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Holocaust survivor to speak at UWG

November 3, 2003

CARROLLTON, GA - Imagine it is 1943, you are 18-years-old, and your biggest fear is being taken away from your home and put into a concentration camp. For Dr. Eugen Schoenfeld, professor and chair emeritus in the Department of Sociology at Georgia State University, this fear became a reality.

Sochoenfeld will visit the University of West Georgia’s Townsend Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday, Nov. 20, at 8 p.m. to share his experience of internment while at Auschitz, Warsaw, Dachau and Muehldorf Concentration Camps. He will also give his interpretation of how groups give up their personal identity to support a larger group perspective.

Schoenfeld’s lecture is entitled, The Four Fears and the Holocaust. “My studies and the review of other studies tell me that there are four fundamental fears that lead people to give up their freedom and join charismatic leaders who capture their mind and spirit,” said Schoenfeld.

The lecture is sponsored by the Advanced Academy of Georgia. Each year, the Academy invites speakers to lecture about a range of topics for Thursday night programs. Each speaker attends an informal dinner with Advanced Academy students where the students are able to interact on a personal level with the guest and ask questions.

“The programs give students the opportunity to learn about a variety of topics and possibly inspire our students to reach their potential,” says Mary Hart, consultant to the Honors College and Advanced Academy. Speakers have been invited to the University to speak about a wide range of subject areas including the arts, music, theater, politics and science.

For the last 10 years, Schoenfeld has been heavily involved in lecturing to civic groups, churches and students about the Holocaust. He says he wants to enlighten others about his experiences so that they become aware of conditions that will lead to hostile inter-religious or inter-ethnic relationships.

Schoenfeld has published many articles in journals such as the Sociological Quarterly, the Review of Religious Research, the Sociological Analysis, and the Sociological Focus.

“I am proud that I was able to re-establish my life in the U.S.A., to have four wonderful daughters, a wife and grandchildren. My other accomplishments, my teaching and writing, are merely extras,” says Schoenfeld.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Advanced Academy of Georgia at 770-836-4449.

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