GREENEVILLE, TN – A woman whose family fled Nazi Germany due to the persecution of Jewish individuals will give a presentation at  Tusculum University  about the experience of refugees of that faith who settled in Shanghai, China.

	Judy Kolb. Image by Tusculum

Judy Kolb will deliver the talk Monday, April 20, at 1 p.m. in Chalmers Conference Center, which is located in the Scott M. Niswonger Commons. The community is invited to hear this free lecture, titled “Surviving the Shanghai Ghetto: A Presentation by Survivor Judy Kolb,” and participate in a question-and-answer session at the conclusion of her remarks.

“This presentation will offer a unique and personal perspective on the persecution Jews suffered under the Nazi regime, as well as highlight the measures Jewish families undertook to survive this inhumane treatment,” said Dr. Joel Van Amberg, professor of  history  and the university’s faculty chair. “We are grateful to Judy for sharing this account and encourage community members to expand their knowledge about this chapter in history by attending her talk.”

Kolb’s family had resided in Germany, where they ran a fabric shop, but they fled in 1939 for Shanghai. She was born there a year later. In Shanghai, her father officiated as a cantor and taught in Torah schools, her grandparents operated a transportation company and her brother opened a small café and started a bakery business. Eventually, they moved to the Hongkew District, an area that housed many Jewish refugees from Europe and later became known as the Shanghai Ghetto.

In 1948, the family emigrated to San Francisco, where Judy’s father served as a cantor and provided private bar mitzvah lessons to the Jewish community. Her mother and grandparents were employed at a Levi Strauss factory. The family moved to Chicago in 1955 when Judy’s father was hired as a cantor at Congregation Habonim. During her talk at Tusculum, Judy will discuss life in Shanghai for Jewish refugees and relate that to her personal experiences.

The university and its history program are coordinating with the Tennessee Holocaust Commission to offer Judy’s presentation. The commission is a state organization established in 1984 by the Legislature and in partnership with Holocaust survivors.

“We welcome this opportunity to hear Judy’s story and appreciate her for coming to Tusculum to share it,” said Dr. Scott Hummel, Tusculum’s president. “What Jewish families experienced during the Holocaust was horrific, and it is important for everyone to understand what transpired during that time. Many were traumatized repeatedly as they moved from place to place, and that is a cruel experience for anyone."

While the lecture is free, donations are welcome. Tusculum encourages people to register for planning purposes by visiting  https://go.tusculum.edu/forms/presentation-registration-form/ .

Additional information about Tusculum’s history program is available at  https://site.tusculum.edu/history/. To learn more about the university, please visit  www.tusculum.edu.