Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies (CHGS)

CHGS Mission

The RCNJ Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies leads the campus community, regional educators, and the public in exploring the histories, legacies, and lessons of the Holocaust and genocide. We endeavor to inspire an informed commitment to justice, human rights, and moral leadership, founded upon the cultivation of empathy and the recognition of our shared humanity.

CHGS Events and Programs

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The Holocaust and Human Rights in Prague

May 26 – June 5, 2025

Ramapo students will spend ten days in one of Europe’s most beautiful cities studying the region’s history of genocide and the echoes of that violence in contemporary approaches to human rights and multicultural belonging. The study-trip will include visits to sites of mass atrocity; reflections on the histories and cultures of minority groups before, during, and after the Second World War; meetings with non-governmental organizations working in the field of human rights and representing marginalized communities; discussions with locals; and an impressive array of expert-led tours and museum visits. (There will be ample free time to explore Prague on your own, as well.) Most days will begin with a lecture either from the trip director, Dr. Jacob Ari Labendz, who is an expert in Czech and Jewish history, or from fascinating local scholars. While this course will focus significantly upon the Holocaust and Jewish life, it will also delve with nuance and depth into the histories and contemporary conditions of Roma, the LGBTQ community, and refugees. We have planned an incredible program with an exceptional local partner.

We would like to thank our supporters for contributing a total of $14,000 to help defray the costs of participation for our students.

Upholding Tradition with a New Hire

Colleen Tambuscio has joined CHGS as our inaugural Pedagogy Programs Administrator. She works directly with schools and other educational institutions in our region. Visit our “Holocaust and Genocide Educator Workshops” page to learn more about Ms. Tambuscio and the programs she is developing and running. Click the image of the newspaper article below to read coverage in The Jewish Standard.

To discuss programming tailored to the needs of your institution and community, email holgen@ramapo.edu.

From the left: CHGS Board Member Heather Lutz, CHGS PPA Colleen Tambuscio, Dr. Jessica Carr (Lafayette College), CHGS Dr. Jacob Ari Labendz

Deb Breslow, “Furthering Holocaust Education: Ramapo College Center Selects New Director of Teaching,” Jewish Standard (22 Nov. 2024), 14-16. CLICK TO READ.

History

Founded in 1980 as an independent non-profit organization to educate and interact with the northern New Jersey and Rockland County communities on the tragedy of Hitler’s war against the Jews and other genocides, the CHGS is now an integral part of Ramapo College. Its programs and courses taught by its director support the minor in Human Rights and Genocide Studies, as well as the minor in Jewish studies.

While it receives support from the College, most of the Center’s funding is from private donations. It is a member of the Association of Holocaust Organizations and the Consortium of Higher Education Centers for Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Studies. The CHGS is also part of the network of similar organizations under the New Jersey State Commission on Holocaust Education.

Read a more detailed history and description of campus monuments.

Library and Collections

The RCNJ CHGS maintains a growing collection of books and other materials pertinent to research and teaching in our fields of Holocaust and genocide studies. A complete listing of our resources may accessed here. Our stacks are located in front of the Special Collections Reading Room, which houses the Center, on the second floor of the George T. Potter Library. (Additional materials of interest, which do not belong to the Center collection, are available in the general stacks and are shelved according to their call numbers.)

Director: Jacob Ari Labendz, PhD

Email: jlabendz@ramapo.edu

About the Director

Jacob Ari Labendz directs the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. He teaches courses in related topics, as well as Jewish studies. Dr. Labendz holds a Ph.D. in history from Washington University in St. Louis. He writes about the history of Jews in and from Central Europe in the twentieth century and contributes to scholarly discussions of nationalism, the Cold War, contemporary antisemitism, Holocaust memory, and Jewish food cultures. In addition to a number of articles and reviews, he published two edited volumes, Jewish Veganism and Vegetarianism: Studies and New Directions with Shmuly Yanklowitz (SUNY, 2019) and Jewish Property after 1945: Cultures and Economies of Ownership, Loss, Recovery, and Transfer (Routledge, 2017). He is currently collaborating with Rebekah Klein-Pejšová on an edited volume focused on the movement and meetings of Jewish people and artifacts across Cold-War boundaries. Dr. Labendz is passionate about integrating Holocaust and genocide studies into curricula and cocurricular activities across Ramapo College, and to serving the northern New Jersey and southern New York region.

