In an effort to educate Northwest Ohioans about the horrors of the Holocaust, German historian, Dr. Norbert Kampe will be speaking at the University and other sites in the area during the next two weeks as part of “Deadly Discrimination: Re-Viewing the Final Solution and its Consequences,” a Holocaust remembrance series.

The series of events and speeches was planned by the history department in conjunction with the department of German, Russian and East Asian Languages and the Ruth Fajerman Markowicz Holocaust Resource Center in Sylvania.

Guest scholar Kampe resides in Berlin, Germany where he is the Director of the House of the Wannsee Conference Memorial and Education Site.

The Wannsee House is where, on Jan. 20, 1942, 15 officials from the SS, Nazi Party and German government convened to discuss the Final Solution, which would result in the genocide of millions of Jews across Europe.

During his visit, Kampe will speak about the Holocaust at numerous events and in classes.

“He is a well-known scholar, and he is extremely friendly and outgoing, which makes him an ideal guest,” said Dr. Beth Griech-Polelle, assistant professor of history.

Yesterday afternoon, Kampe spoke in Griech-Polelle’s European Women’s History class, on the topic of the Wannsee House.

Tonight at 7:30, Kampe will speak as an introduction to the oratorio, “Tikvah: A Concert of Hope and Remembrance,” a free 70-minute event that will be held in the Bryan Recital Hall at the Moore Musical Arts Center.

According to professor Christina Guenther, the oratorio will include dance, singing, video animation and instrumental music, mostly performed by wind instruments.

Written by music composition professor Burton Beerman, the oratorio was inspired by Philip Markowicz, a Holocaust survivor who resides in Sylvania.

“It is his understanding of Jewish history, his teachings of the Torah and his undeniable sense of hope that speaks to all people who have experienced tragedies in their own lives,” Beerman said of Markowicz.

Markowicz’s granddaughter, a soprano from New York, will sing as part of the oratorio.

His daughter-in-law, Hindea Markowicz, is director of the Ruth Fajerman Markowicz Holocaust Resource Center and the reason Kampe is in Ohio.

When she visited the Wannsee House last year, Markowicz was given a personalized tour by Kampe. Impressed by Kampe’s historical background and personable nature, Markowicz decided he would be a good person to invite to teach people across Northwest Ohio about the Holocaust.

Educating University students, faculty and community members about the Holocaust, Kampe will speak today at 11:30 a.m. in a German Cultures and Civilizations class in Olscamp 220. Later, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., he will converse with students at the Chapman Learning Community at Kohl.

Tomorrow, Kampe will visit a Nazi Party History class in 227 Olscamp.

All of these classes will be open for the public to attend.

On Thursday, Kampe will introduce the 7:30 showing of “The Wannsee Conference”at the Gish Film Theater.

The 1984 German film, the final in a series of five Holocaust-themed movies at the theater, will present the minutes of the Wannsee Conference intermittently throughout its duration.

Following the film, Kampe will be available to answer any questions audience members may have about the Wannsee Conference.

During the rest of his time in Ohio, Kampe will visit numerous other area events.

He will be at the University of Findlay for a Roundtable Book Club discussion Friday, at 4 p.m.

May 2 at 7 p.m., Kampe will attend a meeting of the Hancock County Historical Society in Findlay, and May 5 he will give a Holocaust Remembrance Day presentation at Temple Shomer Emunim in Sylvania.

Finally, May 6, which is Holocaust Remembrance Day, Kampe will speak to high school students at the McMaster Center in Toledo as part of the Mayor’s Diversity Breakfast.

According to Griech-Polelle, the University’s hope for Kampe’s visit is that he will make people aware of the past in order to prevent anything like the Holocaust from happening again.

“We’re trying to let people know about the Nazi past and what words and actions led to,” she said. “One of the reasons the Nazis were so successful was because people were so apathetic about what was going on around them. We want the lessons of the past to inform the present.”