Event Canceled: Kristallnacht Commemoration Lecture
2025-11-09 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, 401 Elmgrove Ave, Providence, Rhode Island, 02906, United States
Event Update: Kristallnacht Commemoration Event Canceled

Due to an ongoing power outage, the Kristallnacht Commemoration event scheduled for this evening has been canceled.

Although we cannot gather in person tonight, we invite everyone to take a moment of reflection wherever they are. Remember the lives shattered during the night of broken glass and reaffirm our shared responsibility to confront antisemitism and hatred in all its forms.

Thank you for your understanding and for standing with us in remembrance.

Commemorate by learning at a lecture with Professor Michael S. Bryant on how Hitler balanced law and violence, culminating in the Kristallnacht pogrom of November 1938.

Shattered storefront of a Jewish-owned shop damaged during Kristallnacht, Berlin, Germany, November 10, 1938. National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD.

Saints and Liars: The Story of Americans Who Saved Refugees from the Nazis
2025-12-04 18:00 - 19:30 | Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, 401 Elmgrove Ave, Providence, Rhode Island, 02906, United States
Debórah Dwork

Join us for an evening with renowned historian Debórah Dwork, Director of the Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at the CUNY Graduate Center. In conversation with Dr. Laura Auketayeva, Dwork will discuss her acclaimed new book, Saints and Liars: The Story of Americans Who Saved Refugees from the Nazis. Through letters, diaries, and personal accounts, Dwork uncovers the little-known stories of American relief and rescue workers who, long before the U.S. entered the war, risked everything to help Jews and dissidents escape Nazi persecution.

Free and Open to Public

BAXT Lecture Series--The Stages of Memory: Reflections on Holocaust Memorials and Cultural Memory
2025-12-07 11:30 - 12:30 | Temple Beth-El, 70 Orchard Ave, 70 Orchard Avenue, Providence, RI, 02906, United States
The Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center is honored to welcome Professor James E. Young (University of Massachusetts Amherst) as the Fall 2025 BAXT Lecturer.

Professor Young will present a lecture based on his acclaimed book The Stages of Memory, with new reflections and updates on Holocaust memorials, cultural memory, and the public dimensions of remembrance.

Coffee and pastries will be served before the program. Guests are invited to stay afterward for an informal conversation.

Free and open to public.

A Family Story of Escape: The Kindertransport
2025-12-11 18:00 - 19:15 | Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, 401 Elmgrove Ave, Providence, Rhode Island, 02906, United States
ADULT ED: Join us for a program with Jeanne Gottfried, educator and 2G speaker, as she shares personal reflections on her mother Kitty’s escape from Vienna on the Kindertransport and her journey to safety in England.

Free and open to the public.

Child from the first Kindertransport upon arrival in Harwich, December 2, 1938 (Sueddeutsche Zeitung Photo)

AI and Genocide Denialism: A Growing Movement
2026-01-08 18:00 - 19:15 | Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, 401 Elmgrove Ave, Providence, Rhode Island, 02906, United States
Artificial intelligence has opened new opportunities for learning, communication, and research. Yet the same technology is also being used to spread falsehoods, manipulate images and voices, and fuel dangerous movements of denial. In this talk, Professor Michael Xiarhos will explore how AI tools are being harnessed to distort history and promote genocide denialism, why this trend is growing, and what educators, students, and communities can do to confront it.

Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, statement on AI-generated victim images, X (Twitter), May 22, 2025, 6:41 AM, https://twitter.com/AuschwitzMuseum/status/1793546973470355700.

Chronicles: Armenian Genocide Memory and Community Life in Rhode Island
2026-01-22 18:00 - 19:15 | Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, 401 Elmgrove Ave, Providence, Rhode Island, 02906, United States
Join us for a powerful evening exploring the history and legacy of the Armenian Genocide and the ways Armenian Americans in Rhode Island have carried memory, identity, and resilience across generations.

