Above: Prof. Hanna Yablonka with Rector Prof. Zvi Hacohen
The Aron Bernstein Chair in Jewish History,
which was dedicated last week, has an interesting history behind it.
Toni Young, President of AABGU, told those
gathered a little bit about the late Aron Bernstein, his story and his
connection to BGU.
“Aron Bernstein was a Holocaust survivor
who was the sole survivor from his family. He visited BGU once many years ago
and fell in love with the University – that visit and his determination to
leave a legacy that would provide for future generations in Israel, led him to
make AABGU the beneficiary of a large bequest, intended to establish a
scholarship endowment,” she said at the ceremony dedicating the Chair in his
name. The dedication ceremony was part of the 47th Board of
Governors Meeting.
Everyone involved was determined to find an
appropriate way to honor him.
“This special responsibility – this special
honor – is particularly important in cases of Holocaust survivors, as it falls
to us to stand in not only for them, but for the murdered members of their
families lost in the savagery of the Shoah. Though not a specific component of
Aron Bernstein's bequest, AABGU and BGU were determined to find an appropriate
way to further honor his special legacy. Today's ceremony is the result,” Toni
Young said.
“As President of AABGU, I am privileged to
stand before you as we inaugurate the Aron Bernstein Chair in Jewish History; a
Chair whose first incumbent will be our world-renowned scholar, Prof. Hanna
Yablonka. Through her continuing research and that of those who will follow her
as incumbents of this Chair, the life and legacy of Aron Bernstein and his family
will continue to impact both Israel and the Jewish people for untold years to
come. Aron Bernstein's legacy here at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev is the
ultimate repudiation of the murderous wishes of the Nazis. May his memory be a
blessing. Am Yisrael Chai,” she said.
Prof. Hanna Yablonka is the daughter of
Holocaust survivors, a world-renowned scholar of the Holocaust and a second
generation BGU academic.
“I am grateful and honored to have been
granted the Aron Bernstein Chair in Jewish History. I take great pride in being
the second generation to be part of BGU, which I have called my second family
and home for almost 30 years now. My parents were among the establishers of the
medical school in the early 1960s. I am affiliated with the Jewish History Department
since the 1980s and, together with my friend [Prof.] Tuvia Friling, we created
the first ever Israel Studies Program in Israel.”
Yablonka explained the origins of her
groundbreaking research.
“Also in the 1980s, in one of our weekly
coffee sessions together – my father cautiously suggested I write my Ph.D.
thesis on the issue of Holocaust survivors and their integration into Israeli
society and the State. I thought it was an intriguing idea. However, I was
quite convinced that such research had already been done. I was proven wrong –
big time. Surprisingly enough, my Ph.D. dissertation, which also appeared as a
book published by NYU Press, was the pioneering research into this amazing
inspiring story of empowerment and success – a social history at its best and a
moral teaching for life.
“The bottom line of my long research corpus
on Holocaust survivors is that it’s an unprecedented tale of immigration, in
which newcomers became the backbone of society in the new country they had just
founded,” she declared.
Yablonka also wrote a seminal book on the
Adolf Eichmann trial.
“I was lucky enough to be the first after
35 years of closed archives, to be able to see all the materials regarding one
of the most media-covered events in Israel’s history – the Eichmann trial,” she
said.
She is currently wrapping up her new book,
which is a “collective biography of 290,000 who were the first Israelis – the first
natives to be born in the State of Israel between 1948 and 1955. It’s something
like the history of the Israeli baby boomers, and it will be published around
Israel’s 70th anniversary” next year.
Yablonka also said she very proud of her
students.
“Above all, I have always considered myself
first and foremost a teacher and the highlight of my career are my Ph.D.
students, whom I have the privilege of supervising. Their intelligence, curiosity,
new views, really validate the old Jewish saying: ‘I’ve learnt from all my
teachers but above all from my students,’” she said.
Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and
Social Sciences Prof. Chaim Hames provided some background about the Faculty
and why it is such an inspiring place in which to work.
“Our Faculty is one of the largest in the University,
comprising 21 departments and another eight teaching programs covering
disciplines from psychology to philosophy, economics and literature, sociology
and anthropology to archaeology, Bible and the study of the ancient Near East, politics
and government and history. We have over 5,000 students studying for a B.A. and
advanced degrees and we are proud that many of our graduates go on to
contribute in significant ways in their chosen professions.
“Our vision and mission is to provide our
students with the skills and tools necessary to make them good, productive and
socially engaged citizens of Israel. We also aim to identify and train those
with the potential to become the leading lights of the next generation of
academics. We hope that those we train will become even more accomplished than
we are and that their research will contribute to making this University,
country and, dare I say, the world a better place for all of us.
“The research carried out in the Faculty is
a reflection of the abilities of our researchers, but also a result of the
special atmosphere and collegiality that exists in the Faculty. Over the past
year, since being elected Dean, I have met with many of my colleagues both
formally and informally. One of the great pleasures of my week are the
Wednesday lunches where eight or so faculty members from different departments
and disciplines, both senior and junior, join me to eat, talk and inspire each
other in an informal atmosphere. I come away from these lunches on a high, in
awe of the fascinating research being carried out by my colleagues and inspired
by how so much gets done with so few resources. These lunches are a constant
reminder to me of just how significant our research is for our community and
for the greater good,” he said.
The ceremony also featured presentations by
three BGU alumni:
Dr. Amir
Peleg, historian and adviser for the Claims Conference; Assistant Editor
of the Zeev Jabotinsky Ideological Writings
Mrs. Dalit
Danenberg, history teacher in a leading Jerusalem high school
Mrs.
Tehila Malka, pedagogical advisor at Herzog College and a teacher at the
secular Binah Yeshiva.