Holocaust specialist teaches course on Armenian Genocide

PanARMENIAN.Net - Holocaust specialist Martina Fegan will describe the experiences that drove her commitments and research in the field on Sunday, April 30, when she speaks at the 34th annual Holocaust Memorial Service for the Franklin County Area.

The service will be at 3 p.m. at Congregation Sons of Israel, 209 E. King St, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. The interfaith service will be led by Rabbi Jill Hackell.

"The topic of the Holocaust resonates with me for many reasons," said Fegan, an English teacher at Greencastle-Antrim High School. "The survivors I have met through the years motivate me to continue to study about the Holocaust and teach the subject to my students."

She teaches a course on 20th and 21st century genocide through literature and film to students in 10th through 12 grades. The course, which primarily focuses on the Holocaust, also deals with the Armenian, Rwandan and Cambodian genocides.

"I hope teaching this generation about genocide will help prevent future genocides," Fegan said. The service will include hymns, scripture, poems and memorial readings presented by area clergy and laypersons. Hackell will offer prayers for the departed and oversee the lighting of memorial candles for those who perished in the Holocaust. Children and young people from area congregations will light candles.

Music and songs from the Jewish tradition, some composed during the Holocaust, will be sung by area ministers and the congregation.

The service is co-sponsored by The United Churches, the Evangelical Fellowship of Cumberland Valley, the Chambersburg Ministerium and the Chambersburg Ministerial Alliance. A reception will follow, Public Opinion reported.