Tattered Cover is pleased to welcome a group of scholars to present a panel discussing The Holocaust in Comic Books.
Please join us on February 4 at 12pm for this panel.
This event is free and open to the public.
About the Panel
Holocaust education has become increasingly important as those who witnessed it have continued to pass on. Many comic book artists used their craft to remember these tragic events and we will be discussing those comics and more in this panel. Captain America, Hellboy, Maus, Chutz-POW, Supermenches, and more! The new Colorado bill HB20-1336 requires the satisfactory completion of a course that includes Holocaust and genocide studies as a condition of high school graduation in public schools. This will take effect in 2023 and we will be offering comic books and other resource ideas for educators to take into their classrooms!
About the Panelists
Selena A Naumoff, MDiv, is with the Holocaust Awareness Institute at the University of Denver. She runs the Holocaust Survivors Speakers Bureau there and works with the local Colorado survivors to schedule them for speaking events and assist them with anything they require. She is also a life-long comic book enthusiast whose favorites include Captain America, Black Panther, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and The X-Men. She has been attending Comic Conventions since before it was cool. Selena wants everyone to remember that the Holocaust did not happen overnight. And that even though it occurred far away, it still affects us locally and unless we remember and stand up for each other, it has the potential to happen again.
Erin Christian, MFA, is the Gifted and Talented English Language Arts teacher at Ken Caryl Middle School. She has extensive experience using graphic novels in her classroom and over the years has worked hard to connect her students with Holocaust survivors so that they can learn about that time in history from first-hand witnesses. She is a self-described nerd who is passionate about the community building opportunities that conventions provide. In addition to working with youth in education, she also writes memoir and has participated in several storytelling events by Denver's local chapter of The Moth. She wants to impress on her students as well as audiences that literature is the conduit through which we learn about our collective history, explore our present, and shape visions for our future. It is one of the most powerful tools we have at combating hatred and fostering empathy.
Helen R. Starr, BFA, is the daughter of Holocaust survivors Fanny and Zesa Starr. Helen is a first-generation American. Helen is keeping her parent’s legacy alive through ongoing Holocaust education. In 2009 Helen created an immersive Holocaust lecture series using virtual worlds for Holocaust chats with Fanny Starr
In 2019 Fanny and Helen helped in creating one last mission as a mother and daughter team to make sure the Holocaust is not forgotten. The daily conversations, Helen to Fanny, "Education is the best source to achieve the mission in learning about the Holocaust and world genocides. We live in a world where politics controls education; the results are book banning, canceling culture, and redefining language and ideologies. It means the government is controlling what people should learn.” An example of how the language was modified in Colorado’s Holocaust Bill; a particular Colorado school board member redefined the actual definition of the word "Nazi.”
The bill will take effect on July 1, 2023. Colorado’s Holocaust Education Bill; HB20-1336 requires the satisfactory completion of a course that includes Holocaust and genocide studies as a condition of high school graduation in public schools.