Kenneally Lecture Welcomes Holocaust Expert Christopher Probst
March 06, 2013
Holocaust expert Christopher J. Probst will give this semester's Kenneally Lecture with his discussion on Protestantism in Nazi Germany on Tuesday March 19 at 7 p.m. in the Martin Institute. All are welcome to attend the event, which will be free and open to the public.
Probst, a visiting professor at Saint Louis University, is a renowned scholar on Modern European history, with a strong interest in the Holocaust and Nazi Germany. His book Demonizing the Jews: Luther and the Protestant Church in Nazi Germany was published in 2012, focusing on Protestant views of Jews and Judaism in twentieth-century Germany and how German Protestants viewed Jews and Judaism in the decades before, during and after the Holocaust. Probst was a Charles H. Revson Foundation Fellow at the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2008.
In his talk, Probst will show how a significant minority of Protestant pastors and theologians from across Germany sought in varying degrees to address the tumultuous events unfolding in Nazi Germany and forwarded their own versions of Luther's views about Jews and Judaism. Probst will also discuss how these printed materials resembled anti-Semitic Nazi propaganda aimed at dehumanizing Jews, who suffered and died by the millions in Hitler's Third Reich.
About the Annual James J. Kenneally Lecture
The Stonehill Catholic-Jewish Dialogue Committee was founded in 1993 following a program on the Holocaust at the College. Recognizing the need for greater understanding and dialogue between Christians and Jews, Stonehill History Professor James J. Kenneally invited interested individuals from the College and surrounding areas to join together to promote interfaith dialogue. The Committee serves to educate the public about the Jewish and Catholic faiths.
On March 20, 2002, the Catholic-Jewish Dialogue Committee honored its founder and former chair, Dr. James J. Kenneally, by naming the annual lecture in his name. Professor of History Rev. Kevin Spicer, C.S.C. '87 chairs the committee.
Contact
For more information, contact Communications and Media Relations at 508-565-1321.