Multi-phased Holocaust Studies Program Begun by Yeshiva University

Yeshiva University has begun a multi-phased program of Holocaust studies under the auspices of a Chair endowed by Ell and Diana Zborowski, of Forest Hills N.Y. The first phase is the development of a program of undergraduate and graduate courses correlating the perspectives of many disciplines, it was announced by Dean David Mirsky, acting vice president for academic affairs at the university.

The second phase will be the creation of a Yeshiva University Center for Ongoing Research on the Holocaust. It will include units for commemorative library, museum exhibit areas, a department of aural and visual records, an annual conference program, a department of research and fellowship assistance, Mirsky said. The new Chair represents the fruition of plans made by the late Dr. Samuel Belkin, president of Yeshiva University for 32 years, who died last April.

Mirsky announced the appointment of Lucy S. Dawidowicz, a professor of social history at Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women, as the first incumbent of the Zborowski Chair. Dawidowicz is the author of “The War Against the Jews,” published in 1975 by Holt, Rinehart and Winston, which has been described as the definitive work on the Holocaust.

Eli Zborowski, a businessman, was a member of the Polish underground during World War II and later participated in efforts to organize and lead survivors from Poland to areas of Europe under American occupation. He has sponsored Yeshiva University Holocaust Memorial Day observances for the past seven years and played a major role in bringing exhibits from the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Institute in Israel to Jewish centers, synagogues and museums in the U.S. He is president of the American Federation of Jewish Fighters, Camp Inmates and Nazi Victims.