Date: January 28, 2026
Time: 20:00 (Israel Time)
Location: Online via Zoom
Registration: Zoom link will be sent upon registration: https://forms.gle/8ZnwN2HpbbAURv3i8
Panel Program
Moderator
Dr. Professor Lily Zamir,
Panelists
- Enemy or Ally? The Female Body: Gendered Violence – From Scripture to the Holocaust and October Seventh | Dr. Professor Lily Zamir,
- Sexual Violence During the Holocaust: Between Victimization and Agency | Dr. Professor Marta Havryshko,
- Sexual Violence against Jewish Women during the Holocaust: Do You Believe Them Now? | Dr. Rochelle G. Saidel & Dr. Sonja M. Hedgepeth
Invited Speakers – Biographical Notes
Dr. Rochelle G. Saidel is the founding Executive Director of Remember the Women Institute, a New York–based nonprofit organization that for over 28 years has advanced research and cultural projects integrating women into history, particularly Holocaust history. Her pioneering scholarship on sexual violence against Jewish women during the Holocaust culminated in the co-edited volume Sexual Violence against Jewish Women during the Holocaust, the first book devoted entirely to this subject. She is the author or editor of seven additional books, including The Jewish Women of Ravensbrück Concentration Camp. Dr. Saidel has been a Research Fellow at Yad Vashem and coordinated VIOLATED! Women in Holocaust and Genocide, an international art exhibition, among other major projects.
Dr. Sonja M. Hedgepeth, recently retired Professor of German at Middle Tennessee State University, is co-editor of Sexual Violence against Jewish Women during the Holocaust and serves on the Executive Board of the Remember the Women Institute. Her scholarly expertise lies in German literature and cultural history. She is the author of a German-language monograph on German-Jewish writer Else Lasker-Schüler, whose works were burned by the Nazis in 1933. Dr. Hedgepeth has also played a significant role in advancing Women’s Studies and Holocaust Studies through international conferences and academic leadership.
Dr. Saidel and Dr. Hedgepeth first met as National Endowment for the Humanities Visiting Scholars during a 1996 summer seminar at Brandeis University. For nearly three decades, they have collaborated as colleagues and lecturers, engaging international audiences on women’s experiences during the Holocaust.
Dr. Marta Havryshko is a historian and the Dr. Thomas Zand Visiting Assistant Professor in Holocaust Pedagogy and Antisemitism Studies at the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Clark University. She previously served as Director of the Institute at the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center in Kyiv. Her research appointments include fellowships and visiting positions at institutions such as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Yad Vashem, the Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies, the German Historical Institute Warsaw, and others. Dr. Havryshko has published extensively on World War II, the Holocaust, nationalist movements, and sexual violence in war and genocide, and is currently developing a book on sexual violence during the Holocaust in Ukraine.
This panel is intended for scholars, educators, students, and all those engaged in Holocaust studies, gender studies, and the ethics of historical testimony.
We look forward to your participation.
