From Charleston to Berlin, How Student Research Uncovered a Holocaust Story

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What began as a stack of forgotten letters in a college archive became a transatlantic journey of remembrance, culminating in a powerful tribute to the Landsmann family, Holocaust victims nearly erased by history. In this episode of Speaking of ... College of Charleston, we follow the story of how student research, archival discovery and community collaboration led to the placement of Stolpersteine, brass memorial stones installed in front of the family's last known residence in Berlin.

Featured in this episode:

Chad Gibbes joined the College of Charleston as assistant professor of Jewish studies and director of the Zucker/Goldberg Center in fall 2021.  Professor Gibbs teaches the history of the Holocaust, antisemitism, comparative genocide, and related topics. His research interests include Jewish resistance to the Holocaust, gender studies, memory and memorialization, and oral history. 

In his current project, Professor Gibbs uses spatial and social network analyses to expand our understanding of resistance and survival at the Nazi extermination camp Treblinka. Those interested in his work should see his professional website here. He attained his PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, his MA from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and his BA from the University of Wyoming. Before entering academic life, Professor Gibbs served in the US Army, including deployment to Iraq. 

Leah Davenport is one of the research assistants at the Pearlstine/Lipov Center for Southern Jewish Culture. She is a senior at the College of Charleston and is majoring in Jewish Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies. She joined the Pearlstine/Lipov research team in 2022 after her studies sparked an interest in Jewish communities of the South, specifically in the Lowcountry, of which she is a native. Leah was instrumental in finishing research on synagogues across South Carolina. In addition to her work with the Center, Leah is the Peer Facilitator for the both of the Jewish Studies First-Year Experience seminars in Fall 2024. She is currently planning to go on graduate school for social work, where she hopes to earn her MSW with a certificate specializing in hospital social work.

R. Scott Hellman ’96 graduated from the College with a BA in History and received an MBA from the University of Miami in 2001.  Hellman owns and operates a service driven insurance brokerage firm specializing in corporate benefits, as well as, life, health, long term care and disability income for individuals. Hellman is the current Chair of the Yaschik Arnold Jewish Studies Program Community Advisory Board; serves as Vice-President of the Hebrew Benevolent Society, the oldest Jewish Charitable Society in the United States; and is on Hollings Cancer Center Advisory Board.  

As a multi-generational Charlestonian, Hellman enjoys all that Charleston has to offer on and offshore, riding bicycles, and spending time with his wife and child.

Resources from this episode:

• Stolpersteine, created by artist Gunter Demnig, are brass plaques installed at the last known voluntary residence of Holocaust victims. They serve as public reminders of lives lost and disrupted by Nazi persecution.
• Learn more about the Zucker Goldberg Center for Holocaust Studies
• Explore the Jewish Heritage Collection at the College of Charleston Libraries
• College of Charleston’s Pearlstine/Lipov Center for Southern Jewish Culture
• The Jewish Historic