MIDDLETOWN, Pa. — The Center for Holocaust and Jewish Studies at Penn State Harrisburg is presenting an exhibit titled “Gross Breesen: Escaping Genocide Through Agricultural Education.” The exhibit, which opened Jan. 15 and runs through March 15, is displayed in the Linda Schwab Reading Room in the Madlyn L. Hanes Library.
A reception opening the exhibit will be held from noon to 1 p.m. on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Jan. 27, in the library’s Morrison Gallery on campus. Kosher catering will be provided by Norman Gras.
The exhibit features a narrative, archival photos and a video. Speaking at the reception will be the curator, Steven Strauss, as well as Heidi Landecker, the daughter of a student of Gross Breesen who survived the Holocaust because of the skills he learned there.
During the Nazi regime, German Jewish leadership created a special training school located at Gross Breesen, an agricultural training farm on the border of Germany and Poland from 1936 to 1940, to help Jewish youth emigrate into countries that desired workers skilled in the agricultural sciences. It provided practical education to survive, spiritual strength to thrive, and, for about 130 young Jews, it was a means of escape from Nazi Germany.
The school was run by Curt Bondy, an acclaimed educator and psychologist. Under Bondy’s tutelage, the young men and women were immersed in a program that balanced hard physical farm labor with a rich philosophical curriculum. The stately aesthetics and the stability of farm life at Gross Breesen were a welcome respite for the Jewish youth that had for years been prey to the escalating persecution under Nazism. Through Bondy’s efforts, many of these youth were able to emigrate safely to foreign countries.
The event is free and open to the public. For additional information, contact Neil Leifert at 717-580-2954 or shoahteach@comcast.net.