How Do We Create a Just Future for Us All?
HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR HELPS EXPAND HUMAN RIGHTS PROGRAM
Simon ’96H, a Holocaust survivor, and Doris M. ’50 Konover (photo, seated) focus much of their philanthropy on Jewish life and the research and preservation of Jewish history and materials. Mr. Konover, born in 1922 in Poland, was interned in a labor camp at age 16, and later conscripted into the Soviet army and imprisoned in Siberia during World War II. His parents and more than 50 other members of his family were killed in the Holocaust. In 1949, Mr. Konover immigrated to the U.S. and settled in Connecticut, where he established Konover & Associates, a successful real estate development firm.
“My history is the catastrophe of the Holocaust as a young man,” says Mr. Konover. “I’ve lost my whole family in Europe and I’ve seen the cruelty I never can forget. And I want to make sure it never happens again.”
In 2007, the Konovers, who are founding supporters of the Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, endowed the center’s first faculty chair with a $1.5-million gift. Arnold Dashefsky (photo, standing), a professor of sociology and director of the center, has been named the first Doris and Simon Konover Chair of Judaic Studies.
Dashefsky says the Konovers’ gift supports UConn’s goal of expanding its human rights education, research and outreach programs. His first initiative is to develop a new course on anti-Semitism. The chair also will provide assistance to graduate students in the Judaic studies program and funding for sponsoring conferences, offering lectures and promoting scholarly publications.
“While the Holocaust is a Jewish tragedy with the murder of 6 million Jews, it is also a human tragedy with the destruction of millions of other human beings of diverse backgrounds. Beyond all of this staggering loss is a question that we all need to address: How does human civilization allow genocide to occur and how can we prevent it from happening again?” says Dashefsky.
Reflecting on his family’s professional success and ability to give back, Mr. Konover is proud of what they’ve been able to accomplish.
“It’s amazing for me to think of where I am now starting out where I did. I tried to survive hour to hour, day to day. Here we are in 2008, and doing what we can do for the University and the community. We really feel good about it,” says Mr. Konover. “I wish that my parents could be here to see what we accomplished. I wish they could see it.”
