Manhattan University is pleased to announce that Mehnaz Afridi, Ph.D, will be a featured speaker at a program discussing the 2012 documentary Besa: The Promise as part of a photo exhibition and series of programs at the Lakewood, OH Public Library titled “Besa: Muslims Who Saved Jews During the Holocaust”. Afridi is a Professor of Religion and Philosophy and the Director of the University’s Holocaust, Genocide & Interfaith Education Center located on the school’s Riverdale campus.
“Visiting scholars and authors will be giving talks about their books at the library and will discuss what relevance the stories of Muslims saving Jews during the Holocaust have today,” said James Crawford, the Lakewood Public Library Director.
According to the library, Albania was the only European nation that opened its borders unconditionally during World War II to anyone fleeing persecution. Besa is the code of honor shared by Albanians of all faiths and “…instructs that a stranger in need who knocks on your door is your brother and that you shall save and protect him even at the risk of your own life.”
At Manhattan University, Afridi, a Muslim, teaches courses on Islam, the Holocaust, Genocide, comparative religion, and Feminism. Her latest book, Shoah Through Muslim Eyes (Academic Studies press, 2017), was nominated for the Yad Vashem International Book Prize for Holocaust Research and the Jacob Schnitzer Book Award. She currently is working on a book, The Wounded Muslim (Bloomsbury Press, forthcoming), and a co-edited book on Global Approaches to the Holocaust (Nebraska University press, forthcoming). In November, 2024, she was honored by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) at the 30th annual ADL in Concert Against Hate.
Afridi also is a U.S. State Department Member on the delegation for the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance and serves as a member of the Committee of Ethics, Religion, and the Holocaust at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
She obtained her Ph.D. from the University of South Africa and her M.A. and B.A. from Syracuse University.
The program at the Lakewood Public Library runs through March 31 with Afridi presenting her topic on January 25.