American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. He is also the founding Director of the University's Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies (2007-). Abzug has written in a number of areas but all of his work centers on the creation and evolution of moral and ethical sensibilities in American society. Abzug has been a faculty member at the University of Texas since 1978 and held the Eric Voegelin Visiting Professorship at the University of Munich in 1990-91.

State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda education programs sponsored by Lisa and Sandy Gottesman.

State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda sponsored by the Albert and Ethel Herzstein Hall Fund and Jeanne and Michael L. Klein. Additional support by The Stanford and Joan Alexander Foundation, the Pearlman Family Foundation, the Friedel Family Foundation, and The Rollins M. and Amalie L. Koppel Foundation.

Support for the Bullock Museum's exhibitions and education programs provided by the Texas State History Museum Foundation.