Millersville University’s 41st Conference on the Holocaust & Genocide

Translating Trauma into Literature and Performing Arts

In testimonies of survivors, the Holocaust is sometimes described as taking place in a realm akin to a different planet. As Jonathan Freeland wrote recently, it was “a place where the usual laws of moral gravity did not apply; where evil was good, black was white, and night was day.”  Therefore, the act of describing the Holocaust experience to subsequent generations resembles translating from a foreign language.

We are excited to invite you to a series of events that represent diverse approaches to this year’s theme: Translating Trauma into Literature and Performing Arts

“Translating Zuzanna Ginczanka” • a panel discussion and poetry reading

          March 3,2026 • 7pm
          McComsey Hall • Myers Auditorium

• A panel focused on the work and meteor-like life of the Polish-Jewish poet Zuzanna Ginczanka, who was executed by the Nazis in 1944.  Three translators of the poet Dr. Joanna Trzeciak-Huss (Kent State University), Dr. Mira Rosenthal (Cal Poly) and Alex Braslavsky (Ph.D. candidate, Harvard University) will share their work and discuss the challenges of bringing this remarkable poet to English-speaking audiences.
• Before the panel, Joanna Trzeciak-Huss will lead a workshop on teaching the Holocaust poetry in translation.

Alan & Linda Loss Keynote Lecture featuring Moisés Kaufman

          March 19, 2026 • 7pm
          Winter Visual & Performing Arts Center • Biemesderfer Hall

• Acclaimed director and playwright Moisés Kaufman will discuss his recent play “Here There Are Blueberries” as a form of translation of the Holocaust history. The event will include a dramatic reading of excerpts from the play, performed by Millersville University students.

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