COMMUNITY PROGRAMMING
Forbidden Art – An Exhibition of Photographs of Camp Art from the Collections of the Auschwitz Memorial
November 11, 2019 – April 2020
National Liberty Museum, 321 Chestnut St, Philadelphia
Traveling exhibition prepared by the Auschwitz Memorial, featuring twenty photographs of art made illegally and under the threat of death by prisoners in the Auschwitz-Birkenau German Nazi Concentration Camp. Each image is accompanied by historical commentary and excerpts from archival accounts. For further information, see https://www.libertymuseum.org
Remembering the Jews of Greece: A Musical Journey.
Sunday, November 10, 3:00 p.m. – Shaare Shamayim, Verree Road, Philadelphia
A program in memory of the Holocaust, honoring the Sephardic Jews of Greece and the broader Mediterranean. For more information and tickets, see https://www.eventcombo.com/e/remembering-the-jews-of-greece-musical-journey-35645
Gershman Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival (GPJFF)
For complete festival listings, see https://pjff.org/fall-fest/
The Song of Names
Wednesday, October 30, 7:00 p.m. – Lightbox Film Center, International House
Historical detective story spreading over half a century follows a man searching for his best childhood friend, a Polish violin prodigy orphaned during the Holocaust.
Carl Laemmle
Sunday, November 10, 2 PM – National Museum of American Jewish History
Documentary feature about the German-Jewish immigrant who founded Universal Pictures and sponsored over 300 German Jewish families to find safety in the U.S.
Those Who Remained
Monday, November 11, 7 PM – Lightbox Film Center, International House
Two Hungarian survivors bond in their struggle to rebuild their lives and emotional connections – a 42-year-old physician and a young teen. Hungary’s submission for the 2020 Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film.
My Polish Honeymoon
Monday, November 13, 7 PM – The Colonial Theatre, Phoenixville
Young Parisian newlyweds of Jewish Polish descent move from lighthearted romance to researching their families’ history in Nazi-occupied Poland. Examination of confusion among third-generation survivors whose families have remained silent.
I Have a Message For You (included in An Evening of Shorts)
Sunday, November 17, 7 PM – Reel Cinemas Narberth 2
Woman makes impossible choice between surviving Auschwitz and leaving loved one behind. Emmy Award Nominated Short (13 minutes)
The Keeper
Wednesday, November 20, 7 PM – Reel Cinemas Narberth 2
Biopic of German POW Bert Trautman held in a military camp in Manchester, England. Local football team discovers that he is a gifted goalkeeper and asks him to play, causing major controversy among locals.
Suggested Books for High School and Advanced Readers:
Antisemitism: Here and Now by Deborah Lipstadt. Penguin Random House, 2019. Examination of the resurgence of anti-Semitism in today’s world, the range of its current manifestations and insidious nature.
The Cut Out Girl: A Story of War and Family, Lost and Found by Bart van Es. Penguin Press, 2018. Costa Book of Year Award Winner. Complex story of a child hidden by multiple Dutch families including the author’s grandparents.
The Guarded Gate: Bigotry, Eugenics and the Law That Kept Two Generations of Jews, Italians, and Other European Immigrants Out of America by Daniel Okrent. Scribner, 2019. Powerful social history detailing the American eugenics movement, supported by academics, politicians and the “elite”. Successful efforts to restrict racial “inferiors”, resulting in the Johnson-Reed Act of 1924, was envied by Nazi ideologues and adds to our understanding of U.S. government inaction during Nazi era.
Jewish Responses to Persecution, 1933-1946: A Source Reader (Documenting Life and Destruction) by Jürgen Matthäus with Emil Kerenji. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2017. Broad range of contemporaneous expression including diaries, letters, reports and songs illustrate the unique experiences of Jews during the Holocaust.
Renia’s Diary: A Holocaust Journal by Renia Spiegel, introduction by Deborah Lipstadt. St. Martin’s Press, translation edition 2019. Exquisitely written in both poetry and prose, a Polish Jewish teen documents her perilous life under Nazi occupation until her murder in 1942. Diary excerpts and commentary appeared in Smithsonian Magazine, November 2018 (available online).
The Unwanted: America, Auschwitz, and a Village Caught In Between by Michael Dobbs. Knopf, 2019. Chilling account of a small Jewish community attempting to flee Germany while battling bureaucratic obstacles. Narrative supported by unpublished letters, diaries, interviews and visa records. Published in association with U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Suggested Book for Middle School Readers
Tutti’s Promise by H. Heidi Fishman. MB Publishing, 2017. Award-winning novel based on author’s Dutch family’s survival despite deportation to multiple camps. Tutti, the author’s mother, was 5 when the war began. Appropriate for grade 5+.
Opportunities for Educators
Auschwitz Jewish Center Fellows Program 2020, in cooperation with the Museum of Jewish Heritage
June 28 – July 20, 2020
Application deadline January 13, 2020
Advanced study trip for undergraduate and graduate students majoring in Holocaust studies and related fields. Fellowships available for faculty who teach the Holocaust but have not made its history their primary major. For more information and link to application, see https://mjhnyc.org/ajc-international-programs/auschwitz-jewish-center-fellows-program/
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Horwitz-Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Plaza
To prepare for a visit for you or your class, download the USC Shoah Foundation app for a curated tour, including historical background and video testimonies of survivors and witnesses. See links to download app at https://www.philaholocaustmemorial.org/visit/
