Holocaust survivor is keynote for Lichtman-Behm series

This year, we will explore the theme of the Holocaust through the eyes of concentration camp survivor Dr. Walter Ziffer of North Carolina during the eighth annual Lichtman-Behm Genocide Lecture Series Oct. 3-4.

Ziffer, a professor, theologian, scholar and author, will share his experiences in his presentation, titled, The Phenomenon of Evil: A Holocaust Survivor’s Story, during the main keynote address at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 3, in Wickham Great Hall (Campus Center). The campus community is encouraged to attend. On Wednesday, Oct. 4, he will give a presentation exclusively for local/area eighth-grade through high school students.

Born in Czechoslovakia in 1927, Ziffer recounts his boyhood, the Polish and German invasions of his home, his deportation and three years of experiences in Nazi concentration camps in his memoir, “Confronting the Silence: A Holocaust Survivor’s Search for God." Ziffer recalls being evicted from his home in 1939, along with his parents and sister, and transported to a dulag, a transit camp for prisoners. He became separated from his family and was taken to a work camp, and imprisoned in seven other camps, where he witnessed the many horrors of the Holocaust. After three years in the camps, Ziffer was liberated by Soviet troops, traveling to Paris and eventually resettling in Tennessee. He received an engineering degree from Vanderbilt University. Later switching careers, Ziffer became a minister and a scholar. His journey took him to Bangor, Maine, where he re-embraced Judaism and taught courses at the University of Maine. He later joined Congregation Beth Israel in Asheville and began his teaching tenure at UNC Asheville and Mars Hill College.

Ziffer earned two master’s degrees from the Graduate School of Theology of Oberlin College and a doctorate in theology from the University of Strasbourg, France. A prolific lecturer and teacher of dozens of Elderhostel courses, he has published many articles in Europe and the U.S. He is the author of “The Teaching of Disdain: An Examination of Christology and New Testament Attitudes toward Jews” (1990) and “The Birth of Christianity from the Matrix of Judaism” (2006). At age 90, he remains an adjunct professor in the Department of Philosophy at Mars Hill University in Mars Hill, N.C. He has taught classes in Judaism, early Christian history, Biblical Hebrew and comparative religion.

Leading into the Lichtman-Behm Genocide Lecture Series, plan to attend the School of Music & Theatre's presentation of The Diary of Anne Frank Sept. 21-24. Visit www.gundlachtheatre.org for tickets.