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Virtual Film and Discussion: Ahead of Time, The Extraordinary Journey of Ruth Gruber
This prize-winning film documents the life of Ruth Gruber (1911-2016), an American photojournalist and writer who defied tradition in a career that spanned more than seven decades. The New York Times called her “a fearless chronicler of the Jewish struggle.” She escorted Holocaust refugees to America in 1944, covered the Nuremberg trials in 1946 and documented the Haganah ship Exodus in 1947. Her relationships with world leaders including Eleanor Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and David Ben Gurion gave her a front-row seat to history. The film captures the drama of her long and extraordinary life as she lent her camera lens – and her heart – to refugees of war. An inspiring story of a life well-lived!
Virtual Film and Discussion: Nicky’s Family
Psychologist Dr. Eva Fogelman will be in dialogue with Columbia University Film Professor Annette Insdorf about this moving documentary directed by Matej Minac. Nicholas Winton organized the rescue of 669 children just before the outbreak of WWII as part of the Kindertransport project. Winton kept silent about his exploits until his wife uncovered a suitcase in the attic full of documents and transport plans fifty years later. The psychological effects on the child survivors and the parents who let them go were profound. (more…)
Virtual event: The Power of Music
Music has the unique power to transport an individual outside of the here and now. This event is a demonstration of that power. We will begin by watching the Oscar-winning short documentary film The Lady in Number 6 — Music Saved My Life (38 minutes) about the extraordinary life of concert pianist and Holocaust survivor Alice Herz Sommer. Then we will be treated to a musical response to this tender and touching film by singers Cantor Arianne Brown and Stephan Kirchgraber and composer/pianist Neely Bruce. Not to be missed!
Virtual Film and Discussion: The Starfish
The Starfish is the touching true story of a German-Jewish boy whose life was forever altered at the age of 10, when his parents sent him and his two older sisters to Sweden to escape Nazi persecution, with the aid of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS). After living in Swedish families for two years, Herbert Gildin and his sisters journeyed across Russia and the Pacific to be reunited with their parents as refugees in America. Focused on building his lighting business rather than dwelling on the past, decades went by before Herbert told his wife and children about his childhood, resulting in one last journey back to Sweden to attempt to reunite with the remaining family members who had taken him in 60 years earlier. This is a tender story of one family out of thousands who were helped by the life-saving work of HIAS.