The Holocaust, Genocide and Interfaith Education Center
Welcome To HGI
We are an academic educational center located at Manhattan College, New York. Our goal is to eradicate human suffering, prejudice, and racism. We condemn all violence in the name of religion and race. We invite you to attend our educational, artistic, and interfaith events. Please be part of our center and its community in New York.
THE HOLOCAUST: SHOAH
The Holocaust comes from the Greek word “sacrificial burnt offering”
Shoah means catastrophe
GENOCIDE
The deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group.
INTERFAITH EDUCATION CENTER
We believe that all faiths are equal.
All faiths are true to the practitioner
All sacred texts are to be respected
All faiths should be taught
We encourage interfaith dialogue
We condemn religious violence of any form
Center's Mission
The Center’s mission is to promote Jewish-Catholic-Muslim “discussion and collaboration” as urged in 1965 by the Vatican’s Nostra Aetate (In Our Time) and seconded in subsequent Papal actions and declarations. “Since Christians and Jews have such a common spiritual heritage, this sacred Council wishes to encourage and further mutual understanding and appreciation.” Nostra Aetate also states that the Church “regards with esteem also the Muslim,” and it urges all “to work sincerely for mutual understanding.”
As befits Manhattan College, an institution of higher education, the Center’s principal sphere is education. Founded in 1996 as the Holocaust Resource Center, the Center expanded its Mission in 2011 and was renamed the Holocaust, Genocide and Interfaith Education Center. This reflects the spirit of the Center’s Mission and the vision that all the foci are interconnected and are part of the educational outreach of the Center. The Center is committed to understanding and respecting differences and similarities between people of all religions, races, ethnicities and nationalities.
The Center’s focus remains the lessons of the Holocaust, which are essential to educating future generations in order to combat prejudice, genocidal ideologies, apathy and Holocaust denial. To this end, the Center is committed to educating people about the Holocaust and genocide while emphasizing the contemporary significance of these events. Although the primary audiences are the College community, the neighborhood and area teachers, the Center also seeks to impact a broader arena through interfaith initiatives and activities. Through education about human suffering in the absence of tolerance, the Center seeks to foster acceptance and understanding among religions, cultures, and communities.
Thank you for your support.
Best,
Staff:
Mehnaz M. Afridi, Director
Ethan Van Ness, Assistant
Jeff Horn, Former Director
Frederick Schweitzer, Founder and Former Director
Martin Spett, Survivor and Board Member