Holocaust Survivor Noémi Ban to Speak at WWU April 24 & 29

Western Washington University’s Ray Wolpow Institute (RWI) for the Study of Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity will host Holocaust survivor and educator Noémi Ban in a special presentation with Professor Emeritus Ray Wolpow and RWI Director and Professor Sandra Alfers from 6 to 8 p.m. on Holocaust Memorial Day (Yom HaShoah) on Monday, April 24 and again from 2 to 4 p.m on Saturday, April 29, in Arntzen Hall 100.

Both events are free and open to the public, but seating is limited and pre-registration is required; free tickets will be released at 8 a.m. on April 3 on Eventbrite at: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/the-ray-wolpow-institute-for-the-study-of-the-holocaust-genocide-and-crimes-against-humanity-at-western-washington-university-11786931979.

Free public event parking will be available in lot 12A – formerly the “gravel lot,” but now paved, on South Campus.

Ban’s story is one of loss, tragedy, resiliency, hope, and inspiration. She lost her mother, grandmother, and younger sister and brother in the Auschwitz-Birkenau killing center, and worked at a bomb factory in a sub-camp of Buchenwald. After the Holocaust, she was a witness to the 1956 Soviet repression of the anti-communist uprising in Hungary.

Ban is the author of the book “Sharing is Healing,” and her experiences are documented in the 2007 film “My Name is Noémi.” She has received Honorary Doctorates from Western and Gonzaga University and is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2010 Daughters of the American Revolution Americanism Award and the 2003 Washington Education Association’s Human and Civil Rights Award.

She will be available for a Q&A session and book signing at the end of the events.

For more information, visit the institute’s website or contact Courtney Baxter at Western Washington University’s Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity at (360) 650-4000, or via email at wolpow.institute@wwu.edu.