November 5 , 2007        

Touro Law Center Commemorates Kristallnacht
Remembered as Beginning of the Holocaust, Commemoration Program
Includes Survivor and Author Dr. Mark Hasten

Central Islip, N.Y. – Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center will host a commemorative program remembering Kristallnacht on Monday, November 12 at 12:30 pm. The program is being presented by Touro Law’s Jewish Programs Committee. The special guest speaker is Dr. Mark Hasten, the Chairman of the Touro College Board of Trustees and author of the book Mark My Words! A Personal History. Dr. Hasten has an amazing personal story, from his childhood in pre-WWII Poland, to his survival during the war, to his work for Israeli independence, and finally his circuitous route to the United States, where he achieved enormous success as an inventor, builder, banker and philanthropist.

Kristallnacht, also known as the Night of Broken Glass, was a pogrom against Jews throughout Germany and parts of Austria on November 9 and 10, 1938. Jewish homes were ransacked in numerous German cities along with 8,000 Jewish shops, towns and villages, as civilians and storm troopers destroyed buildings with sledgehammers, leaving the streets covered in smashed glass. Jews were beaten to death; 30,000 Jewish men were taken to concentration camps; and 1,668 synagogues ransacked with 267 set on fire. To many, this planned “spontaneous” event marked the beginning of what would later be called the Holocaust, and thus it is remembered each year for what it meant in Jewish history, and in the history of all civilized people.

All members of the Touro Law community are invited to attend. A boxed lunch will be available, as will Mr. Hasten’s book at no charge. Mr. Hasten will be available after the program to sign books and talk to audience members.

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Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center has a cutting-edge academic plan and a new 185,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art law campus adjacent to and working with a state and a federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York. Touro’s new campus provides a one-of-a kind learning model for law students, combining a rigorous curriculum taught by expert faculty with a practical courtroom experience. Touro, which has a student body of approximately 750 and an alumni base of more than 5,000, offers full- and part-time J.D. programs as well as graduate law programs.

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