Holocaust Resource Center
Dr. Adara Goldberg, Executive Director
Holocaust Resource Center
Location: L206
Telephone (908) 737-4633
Email: agoldber@kean.edu
Website: https://www.kean.edu/offices/holocaust-resource-center
A leading provider of Holocaust education and diversity training in New Jersey, the Holocaust Resource Center (HRC) was established in 1982 as a joint initiative between Kean University and the Holocaust Resource Foundation, a private philanthropic organization. Today, the HRC pays tribute to its founders by remembering the past, honoring the present, and shaping the future. The HRC currently reaches more than 20,000 teachers, students, and community members annually in three ways: through collections, continuing education, and commemorative events.
Collections represent a core element of our work. These include more than 220 oral history interviews with New Jersey Holocaust survivors, rescuers, and liberators; a library collection of more than 8000 print books and videos; 35+ classroom book sets; and hundreds of classroom unit plans. The Center also houses two distinct archives that are accessible to students and external researchers: the Josiah E. DuBois Jr. Collection, which documents the United States’ role in the Nuremberg Trials; and the Peter Goldsmith Collection that chronicles one family’s refugee journey from the Free City of Danzig to the United States. The HRC’s inaugural travelearn, “Lessons from the Holocaust: Poland,” brought classroom teachers and graduate students to Poland to follow Peter’s steps from Nazi occupation to freedom.
Continuing education, teacher training, and experiential learning are at the heart of the HRC's mission and are offered in alignment with the NJ state mandate on Holocaust education. The Center offers a one-of-a-kind 12-credit tuition-waived Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Teaching the Holocaust and Teaching Prejudice Reduction, which has trained more than 4000 teachers in 160+ New Jersey school districts. In addition, the HRC manages a dual-credit course on Holocaust and Genocide studies for high school students to earn college credits at a greatly reduced rate. This initiative currently runs in 55 NJ schools. The HRC also hosts an annual educators conference with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, monthly professional development sessions for students and teachers, personalized workshops for NJ schools, and leadership conferences for K-12 students. In recognition of its contributions to Holocaust education, the HRC has been named one of 13 national Center of Excellence by the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous, and a Community of Holocaust Education Centers (USHMM) mentor organization.
Commemoration is our third pillar, ensuring that Holocaust history is remembered and respected. The Center hosts the Murray Pantirer Memorial Scholar Lecture Series that attracts distinguished speakers with national and international reputations; delivers Kristallnacht/November Pogrom, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and Holocaust & Genocide programming across Kean campuses and in New Jersey K-12 school districts and presents the Yom HaShoah Community Commemoration. These events are delivered in partnership with local community groups and Holocaust museums and organizations including The Ghetto Fighters House, and House of the Wannsee Conference, Facing History and Ourselves, and the Association of Holocaust Organizations.
For further information, please call Dr. Adara Goldberg at 908-737-4633.