EUGENE–Berel Lang, a well-known Judaic studies scholar, will discuss "The Nazi as Criminal: Inside and Outside the Holocaust" on Thursday, May 10, at the University of Oregon.

Lang, who will describe atrocities committed by the Nazis in addition to the Holocaust, is the 2001 Lowenberg Lecturer hosted by the university’s Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies. Lang will discuss the common features shared by the Holocaust and other Nazi atrocities, a comparison he says is crucial when attempting to understand Nazi motives.

The free public lecture, made possible by the Lowenberg Family Fund for Holocaust Studies, will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Browsing Room of the Knight Library, 1501 Kincaid St.

Lang, a professor of humanities at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., has written "Holocaust Representation: Art Within the Limits of History"; "The Future of the Holocaust: Between History and Memory"; "Heidegger’s Silence"; "Act and Idea in the Nazi Genocide"; and other books.

Also on May 10, Lang will speak at a free "lunch and learn" seminar at 12:30 p.m. in the Heritage Room of the Bowerman Family Building, 1580 E. 15th Ave. He will address the topic: "Against the ‘Righteous Gentiles:’ Contesting the Title and the Ethics."

At this discussion, Lang will analyze one of the many questions raised by the Holocaust: Why weren’t there more "righteous gentiles"–non-Jewish people who made significant efforts to protect the Jews from the Nazis?

"The obvious answer to that question–‘because few people are willing to risk their own and their family’s lives for other people’–is one of a number of issues concealed or avoided in the phrase, ‘righteous gentiles’," he says.

Lang suggests that those attending the lunch seminar read "Contra the ‘Righteous Gentiles’," a short essay in his book "The Future of the Holocaust." Copies of the essay are available at the Judaic Studies office in Room 837 of Prince Lucien Campbell Hall, 1415 Kincaid St., or by calling (541)
346-5288 to request a copy.

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