You know last night was pretty rough. I was lonely, upset, and to be honest felt trapped in France. Today brings a new day, and what does the man upstairs do for me? He brings people from my home land over to Paris. Today marked the opening of the international symposium Operation 1005: Nazi Attempts to Erase Evidence of the Holocaust. The symposium is being sponsored by two Paris universities College des Bernardins, Sorbonne, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, aka USHMMCAHS (those representative from this sponsor would be the ones sent from my home land) and Yahad-In Unum, the organization that I am working for. Now, while most of the day was spent doing conference work, it was the end of the day that made me feel most at home. After the day was over the speakers and sponsors were invited to the Sorbonne for a reception. This reception took place in the Office of the President of the University. Alas, I felt at home. Though, there was no milk, I did have A LOT of orange juice, as opposed to Champagne. It felt nice to be back in a President's office, having been in a few meetings in the SHU President's office last semester. It is interesting to note that 4 of the many attendees this evening, myself included, were at one point in the SHU President's Office together. Suzanne from the Holocaust Museum, and Marco (director of Yahad-In Unum) and of course Fr. Desbois, were all together amongst a collection of other important people. The purpose of the gathering, however, was not only to celebrate a wonderful first day of the conference, but the President, Georges Molinié, read a press release that was sent out this evening. It appears that Yahad-In Unum and the Sorbonne will be opening a very large research program and archive center to further Holocaust studies, particularly the Holocaust by Bullets in Eastern Europe. I couldn't help but think of whether this would ever be a moment to tell the grandkids about. I suppose it would be if one of them studied the Holocaust many many years from now. I could tell them I was there for the announcement of this great partnership.
I have been noting many differences and some similarities amongst the universities in Paris, mainly Sorbonne and College des Bernardins, and Sacred Heart. At some point I will write a full report, but I want to include in this blog post, only because I really can't resist, a very similar scene as I entered the Sorbonne courtyard today. Scaffolding graced the side of one of the buildings, and down below a big blue sign saying (Restoration of the Sorbonne University Chapel 2007-2010). Again I had a real sense of being at home. It was nice I must admit to have a year in the future be on the sign announcing the project to passers-by. It begs the question: Will theirs be done in time to have 2010 still be a relevant year on the sign? I did take pictures, but technical difficulties are prohibiting their being posted.
And so, Day 2 begins tomorrow. Early day again, but we'll have to see what it has in store!
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