CAPTIMES, March 28, 1996
PSH Faculty members
discuss lives of women
during the Holocaust
"Women's lives are like everybody's lives complicat
ed," Dr. Hoffman said, "and sometimes ambkruous."
by Jody L Jacobs
Staff Reporter
"For me, the study of
history is fascinating because
it is constantly changing,"
said Associate Professor of
Humanities and History
Louise Hoffman at the
"Women and the Holocaust"
lecture March 21 in the
Gallery Lounge.
Hoffman. said that in
the initial gathering of
Holocaust history, little atten
tion was paid to women
because their experiences
were not seen as different
from the experiences of
" There is a new wave
in history to reconstruct the
lives of ordinary women and
how their experiences varied
she said.
This includes studying
how those experiences
changed depending upon
race, religion, and whether
the women were victims or
victimizers.
"Women's lives are
like everybody's lives—com
plicated," she said, "and
sometimes ambiguous."
Hoffman said that as
the war progressed it
became the responsibility of
women to keep families
alive and together. They did
this usually at the cost of
their own health and their
ultimate survival.
"These were really
horrendous situations," she
raid.
Eric Epstein, adjunct
professor at Penn State
Harrisburg said that the issues
affecting women were in
fact distinct from those of
men. He described the
decisions that Jewish women
found themselves faced with
during the Holocaust and
how they responded to their
situations.
Women would pool
their resources together
more often than men would
for survival he said. If their
families had been killed;
women would "adopt"
another woman from their
region, joining in a sister-like
bond for reliance and help.
Many of these relationships,
forged under terrible circum
stances, would continue for
the rest of the women's lives
Epstein said.
One major difference
in the way the female expe
rience differed from the
male, is that the children
always went with the
women he said.
As they were the
ones responsible for keeping
the family together, Epstein
said, "Women had to
decide what to do with
small children and the elder
ly."
Even before Jews
were sent to the concentra
tion camps, Jewish women
were the ones who dealt
with the problems associat
ed with the physical and ver
bal abuse, ostracization , and
eventual expulsion of their
children from school he said.
Once the Nazis
began sending the Jews to
the camps, "Children inhibit
ed survival for women," he
said.
Epstein described
how women would give birth
secretly in the camps.
Mothers would not hold or
know their newborns.
Because there were such
strict penalties for having a
baby, the children were suf
focated by other Jewish
women. Epstein emphasized
that this was a much kinder
fate than what would be
experienced by the Nazis.
For women in hiding
small children were a great
risk as well he said. Often,
they too were suffocated so
that the entire family would
not be given away
"The sacrifice of chil-
dren for survival was neces
sary, but something you
never get over," Epstein said
"The guilt would follow you
for life."
A result of this experi
ence was that after the war
had ended, there was a rush
for Jewish survivors to get
married and have families. It
was also common for chil
dren from first marriages to
have the same names as
children in second marriages
he said.
Another way in which
women were treated differ
ently was that once they
were in the camps, they
were desexualized he said.
Their heads were shaven,
and they lost weight.
"Sisters couldn't rec
ognize sisters," he said.
Women, however,
did not experience sexual
abuse by the Nazis because
it was considered a crime he
said.
Sherry Bartush,
American studies major
attended the lecture. She
said that until now, she had
only been exposed to
Holocaust information from
the commercial media.
1 found it fascinat-
ing," she said. "I've never
been involved in the acade
mic research of the
Holocaust before. It makes
you consider what informa
tion we have been fed by
the media and why."
For students who
want to learn more about
the Holocaust and Jewish
culture, there will be a study
tour to Poland July 30 to
August 12, 1996.
Eric Epstein will also
be teaching a "Women of
the Holocaust" summer
course. This is the initial offer
ing of such a class at this
campus. Epstein said that
the course will include
speakers who are survivors of
the Holocaust experience.
1 encourage stu
dents to take this course," he
said. "They will have the
ability to touch history in the
flesh—and that ability is
dying out."
WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH
Casting Her Own Shadow
hits bookstores across the U.S.
by Ann E. Mease
Staff Reporter
Women's History
month is a celebration of
women who have con
tributed to humanity ,socially,
academically and religiously.
Penn State Harrisburg
has added a Women's
Studies curriculum to the
Humanities di‘.sion, with sev
eral professors teaching a
variety of courses. Dr. Allida
Black, assistant professor of
American Studies, is teaching
Sexuality and Gender.
"Women's History
Month is important for two
reasons," Dr. Black said. "It
allows people who aren't in
women's history courses to
learn more about what
women have done to con
tribute to America and it puts
the pressure on teachers who
don't talk about it to deal
with it."