The chair of the RI Holocaust and Genocide Education Commission, Pauline Getzoyan, the co-chair of the Genocide Education Project, RI Branch, Esther Kalajian, and the chair of the Armenian Historical Association of Rhode Island (AHARI), Martha Jamgochian, will introduce Chronicles, a limited screening of a new documentary produced by AHARI. Through historical context, community stories, and cultural reflection, the film traces how Armenian families and institutions rebuilt their lives and preserved memory in the aftermath of genocide.

Following the screening, Getzoyan and Kalajian will lead a guided discussion on history, remembrance, and the transmission of memory within communities shaped by mass violence.

This program offers an opportunity to engage with Armenian history through thoughtful scholarship, education, and community-based storytelling.

Admission: Free and open to the public

Armin T. Wegner, “Armenian Deportees,” Taurus Mountain region, Ottoman Empire, ca. November 1915. Wegner Collection, Deutsches Literaturarchiv, Marbach; courtesy of Sybil Stevens; United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Armenian National Institute, Inc.

ZOOM: International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2026
2026-01-25 18:00 - 20:00 | Rhode Island
Holocaust Diaries: Memory, Testimony, and History Lecture by Professor Alexandra Garbarini, Williams College

Due to the snowstorm and in the interest of everyone’s safety, our International Holocaust Remembrance Day program on Sunday, January 25 at 6:00 pm will now take place on Zoom rather than in person.

We appreciate your understanding as we make this change to ensure the safety of our community.

To receive the Zoom link by email, please fill out the registration form. For security reasons, we kindly ask that the Zoom link not be shared. This helps us maintain a safe and respectful space for learning and remembrance.

We will mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day with a lecture by Professor Alexandra Garbarini, whose pioneering scholarship on Holocaust diaries explores how Jewish victims recorded, interpreted, and survived the experience of persecution. Drawing on her work on Numbered Days, Lucien Dreyfus’s diary, and the role of testimony, Professor Garbarini will reflect on how these writings illuminate the history of the Holocaust and the enduring power of memory.

We hope you will be able to join us virtually for this meaningful evening of reflection and learning.

Free and open to the public

MISCHLINGE EXPOSÉ
2026-02-04 17:00 - 18:30 | Providence Public Library 150 Empire Street Providence, RI 02903
Understanding the Mischlinge: Identity, Exclusion, and Resilience in the Third Reich

The Mischlinge Exposé weaves a multimedia tapestry around a little-known aspect of the Holocaust: the Mischlinge (a derogatory Nazi term for those neither fully Jewish nor fully Aryan). Internationally celebrated pianist Carolyn Enger’s live documentary, The Mischlinge Exposé, directly addresses universally significant issues of identity and inclusion, encouraging empathy, tolerance, and engagement.

The 60-minute performance will be followed by a moderated discussion led by Dr. Laura Auketayeva, Director of Education and Programs at the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center.

No charge to attend, & open to the public.

RSVP here

Contact info: lauraa@hercri.org

Combatting Antisemitism: ZOOM Workshop
2026-02-23 18:00 - 19:00 | Rhode Island
Join historian Andrew Sperling, PhD, Director of Academic Initiatives at the American Jewish Historical Society, for a dynamic virtual, cost-free Zoom workshop made possible through the generosity of the Jordan Frank Family Foundation. This session offers clear, practical tools to understand and respond to antisemitism today, with an emphasis on real classroom scenarios, media literacy, and the long history behind common stereotypes and misinformation.

Designed for teachers, librarians, youth leaders, and community members, the workshop will provide ready-to-use materials, concrete strategies, and supportive language for moments when difficult or unexpected questions arise. Participants will also gain a deeper understanding of Jewish life and identity, which is essential for fostering informed and inclusive learning environments. PLU credits are available, and all attendees will receive a full packet of resources and classroom tools to take back to their schools and programs.

Virtual: Zoom

Please be sure to RSVP here to receive your individual Zoom link.

