Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Programs offered by The Holocaust Education Committee - Never Forget!

PROGRAMS OFFERED
BY
THE HOLOCAUST EDUCATION COMMITTEE
OF THE GREATER QUAD CITY AREA

SPEAKERS AND PRESENTERS
Authors, exhibits, Holocaust specialists and dramatic presentations are provided to schools, libraries, churches and other community venues through grants and collaboration with community groups.

INSTITUTES AND WORKSHOPS
Since 1993, Holocaust institutes and workshops have been offered to Quad City educators, students and community members.  Institutes are scheduled in the fall of odd-numbered years.

TRUNKS AND OTHER EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS
The Jeff Leibovitz Special Collection, housed at the Western Illinois University Quad City Campus in Moline, provides access to over a thousand resources, including sets of traveling curriculum cases focused on Making a Difference, Rescuers and Resisters, and Diaries and Memoirs. 

ESSAY AND ART CONTESTS
The Ida Kramer Children and the Holocaust Essay Contest and the Meyer and Frances Shnurman Holocaust Visual Arts Contest are open to students in grades 7-12.  Submissions are due annually on February 1.

TEACHER SCHOLARSHIPS
Applications for the Rauch Foundation Teacher Scholarship, from $200 to $2,000, are due annually on April 1 or October 1 to support professional development.  The scholarship covers expenses for travel, housing, and/or registration for conferences, workshops or tours.
A BOOK BY ME
Youth, 18 years old or younger, interview, research, write and illustrate a 10-page book about a Holocaust survivor, liberator or rescuer.  
           
Promoting a higher awareness of the Holocaust as a unique historical event with universal implications for today


WEBSITE: www.hecqc.org

Monday, November 7, 2016

A New Erzebet Literary Sighting, or should it be Citing!

Never mind the Once Upon a Time Segment last night where the Maleficent character looked like Erzebet, here is a humor/horror story featuring her. The story is titled "attack from above" and is in Chapter 16 of Dracula Transformed and Other Bloodthirsty Tales. The authors are Mike McCarty and Mark McLaughlin.  There is always a naughty, bathroom humor spin to their horror, and some of the tales are quite funny.  In this one, an all white Erzebet runs a contemporary disco/night club. It is named Club Contessa and Dracula characters Dracula, Renfield and Lucy appear. Literally, there is a fascinating spin to the false legends of hte blood baths, and an explanation for why virgin blood was soon favored. In a grim way, the story reminds me of nightclub disasters where so many are killed.  There are even practical explanations for why the gore and blood are so carefully cleaned up, and for why Erzebet or the Contessa gets away with her crimes.  Still, no one comes to look for the missing people? I once talked to Mike M. on Anne Rice, and he made a point of showing me a parody of her work that he had done.  I'm surprised he would want to write part of a horror book on vampires, because I, for one, am a huge admirer of Rice.  Oh well.  Tastes change, no pun intended. The Contessa is first introduced as Erzebet in Chapter 13, of this confusing novella nestled among short stories: "That pale skin, those eager coal=-black eyes, those scarlet lips--there could be no  mistake.  It was her: the Coutnes Erzebet Dolingen-and before that, Countess Elizabeth Bathory. The Love of his Life!" (1995).