In addition to educat
ing students on women's his
tory, Dr. Black has specific
goals for her future.
"I want to get a
tenured track job that allows
me to work with students, do
my research and speak my
mind," she said.
Dr. Black has spent
nine years researching, and
writing a book about the life
of Eleanor Roosevelt. The
book, Casting Her Own
Shadow has just been pub
lished all over the country and
is available at the campus
book store.
"I chose to write a book
about Eleanor after doing my
dissertation and becoming
fascinated by Eleanor's dedi
cation to American society
and contributions to the
American dream," Dr. Black
said.
As a woman who has
significant accomplishments,
Dr. Black does have two
great personal triumphs.
"Finishing graduate school
on my own terms with a 4.0,"
she said said. "And getting
the book published."
Dr. Black's second pub
lished work offers an insightful
cWomen's (HistorT Month
PSH Professor Dorothy
E. King performs "Living
Herstory", Friday, March 22 at
12 noon in the Olmsted
Theatre. Vocalist Felicia
Brown-Haywood accompa-
nied King as part of Penn
State Harrisburg's Women's
History Month celebration.
look at the life of one of the
great women in American
History.
"Eleanor had a fierce
commitment to her ideas and
realistic politics," Dr. Black
said.
When America entered
World War I, Eleanor became
active in the American Red
Cross and in volunteer work in
Navy hospitals. After Franklin
was stricken with polio in 1921,
she became increasingly
active in politics both to help
him maintain his interests and
to assert her own personality
and goals. She participated in
the League of Women Voters,
joined the Women's Trade
Union League, and worked
for the Women's Division of
New York State Democratic
Committee
She helped to found Val-
Kill Industries, a non-profit fur
niture factory in Hyde Park,
New York, and taught at the
Todhunter School, a private
girls school in New York City.
During Franklin D
Roosevelt's presidency,
Eleanor was as active First
Lady who traveled extensively
around the nation, visiting
relief projects, surveying work
ing and living conditions. She
became an advocate of the
rights and needs of the poor,
of minorities, and of the disad
vantaged.
After President Roosevelt's
death on April 12, 1945,
Eleanor continued public life.
Through her active involve
ment in many controversial
causes, Eleanor developed
some enemies
"The Ku Klux Klan had a
$2,500 bounty put on her
head," Dr. Black said
There were two members of
congress who tried to say she
was a communist and have
her deported to Africa. The
FBI accused her of having
black blood to stop her work
with minorities, but even
under these enormous pres
sures she continued her work
Eleanor was next
appointed by President
Truman to the United States
Dr. Clem Gllpen, assistant professor of community systems and
Afro-American studies, displays a quilt he had crafted to give to his
grandmother as a gift.
Dr. Yvonne Mllspaw, associate professor of English and human
ities at Harrisburg Area Community College, gave a presentation on
"Quilts and Women's Social History" on Tuesday, March 19 in the
Gallery Lounge. Topics discussed ranged from the various tech
niques used in quilting to the historical significance of their design.
Delegation to the United
Nations General Assembly ,a
position she held until 1953.
She was chairman of the
Human Rights Commission
during the drafting of the
Universal Declaration of
Human Rights which was
adopted by the general
assembly in 1948.
In 1953, Eleanor
resigned from the United
States Delegation to the
United Nations and volun
teered her services to the
American Associations, and
later became chairman of
the Associations Board of
Directors. She was reappoint
ed to the United States
Delegation in the United
Nations by President Kennedy
in 1961.
Kennedy also appointed
her as a member of the
National Advisory Committee
of the Peace Corps and
chairmen of the President's
Commission on the Status of
Women. Eleanor received
many awards for her humani
tarian efforts.
She was in great
demand as a speaker and
lecturer, both in person and
through the media of radio
evasion
"Eleanor was a prolific
writer who wrote over 17
books 2,500 columns, 300 arti
cles and if you lined up her
personal papers they would
stretch over six and one half
miles long," Dr. Black said.
In 1935 she began a
syndicated column, "My Day"
for which she continued until
shortly before her death. She
also wrote monthly question
and answer columns for the
Ladies Home Journal and
McCalls.
In her later years
Eleanor Roosevelt lived at
Val- kill in Hyde Park, N.Y. She
also maintained an apart-
ment in New York City where
she died in 1962. She is buried
alongside her husband in the
rose garden of their estate at
Hyde Park, now a national his
toric site.
Eleanor Roosevelt is
truly one of the most impor
tant women of any period in
history
"She overcame obsta-
des to help people because
she believed in democracy
and continued to believe that
people would accept their
responsibilities," Dr. Black said.