Constitution Day Talk Retraces Anti-Semitism and its Legacy

September 16, 2010

Saint Leo University welcomed Bernd Sösemann, distinguished professor of holocaust studies at the German Free University in Berlin, to University Campus on Wednesday, September 15, to deliver a guest lecture: “Early Twentieth Century Anti-Semitism in Germany and France: What Lessons Can We Learn?” Sösemann (pictured) discussed the conditions that existed in Germany and France just before World War II and the experiences of a journalist, Theodor Wolff, who died in the holocaust. Sösemann said anti-Semitism is on the rise again among some teens in present day Germany. He stressed the importance of a free press, noting that Adolf Hitler’s rise to power was aided through manipulation of media. Söesmann delivered his talk in English, and answered questions from the audience with the help of faculty member and German language instructor Carol Ann Moon (on the right in the group photo) and his daughter, Pia Sösemann (center), a student at Saint Leo’s University Campus.

The presentation was sponsored by the university’s Social Sciences Department to commemorate the anniversary of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787 in Philadelphia.