Nurses in Concentration Camps Topic for Lecture

The UC Department of Psychiatry and College of Nursing, in collaboration with the Center for Holocaust Humanity Education at Hebrew Union College and the Ohio Humanities Council, will host a guest speaker on May 1 from noon to 1:00 p.m. in 7051 of the Medical Sciences Building.  Roger A. Ritvo, PhD, will speak on the roles of women who, with courage and ingenuity, served as nurses and caretakers, bringing a semblance of human decency to the indecent and horrific environment in the concentration camps.  Esther Lucky, herself a nurse in 13 concentration camps, is an example of such courage and will join Dr. Ritvo to speak and answer questions. Dr. Ritvo’s presentation is based on his book “Sisters of Sorrow: Voices of Care in the Holocaust,” which relates the stories of twelve individual women in concentration and labor camps and also during liberation.  Dr. Ritvo will hold a book signing immediately following the presentation.  Copies of his book will be available for purchase.

Dr. Ritvo is professor and vice chancellor of Academic and Student Affairs at Auburn University, Montgomery, Alabama, and serves on the board of directors of Health and Human Services, Inc.  He was formerly dean and professor of Health Management and Policy at the School of Health and Human Services of the University of New Hampshire (UNH), where he received the Certificate of Merit from the UNH Women’s Commission. 

The presentation is part of Holocaust Awareness Week 2003.  For more information about the week’s events, contact Racelle Weiman, PhD, at (513) 221-1875, ext. 351.