Fairfield University’s Bennett Center for Judaic Studies will host Shay Pilnik, PhD, director of the Emil A. and Jenny Fish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Yeshiva University, as the featured speaker for the 2026 Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony on April 16 at 3 p.m. in the Kelley Center Presentation Room.
The ceremony is open to the public. Advance registration is required.
Event Summary
- Speaker: Shay Pilnik, PhD, director of the Emil A. and Jenny Fish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies
- Event: Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony
- Date & Location: Apr. 16, 3 p.m., Kelley Center Presentation Room, Fairfield University
- RSVP: Required for in-person at fairfield.edu/bennett
Shay Pilnik, PhD, Director of the Emil A. and Jenny Fish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies
The grandson of Holocaust survivors who immigrated to Israel from the USSR about a decade after the founding of the Jewish State, Dr. Pilnik is the Director of the Emil A. and Jenny Fish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. Prior to becoming the Fish Center's founding Director in 2020, he was the Executive Director of the Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center (HERC) in Milwaukee from 2014 till 2020.
He earned his BA from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he studied Comparative Literature and Jewish Thought, followed by an MA in Jewish Studies from McGill University, and a PhD in Modern Jewish Studies from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2013. Dr. Pilnik is also the author of The Ravine of Memory: Babyn Yar Between the Holocaust and the Great Patriotic War (Purdue University Press, 2025).
The event is co-sponsored by Campus Ministry and the Jewish Federation of Fairfield County.
Later this year, Fairfield University and the Fairfield University Art Museum will receive a Holocaust memorial sculpture titled She Wouldn’t Take Off Her Boots, which will serve as a lasting tribute to the courage of Holocaust victims and survivors and as a reminder of the importance of standing against injustice and promoting peace.
