PHJC Sister Holocaust Victim Topic of Lampen Lecture

  11/22/13 Sister Christiane Humpert, a German PHJC sister, was the featured presenter for the Ancilla College Lampen Lecture series Wednesday, November 13^th.

Sister Christiane discussed the life and experience of Sister Aloysia Lowenfels, another PHJC sister, who was a victim of the Holocaust.  Sister Christiane has been a student of Sister Aloysia for some time and was born in Germany right before the beginning of WWII.

The story Sister Christiane shared was a touching account of how Sister Aloysia, a young Jewish woman, became a PHJC sister.  Sister Aloysia was born into a German Jewish family but was educated like many young Jewish girls in a Christian school.  She adopted the faith and left her family and home country to become a Sister in the Netherlands.  During WWII she was found and arrested. She was sent to a work camp before being transported and killed in the gas chambers at Auschwitz.

“A significant historical event such as the holocaust takes on new meaning when we hear the stories of individual persons deeply affected by the event.  The intolerance, prejudice, and hate shown to Sister Aloysia and the other Christian Jews who died with her show us how devastating these negative thoughts, emotions, and actions can be.   Our present generation has the task of combating the intolerance, prejudice, and hate that we see in our country and in our world.  A very big task,” explained Sister Carleen Wrasman, coordinator of mission integration at Ancilla College.

The Lampen Lecture Series is free lectures open to the public and is held in Room 231 at Ancilla College. The series was named for Sr. Joel Lampen, the first president of Ancilla College, who opened the doors of Ancilla to the local community. 

The Lampen Lecture Series was designed to combine the universality of the Catholic Church, the international character of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ, who sponsor Ancilla College, and the Earth Charter to promote thinking beyond one’s own experiences and interests. 

The Lampen Lecture Series will continue in the spring semester.

Ancilla College (www.ancilla.edu) is a Catholic, liberal arts, Associate’s Degree college in Donaldson, Indiana, sponsored by the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ.