Oakton Lecture Examines the Children of Holocaust Survivors

With the Holocaust survivor community dwindling, children of survivors are compelled to continue their parents’ stories. A Chicago resident whose parents both lived through the Holocaust has much to share “so others can become witnesses.” The free Oakton’s Jewish Studies public lecture, “The Holocaust and the Second Generation: A Talk with Deborah Leonard,” is scheduled 11 a.m. to noon. Thursday, Sept. 12, at Oakton Community College’s Skokie campus, 7701 N. Lincoln Ave., in Rooms A145-152.

Leonard was born in a displaced persons camp in Germany in the aftermath of World War II. She came to the U.S. with her parents and younger brother. Leonard attended the University of Illinois where she earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree and taught at the university for several years before transitioning to corporate America.

“This is an event not to be missed,” says Oakton Professor of History and Coordinator of Jewish Studies Wendy Adele-Marie. “Deborah’s ongoing mission in life is to share her parents’ Holocaust experience.”

“The Holocaust and the Second Generation: A Talk with Deborah Leonard” is sponsored by Jewish Studies at Oakton with a generous grant from the Oakton Community College Educational Foundation.

The next Jewish Studies lecture, “Unsilencing Women’s Voices in the Holocaust,” is scheduled 11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 17, at Oakton’s Skokie campus, in Room A167.

Contact jewishstudies@oakton.edu for more information.