A Global Conflict that Shaped the World We Live in Today:
A Commemoration of the Seventieth Anniversary of World War II (1939-2009)
Bronx Community College
2009/2010
On September 1, 1939, Germany launched a surprise air and land attack on Poland, unleashing World War II. The global war ended six years later, on September 2, 1945, with the unconditional surrender of Japan to the Allies. Over 70 million people died worldwide, most of them civilians. Immediately after the end of the war, the United States and the Soviet Union, once allies against Germany, became engaged in the Cold War. This ideological conflict for global dominance lasted from 1945 to 1991 when the Soviet Union was formally dissolved. Indeed, many historians argue that World War II only truly concluded with the end of the Cold War. November 9, 2009, marks the twentieth anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the iconic event that signaled to the world that the end of the Cold War was at hand.
BCC has organized a series of events to examine the long ranging effects of a war that began 70 years ago, but still continues to shape the world we live in. Please join us in this campus-wide commemoration and exploration.
1 September (Tuesday)
8am - 9pm
Meister Hall Lobby
World War II Remembrance Day: An all-day tribute to the war victims. Students, staff and faculty are invited to sign a commemorative guestbook. At 12 p.m., President Williams and the College Cabinet will participate in a brief ceremony of remembrance and tribute.
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27 October (Tuesday)
12 - 1pm
Philosophy Hall, Lower Level
"Modern Dance Under the Swastika - Who Rose, Who Fell, Who Fled, and Why"
Dr. Sue Moss, Department of Health, Physical Education and Wellness, presenter.
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28 October (Wednesday)
12pm
Location: TBA
Surviving Genocide
Presentation by Irving Roth, author of the Holocaust memoir, Bondi's Brother
Dr. Timothy Sedore, Department of English, moderator.
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9 November (Monday)
12 - 2pm
Colston Lower Level
Post-War New World Order Panel: A discussion of the global impact of the Second World War in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
- Dr. Simon Davis, Department of History, Chairperson
- Dr. David Gordon, Department of History, panelist: "America First: The Anti-War Movement and the Second World War"
- Dr. Julia Miele Rodas, Department of English, panelist: "Disposable Lives: The Short Road from Euthanasia to the Holocaust"
- Dr. Sandra Tarlin, Department of English, panelist: "Global Tremors, Lost Worlds: Why So Many Americans Turned to Polish Poetry Post 9/11"
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9 November (Monday)
Colston Lobby
Exhibition Opening: "Sachsenhausen and Dachau: The Arrest and Internment of Polish Academics During World War II"
Dr. William deJong-Lambert, Department of History; Professor Roni Ben-Nun and Professor Mary Jo Ben-Nun, Department of Art and Music, curators.
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World War II Film Series
First Thursdays
12 - 2pm
Begrisch 228
Screening and discussion of the movies dedicated to the global dimension of the Second World War.
- September 3: Andrzej Wajda's "Kanal" (1957), 95 min.
- October 1: Martin Doblmeier's "Bonhoeffer" (2005), 93 min.
- November 5: Aviva Slesin’s "Secret Lives: Hidden Children and Their Rescuers During World War II" (2003), 90 min.
- December 3: Isao Takahata's "Grave of the Fireflies" (1988), 88 min
Dr. Wladyslaw Roczniak, Department of History, and Dr. Timothy Sedore, Department of English, moderators.
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