UC Santa Cruz Review Summer/Fall 1995

Campus Update: World War II refugee endows chair in holocaust studies

On the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, many holocaust survivors share this hope: that the world not forget Hitler's program of genocide that killed 6 million Jews. 'I believe it is critical to perpetually study the circumstances culminating in Hitler's final solution for the Jews,' said Anne Neufeld Levin, whose gift to UCSC has led to the establishment of an endowed chair in holocaust studies.

"Only by remembering can we immortalize the millions of victims and help to prevent a similar on-slaught against any group," said Levin, who narrowly escaped Nazi persecution as a young child. At the age of three, she fled from Austria with her parents, Henry and Hedy Neufeld, just as Hitler's troops invaded Czechoslovakia.

One of just a handful of chairs in holocaust studies in the U.S., the Neufeld-Levin chair is supported by a $250,000 endowment. Along with the endowment, Levin is donating an extensive family archive of holocaust-related materials.

In providing the endowment, Levin stipulated that the UCSC chair have an interdisciplinary focus and public-outreach element.

"The holocaust touches many subjects; there are holocaust experts in medicine, science, literature, and theater," she said. "I am hoping that the creation of the chair is only a nucleus around which other activities will be possible."

"This extraordinary gift will make it possible for faculty, students, and the general public to learn from leading experts on and off campus about one of the most tragic and significant events of the twentieth century," said Chancellor Pister. "And by donating her treasured family archive to the university, Anne Levin gives us a very personal and poignant view of the holocaust."

Levin has been a longtime supporter and volunteer at UCSC. A former president of the UCSC Foundation, she is a current trustee.