(Courtesy photo) Tom White, coordinator of Educational Outreach for the Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Keene State College, is the guest speaker for Thursday's Yom HaShoah observance at Rivier University.

NASHUA – The vital role education plays in promoting civic engagement against uprisings of violence that often lead to atrocities and genocide will be the topic of discussion at this year’s annual Yom HaShoah remembrance program at Rivier University.

Leading the discussion will be guest speaker Tom White, a noted authority on the relevence of Holocaust and genocide education who is currently the coordinator of Educational Outreach for the Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Keene State College.

The program begins at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 28, in the Dion Center on the campus of Rivier University.

The event is free, and the public is welcome to attend.

Rivier and Temple Beth Abraham have collaborated on observing Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, for a number of years, forming a partnership between Rivier faculty, its students and Temple Beth Abraham leadership and congregants.

Each year on Yom HaShoah, people of the Jewish faith from all over the world pause to reflect on the afflictions their ancestors faced. Many are direct descendants of Holocaust victims and survivors.

Like many observances, the Rivier and Temple Beth Abraham program includes a solemn candle-lighting ceremony memorializing Holocaust victims.

Performances by the temple’s Zimria Choir and the Nashua Community Interfaith Choir will also be featured during the program.

Meanwhile, the theme of White’s presentation, “Remembrance, Education and Resiliency,” will pose questions such as “how do we use Holocaust and genocide education” to stem the violence that so often leads to wider atrocities and genocide and “how do we identify and confront antisemitism?”

And, “how do we practice prevention?”

Before beginning his current position at Keene State’s Cohen Center, which was created by a fellowship he received, White was a Keene High School teacher for 16 years.

He served as a researcher for Stephen Hooper’s documentary film, “An American Nurse at War,” and as the historical consultant for David DeArville’s documentary film, “Telling Their Stories: NH Holocaust Survivors Speak Out,” which was produced in 2004.

White also served on the Diocese of Manchester’s Diocesan Ecumenical Commission for Interfaith Relations, and he is currently co-chairman and producer of the Cohen Center’s annual Kristallnacht commemoration.

He is also a member of the Association of Holocaust Organizations (AHO) board of directors, and has participated as observer and facilitator in the Global Raphael Lemkin Seminar for Genocide Prevention at the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation.

In 2009, White received NEA New Hampshireís Champion of Human and Civil Rights Award, and in 2015, he was named a Peace Ambassador by the Center for Peacebuilding from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In 2017, he was named to the Keene High School Wall of Honor as a distinguished alumni.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.