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Thursday, 7 November 2024
10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. EST

You are invited to a virtual discussion on Jewish resistance in Nazi-occupied Belgium. 

There was a wide range of acts of resistance, rescue and aid organized through or by the Jewish community in Nazi-occupied Belgium. Panellists will consider the courage and compassion of those who defied the Nazis and their collaborators, despite the grave risk. His Excellency Mr. Philippe Kridelka, Permanent Representative of Belgium to the United Nations will deliver opening remarks. Speakers include: Dr. Janiv Stamberger, Coordinator of the Peace Centre of the city of Antwerp and affiliated researcher at the Institute of Jewish Studies, University of Antwerp; Ms. Dorien Styven, Archivist of Kazerne Dossin ¨C Memorial, Museum and Research Centre on Holocaust and Human Rights; and Dr. No¨¦mi Perelman Mattis, hidden child survivor of the Holocaust, and retired psychologist in Salt Lake City, Utah. The discussion is moderated by Ms. Sherri Aldis, Director, United Nations Regional Information Centre in Brussels. 

The discussion is part of the events organized by the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme to mark the November Pogrom of 1938. 

Opening remarks

His Excellency Mr. Philippe Kridelka is the Permanent Representative of Belgium to the United Nations. He began his diplomatic career with the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1987 and undertook his first posting at the Belgian Embassy in Tehran in 1989. He also served at the Belgian Embassy in Warsaw and at the Belgian Delegation to the European Union, before becoming the diplomatic advisor to the Belgian Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Employment Policy and Gender Equality. In 2002 Ambassador Kridelka was named the Belgian Ambassador to Singapore and the Sultanate of Brunei. This was followed by subsequent Ambassadorships to Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia, as well as UNESCO, the organization at which he eventually served as the Chef de Cabinet of the Director General and as the Director of the UNESCO New York Liaison Office. In August 2013, Ambassador Kridelka became the Grand Chamberlain of His Majesty King Philippe of the Belgians. Ambassador Kridelka presented his credentials to the Secretary General of the United Nations on 10 August 2020. In the role of Permanent Representative of Belgium to the United Nations, he served as Ambassador during Belgium¡¯s term as a non-permanent member of the Security Council during its 2019-2020 mandate and as Chair of the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly during its 77th Session.  

Panellists

Dr. Janiv Stamberger obtained his PhD in history at the University of Antwerpen and Universit¨¦ Libre de Bruxelles, for which he received the Mgr. Charles de Clerck and Pro Civitate price from the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts. Dr. Stamberger is affiliated with the Institute for Jewish Studies at the University of Antwerp and is coordinator of the Peace Centre of the city of Antwerp. His research focuses on Jewish life in Belgium at the end of the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century. He authored numerous articles and chapters on the subject. 

Ms. Dorien Styven obtained a master¡¯s degree in History at the KULeuven and an advanced Master in Archival Science at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels. Ms. Styven is affiliated with Kazerne Dossin ¨C Memorial, Museum and Research Centre on Holocaust and Human Rights in Mechelen, Belgium, since 2010. As of 2019 she manages all aspects of archival curation as well as the Give Them a Face commemoration project. Ms. Styven represents Kazerne Dossin within the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure (EHRI) and the Archive and Contemporary Records board of the Flemish Association for Library, Archive and Documentation (VVBAD), and co-chairs the Working Group on Sustainable Publishing of Metadata within the Digital Research Infrastructure for the Arts and Humanities (DARIAH). Her research focuses on hiding in Belgium and on the impact of the General Data Protection Regulation on Holocaust remembrance. 

Dr. No¨¦mi Perelman Mattis is a retired psychologist in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was a hidden child in Brussels during the Holocaust, while her parents Chaim and Fela Perelman founded and led the Jewish Resistance there. She earned a JD from the University of Brussels and a Ph.D. in Psychology from Columbia University. She specializes in the treatment of adult survivors of childhood trauma. She has been a member of the Governor's Commission on the Status of Women and a Co-Chair of the Utah State Task Force on Ritual Abuse. Dr. Mattis lectures widely and gave an invited address at the international gathering in Jerusalem in 2007 of the hidden children of Belgium.

This discussion is moderated by Ms. Sherri Aldis, Director, United Nations Regional Information Centre in Brussels, managing Ãå±±½ûµØcommunications for 22 countries and 13 languages in Western Europe. 

Ms. Sherri Aldis has more than 30 years of experience in communications in both the private sector and the United Nations, including managing multinational teams and leading strategic communications, as well as creative outreach to a variety of global audiences. Her extensive experience includes building high-level partnerships with Member States, civil society, the private sector, academia, and international institutions such as the European Union. Ms. Aldis served as Chief of the Sales and Marketing Section in the Department of Global Communications and as Acting Deputy Director of the Outreach Division in New York before taking up her role in Brussels. Prior to joining the United Nations, Ms. Aldis held senior positions in international publishing and marketing.