An illustration from a 1919 Austrian postcard showing a caricatured Jewish woman, Rosa Luxemburg, stabbing a German Army soldier in the back with a dagger. The capitulation of the Central Powers was blamed on communists, Bolsheviks, and the Weimar Republic, but in particular on Jews.

CANCELLED: Mapping the Holocaust: What Geography Reveals about Genocide
2026-02-26 18:00 - 19:15 | Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, 401 Elmgrove Ave, Providence, Rhode Island, 02906, United States
Due to the weather and safety of everyone tomorrow’s Adult Ed will be cancelled.

We are working to reschedule Dr. Knowles at a later date and we will be sure to inform you on when that is scheduled.

Stay safe and warm!

What can maps reveal about genocide? Dr. Anne Kelly Knowles, a pioneer in applying geographic information systems (GIS) to Holocaust studies, will show how geography shaped both victims’ experiences and perpetrators’ actions. A co-founder of the Holocaust Geographies Collaborative and editor of Geographies of the Holocaust (2014), she uses innovative mapping and analysis to uncover the spatial dimensions of the Holocaust in powerful new ways.

The Rwandan Genocide: Media, Memory, and History
2026-03-12 18:00 - 19:15 | Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, 401 Elmgrove Ave, Providence, Rhode Island, 02906, United States
with Dr. Jean-Marie Higiro, Western New England University

How can words and images fuel mass violence, and later shape how it is remembered? Dr. Jean-Marie Higiro, a scholar, will examine the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, the power of media campaigns in inciting violence, and the ongoing struggles of post-genocide Rwanda.

A crowd of Rwandan refugees waits for assistance, Goma, Zaire, July 1994. Salgado, Sebastião

POSTPONED: 92NY's Bianna Golodryga and Yonit Levi in Conversation with Julianna Margulies: Don’t Feed the Lion
2026-03-16 19:00 - 20:30 | Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, 401 Elmgrove Ave, Providence, Rhode Island, 02906, United States
POSTPONED: Due to the High Wind Warning issued for our area this evening, tonight’s program has been postponed for the safety of our community. Thank you for your understanding, and we hope you will join us when the program is rescheduled.

Join us in-person at the Dwares JCC for a recording of 92NY’s Bianna Golodryga and Yonit Levi in Conversation with Julianna Margulies: Don’t Feed the Lion. This timely program explores how young people grapple with antisemitism, what courage and allyship look like, and how families and communities can respond thoughtfully in a moment of rising hate. Centered on the new book Don’t Feed the Lion, the conversation offers tools and language to help young people recognize and stand up to antisemitism.

How do we talk about antisemitism honestly? What does allyship look like at a young age? And how do we help kids face hatred without letting it define them? These questions are at the heart of Don’t Feed the Lion — a story that begins with a Shabbat dinner interrupted by a viral antisemitic post and follows the ripple effects through a family, a school, and a community. A all-too-relatable tale at a time of rising antisemitism, the book “gives kids the tools to recognize and stand up to hate” (Jake Tapper).

Hear Levi, Golodryga and Margulies in a timely conversation about how young people — and the adults who care about them — can respond to antisemitism with clarity, courage, and empathy.

This program is part of 92NY Recanati-Kaplan Talks.

We hope you will join us for this important community viewing and discussion

RSVP here

Film Screening: The Look of Silence
2026-03-26 18:00 - 19:15 | Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, 401 Elmgrove Ave, Providence, Rhode Island, 02906, United States
Join us for a screening of Joshua Oppenheimer’s acclaimed documentary The Look of Silence. The film follows an Indonesian man confronting the people responsible for the murder of his brother during the 1965–66 mass killings in Indonesia. Through these encounters, the film explores themes of memory, silence, and the struggle for truth and reconciliation in the wake of atrocity.

