Editor's Note 04.08.08
Program Note
Dr. Mary E. Haas, chair of the WV Commission on Holocaust Education, will be a guest presenter at 11 a.m., Wednesday (April 9) in place of Dr. Edith Levy who is unable to be on campus as originally planned.
 

WVU Parkersburg to host Holocaust survivor Dr. Edith Rechter Levy in free presentation, April 9, 2008.

CONTACT:  Debbie Richards, special assistant to the president, 304-424-8201. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

West Virginia University at Parkersburg will host Holocaust survivor Dr. Edith Rechter Levy in a free presentation at 11 a.m., Wednesday, April 9. 

Open to the public, her presentation is titled, "The Importance of Holocaust Education for Today's Genocidal World: The Long-Term Consequences of Memories."   It will be given in the college theatre (Room 1305) and be followed by a book signing.  

Dr. Levy is author of the book "The Holocaust in Perspective" which she wrote to help teach West Virginia middle school students to learn the truth about what happened during the Holocaust. 

 

As a child, Dr. Levy was denied an education because she was Jewish.  She and her family fled her native Vienna in 1938 without the permission of the government.  She and her mother and two brothers survived with the help of a German woman who sheltered them in Brussels until after the liberation of the city.  After the war ended, she met and married Marcus Levy and moved to the United States.  After her children were grown, she returned to school earning a master's in foreign languages and a doctorate in educational administration from West Virginia University.

 

Dr. Levy is the founding chairperson and Executive Director of the WV Commission on Holocaust Education.  She has spoken throughout West Virginia and the eastern United States about her personal experiences during the Holocaust.

Her book is used by many teachers throughout West  Virginia and by teachers in other states.  It is currently  being translated into Japanese for use by youth in Japan.  She is a member of the Hall of Fame of the Human Resources and Education School of WVU and has received the  Governor's Lifetime Achievement Award. 
 

Her presentation is sponsored by the WVU at Parkersburg Social Justice Committee.

03/20/08