Pedagogy Programs Administrator: Colleen Tambuscio

Email: ctambusc@ramapo.edu

About the PPA

Colleen Tambuscio comes to Ramapo with thirty-eight years of teaching experience. She began her career teaching the deaf for Bergen County Special Services and first taught Holocaust education to her deaf students for seventeen years. She continued her career at New Milford High School in Bergen County, New Jersey for 22 years. During her teaching career, she developed a semester-long Holocaust course and annually travelled to the U. S. Holocaust Memorial Museum for a two-day seminar with students. Since 1998, she has taken students to Germany, Czech Republic, and Poland to study the Holocaust accomplishing twenty-one student trips.

In 1998, Colleen was named as a Mandel Fellow at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (currently Museum Teacher Fellow) and has served as a U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Regional Museum Educator since 2002. Since 2002, Colleen has been a board member of the RCNJ Center for Holocaust and Genocide Education. Colleen earned an MA in Jewish-Christian Studies and Holocaust Education from Seton Hall University in 2006. In 2010, she traveled to Nahariya, Israel with the UJA Federation’s Partnership 2000 Program to develop a dialogue between Israeli and her own public high school students. She is the founder and President of the New Jersey Council of Holocaust Educators, a national professional-development organization for educators interested in teaching the Holocaust and genocide. In 2015, Colleen worked with Alexandra Zapruder, author of Salvaged Pages: Young Writers’ Diaries of the Holocaust, to create a multimedia edition of the book and lessons associated with the diaries which are housed on the Facing History and Ourselves website. Colleen was honored by Princeton University in 2017 as a Distinguished New Jersey Secondary Teacher. In October of 2021, she was appointed by Governor Murphy to the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education.

CHGS Interns: Bella Apgar and Keya Naik

CHGS offers two paid, for-credit internships to Ramapo students every semester. Our interns contribute directly to our programs and exhibitions while deepening their knowledge of our subject matter and gaining skills for the future.

About our Interns

Isabella Apgar, Ramapo College of New Jersey ’25, is a history major with a minor in human rights and genocide studies. She is the partnership intern for the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Ramapo College. She is a Phi Alpha Theta history honor society member and has studied abroad and interned in Rome, Italy.

Keya Naik, Ramapo College of New Jersey ‘27, is a nursing major with a minor in crime and justice studies. She is the on campus intern for the Center of Holocaust and Genocide Studies. She is also Vice President of the South Asian dance team on campus.

Advisory Board

We benefit from the wise counsel and networks of a diverse Advisory Board, chaired by Peter Safirstein, Esq. Click here for a list of current members.

Scholarships Awarded

The Clara and Morton Richmond Scholarship offers support to students either minoring in Human Rights and Genocide Studies or majoring in International Studies. The RCNJ CHGS supports these programs with its events and courses.

Please join us in congratulating the 2024-2025 scholarship winners.

Stefanie Viera

LeighAnn Sevastian

The Ernst Aronsohn Memorial Scholarship commemorates the life of Holocaust survivors Ernst Aronsohn and Erna Meier. After the war, the couple moved to Israel. Thereafter, the US Government recruited Mr. Aronsohn to help identify Nazi war criminal in Germany. In 1958 the Aronsohns moved to Queens. Mrs. Aronsohn passed away in 1989. Jane Yanowitz has been Ernst’s companion for 25 years.

Bella Apgar

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Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies (CHGS)

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CHGS Mission

The Holocaust and Human Rights in Prague

Upholding Tradition with a New Hire

History

Library and Collections

Director: Jacob Ari Labendz, PhD

Pedagogy Programs Administrator: Colleen Tambuscio

CHGS Interns: Bella Apgar and Keya Naik

Advisory Board

Scholarships Awarded