Social Work Through the Holocaust: Reflections on the Life and Legacy of Professor Louis Lowy
On November 14th, the Boston University School of Social Work held an event to honor Professor Louis Lowy (1920-1991) and discuss his experiences during the Holocaust. Lowy, an international social worker and gerontologist, rarely spoke about the Holocaust. During the last month of his life, he recorded an oral narrative that explored his activities during the Holocaust. Author Lorrie Greenhouse Gardella, the keynote speaker of the evening, discussed Professor Lowy’s oral narrative and accounts from other Holocaust survivors who witnessed his work in her book, The Life and Thought of Louis Lowy: Social Work Through the Holocaust.
In addition to Gardella, the program also featured the following speakers: Professors Robert B. Hudson and Judith Gonyea; Barry Shrage (SSW’70), president, Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, Inc.; Chelsea Theran (SSW ’09), program director of the Dementia Unit, Sherrill House; and Jane Matlaw (CAS’73, SSW’75), director of community relations, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Many of Lowy’s family members, colleagues and former students were there to express the indelible contributions he made as an innovator, teacher and mentor.