Baxt Lecture: Jews Finding Shelter Among Roma in German-Occupied Poland during World War II
2026-03-29 10:00 - 23:30 | Temple Emanu-El, 99 Taft Avenue, Providence, RI, 02906, United States
Join us for a Baxt lecture with Dr. Justyna Matkowska, who will speak on the experiences of Jews who found shelter and support among Roma communities during the Holocaust. Her lecture explores themes of resilience, solidarity, and the complexity of human choices under Nazi persecution.

Dr. Justyna Matkowska is a scholar of Holocaust history whose work focuses on Jewish–Roma relations in German-occupied Poland. She emphasizes themes of resilience, solidarity, and the moral choices faced during Nazi persecution.

Romani prisoners in a camp © USHMM

Location: Temple Emanu-El

Address: 99 Taft Ave, Providence, RI 02906.

Yom HaShoah 2026
2026-04-13 19:00 - 20:15 | Temple Beth-El, 70 Orchard Ave, 70 Orchard Avenue, Providence, RI, 02906, United States
This year’s Yom HaShoah commemoration centers on generations of memory, survival, and responsibility, how Holocaust experiences are carried forward, interpreted, and sustained over time.

Francine Denerstein, born in Bergen-Belsen and First Vice Chair of the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center and member of its Speakers’ Bureau, will share her and her parents’ Holocaust story and reflect on what it has meant to carry that history forward. Her children and grandchildren will then reflect on how Holocaust memory has shaped their own identities, values, and sense of responsibility as the next generations. Featuring original music of remembrance and resilience by Judith Lynn Stillman and guest musicians.

We will also hear from students in SBHEC’s LIFT (Leadership Institute for Teens) program, who will present their final creative projects developed in collaboration with Rhode Island Poet Laureate Tina Cane. Their work reflects how young people today engage with Holocaust history and translate memory into poetry, leadership, and action.

Together, these voices, survivors, descendants, and students, affirm that Holocaust memory is not static. It lives across generations, shaped by testimony, creativity, and the shared obligation to remember.

Dessert reception immediately following

RSVP requested, not required

Raise the Roof: Reconstructing a Lost World of Polish Jewish Life
2026-04-19 14:00 - 16:00 | Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, 401 Elmgrove Ave, Providence, Rhode Island, 02906, United States
Join the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center and Temple Emanu-El for a screening of the documentary Raise the Roof, which tells the story of the remarkable reconstruction of the wooden synagogue of Gwoździec, a masterpiece of Jewish art and architecture destroyed during the Holocaust.

The program will include brief remarks by a carpenter who participated in the reconstruction of the synagogue at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw.

Dr. Laura Auketayeva, Director of Education and Programs at the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, will offer historical context and discuss Jewish life in Gwoździec before the Holocaust, drawing on Yizkor books and other sources that help reconstruct the history of this vibrant Jewish community.

The screening will be followed by a short discussion and audience questions. The event is free and open to public.

RSVP

Gwoździec Synagogue

Game Night
2026-04-28 17:30 - 20:30 | Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, 401 Elmgrove Ave, Providence, Rhode Island, 02906, United States
This year, Game Night is supporting LIFT (Leadership Institute for Teens!). LIFT empowers high school students to learn about the Holocaust, other genocides, and social justice, building the skills to stand up against hate, and snack costs for attendees inspire others, and promote human dignity, all through leadership workshops, teamwork, and safe, meaningful discussions.

Questions or Sponsorship Inquiries

Email: info@hercri.orgCall: 401.453.7860Scan the QR code above to register.

Field Visit: Tomaquag Museum
2026-04-30 18:00 - 19:15 | Tomaquag Museum, 390A Summit Rd, Exeter, RI 02822
Join us for a guided tour and conversation at the Tomaquag Indigenous Museum, Rhode Island’s only Indigenous museum. We will learn about Indigenous culture, history, and the arts.

Transportation will be provided from Providence. Due to limited parking at the museum, participants are strongly encouraged to use the provided transportation.

*Advance registration is required.*
