Seton Hall University

Jews and French Resistance in World War II Subject of Teacher Study Day  

Presention, Universal Design – The Inclusive ClassroomThe Graduate Program in Jewish-Christian Studies is offering a Teacher Study Day, Jews and Resistance in France during World War II, as a day of professional development, featuring interactive workshops and in-depth discussions with expert speakers and eyewitness accounts. The program will impart important lessons from the Holocaust, recounting stories of Catholic and Jewish resistance in France during World War II as well as the significance of teaching these experiences to today's students.

The study day takes place on Monday, March 5, from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. in the Caroline D. Schwartz College of Nursing Building Amphitheatre.

Speakers include Fordham University Associate Professor of Theology Brenna Moore; survivor Michel Jeifa; Seton Hall University Law School Dean of Enrollment Management Gisele Joachim; Michele Dahl, Religion Coordinator and Campus Ministry Facilitator for the Lower School at Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child; and Paul Kutner, Chair of the World Language Department and Director of Global Learning at Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child.

Featured are Holocaust survivor Michel Jeifa and his two children, Bernie Jeifa and Gisele Joachim. Michel Jeifa was born in 1927 in Paris, France, educated there and received the Baccalauréat in 1945. Following the liberation of France, he came to the United States in 1947 with his sister and her two children. Jeifa then went on to build a life in the U.S., serving in the U.S. Army from 1951 to 1953.

Educators and other interested individuals are invited to attend the program free of charge. Workshops such as: "Witness and Resistance: Poetry from the War," "Continuing the Conversation" with Mr. Jeifa, and "Resistance and Rescue: Le Chambon- sur-Lignon" will offer attendees insights into the situation in France during this tragic period. Educators will receive a certificate of professional achievement.

At the time of the Nazi conquest of France in June 1940, there were 350,000 Jews in France; more than half were not French citizens, having arrived from the East after World War I or from Germany after 1933. 80,000 Jews were pushed out of the country in mass deportations in 1942 and later; only 2,000 of those deported survived the war.

Program schedule:

8:30 a.m. Registration
9 a.m. Introduction by Father Lawrence Frizzell, M.A. Program Director
9:15 a.m. We Carry Our Faith in a Murk of Blood: Catholic Resistance to Nazism in France (1939-1940) with Brenna Moore, Th.D.
10:30 a.m. Break
10:50 a.m. Video of Shoah Project Interview: Questions to Michel Jeifa and his daughter Gisele Joachim
Noon Lunch
1:15 p.m.
  • Workshop 1 Witness and Resistance: Poetry from the War with Brenna Moore
  • Workshop 2 Continuing the Conversation with Michel Jeifa, Bernie Jeifa and Gisele Joachim
  • Workshop 3 Resistance and Rescue: Le Chambon-sur-Lignon with Michele Dahl, Ed.D., and Paul Kutner
2:45 p.m. Summation of sessions
3 p.m. Distribution of certificates

This study day is offered free of charge with a complimentary lunch. Those interested may register by contacting Father Lawrence Frizzell at [email protected] or (973) 761-9751. New Jersey educators will be required to provide the name of their school when registering in order to receive five professional development credit hours.

This program, the certificate and the professional development credit hours are sponsored financially by the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust and Genocide Education and The Msgr. John M. Oesterreicher Endowment, Seton Hall University.

For more information, please contact: