Author George Eisen Discusses Hungarian Jews and the Holocaust – Oct. 12

On October 12 at 7 pm in the Winn Room at the Coronado Public Library, Dr. George Eisen will discuss his most recent book, A Summer of Mass Murder: 1941 Rehearsal for the Hungarian Holocaust. Most accounts of the Holocaust focus on camps like Auschwitz. This book provides a hitherto untold chapter of the Holocaust by exploring a prequel to the gas chambers: the face-to-face mass murder of Jews in Galicia by bullets. The summer of 1941 ushered in a chain of events that had no precedent in the rapidly unfolding history of World War II and the Holocaust. In six weeks, more than 20,000 Hungarian Jews were forcefully deported to Galicia and executed. The narrative presents an uncharted territory in Holocaust scholarship, incorporating many previously unexplored documents and testimonies.

The book also serves as a personal journey of discovery. Among the 20,000 people killed was a tale of two brothers — the author’s uncles.

About the author: Dr. George Eisen is an internationally recognized author and professor of political science, sports studies, and history. He is the product of three educational systems — those of Hungary, Israel, and the United States. His book Children and Play in the Holocaust received the American Library Association’s Outstanding Academic Book of the Year Award. A Summer of Mass Murder was selected by Knowledge Unlatched for Open Electronic Access. Among his honors are: three honorary doctorates from leading universities in Hungary, Chile and Ukraine; a Fulbright Scholar appointment in Estonia in 1993; and the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Award for Leadership from Nazareth College in 2013.