Holocaust Survivor at Pitt-Bradford

Dr. Livia Bitton-Jackson, Holocaust survivor, international lecturer, professor and author will speak with students and community members via video conference Wednesday, March 25, at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford.

Bitton-Jackson will be speaking from her home in Israel. The live video conference, which is included in the Adolescent Literature course taught by Dr. Wayne Brinda, assistant professor of education, will take place from 3 to 5 p.m. in Room 237 of Swarts Hall. The public is invited to attend.

She will share her experiences as a teen during the Nazi invasion of Hungary near the end of World War II, what being a Holocaust survivor means in today’s world, as well as what we can learn and teach from this history.

Bitton-Jackson has written several books about her experiences as a girl in several concentration camps, including “I Have Lived a Thousand Years: Growing up in the Holocaust,” which Brinda’s students are reading in advance of the conference. She has also written as an adult about coming to terms with this history. Her books are published throughout the world and have been translated into several languages.

In addition to writing and lecturing about the Holocaust, Bitton-Jackson addresses topics relating to Jewish identity, current events and women’s issues.

Bitton-Jackson, who has a doctorate from New York University, has taught at several institutions of higher learning, including Long Island University, Tel Aviv University and Hunter, Brooklyn and Lehman Colleges of the City University of New York, where she has been professor of history and Judaic studies for 39 years.

Bitton-Jackson was born in 1931 and grew up in Hungary, the daughter of a Jewish grocer. In 1944, her family was deported, then relocated to Auschwitz and Dachau.

Brinda became familiar with Bitton-Jackson through his work as a Museum Teaching Fellow at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Brinda said he finds many students today who believe they are far removed from the Holocaust and this history. Some are becoming susceptible to the idea that it was not real or could never happen again.

“Dr. Bitton-Jackson makes this history accessible, honest and real,” he said. “She also brings hopeful, truthful inspiration to us to dispel prejudice and misinformation. Meeting and speaking with her is a special opportunity for everyone.”