Past Events
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The Jewish Defense Committee of Belgium and the Rescue of 3000 Children
11 AM LOS ANGELES • 2 PM NEW YORK
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The Comité de Défense des Juifs was established in Brussels, Belgium in 1942 in order to protect the Jewish population from Nazi persecution. They assisted and hid approximately 10,000 adults and 3000 children, from 1942-44. Eighteen members of this group were honored in 2018 by B’nai B’rith International with the Jewish Rescuer Citation. See a touching film about this heroic group and their legacy. (more…)
The Courage to Care
11 AM LOS ANGELES • 2 PM NEW YORK
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In this touching program, author Peter Hellman tells the story of the Holocaust rescuer Leokadia Jaromirska, Righteous Among the Nations. She rescued Shifra, a Jewish baby girl who had been abandoned near the fence of a convent in Poland and sheltered her during the war, sometimes in very perilous circumstances. Today, Shifra Ivri is in her 80s and lives in Israel. Before the program, see the touching film The Courage to Care, narrated by Elie Wiesel, about rescue throughout Europe during the Holocaust. (more…)
Crypto-Jews and the Search for Identity
11 AM LOS ANGELES • 2 PM NEW YORK
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A new documentary film Between the Stone and the Flower: The Duality of the Conversos profiles the life and work of the renowned genealogist Genie Milgrom. After successfully tracing her Jewish roots to pre-Inquisition Spain and Portugal, she founded the Converso Genealogy Project. In this capacity she helps other “crypto-Jews” or “conversos” to reclaim their Jewish roots and is now overseeing the vast international effort to digitize the Vatican’s Jewish records.
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Victory in Algiers! The Jewish Heroes of North Africa who Changed the Course of World War II
1 PM LOS ANGELES • 4 PM NEW YORK
This film and discussion program tells the extraordinary unsung story of how the Jewish resistance in Algeria, led by José Aboulker, ushered in the Allied capture of North Africa in November of 1942. This was the first major Allied victory of World War II (codename: “Operation Torch”) — an event that changed the course of the war and saved the Jews of North Africa from potential deportation. The film Shadows of Freedom tells the dramatic true story.
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Randy Schoenberg’s Time Travel Through Jewish History
11 AM LOS ANGELES • 2 PM NEW YORK
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A very special event! In the new award-winning documentary film Fioretta, famed attorney Randy Schoenberg embarks with his son Joey on a journey across Europe in a quest to find their family roots. Schoenberg, whose success in forcing Austria to return five Nazi-looted paintings to their rightful Jewish owner was told in the Academy Award-winning film Woman in Gold, will be joining us in person and answering your questions. Moderating will be the celebrated genealogist Adam Brown. Not to be missed!
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Hiding in Holland — My Father’s Story
1 PM LOS ANGELES • 4 PM NEW YORK
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On this Father’s Day program, Dr. Shulamit Reinharz tells her father’s story of resistance and survival during the Holocaust. Her stirring new book, Hiding in Holland: A Resistance Memoir, combines the voices of a father who survived the Holocaust and a daughter who explains the historical context of his experiences. Running through the story is a commitment to resistance, from the father’s religious youth in Germany to his embrace of Labor Zionism, his incarceration in Buchenwald and his flight to freedom in Holland. This uplifting story of hope will focus not only on history but also on life lessons passed from one generation to the next.
The Ritchie Boys
1 PM LOS ANGELES • 4 PM NEW YORK
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The Ritchie Boys is a term used for American soldiers who trained at Camp Ritchie during World War II. At Camp Ritchie, military instructors taught intelligence gathering and analysis to approximately 20,000 soldiers. Several thousand of these soldiers were Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany who had immigrated to the United States and were then put in the position of interrogating Nazis captured by the Allies. This fascinating film-and-discussion program tells their story.
The Vanished World of Roman Vishniac
11 AM LOS ANGELES • 2 PM NEW YORK
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Not to be missed! The photographer Roman Vishniac captured iconic images of Jewish life, from the cafes of pre-war Berlin to the shtetls of Eastern Europe. His book A Vanished World, produced in collaboration with Elie Wiesel, is widely known. This film-and-discussion program presents the story of the fascinating man behind the photographs.
The Egyptian Doctor Named Righteous Among the Nations
11 AM LOS ANGELES • 2 PM NEW YORK
The documentary film Anna and the Egyptian Doctor tells the extraordinary story of Dr. Mohamed Helmy, who rescued a Jewish teenager in Berlin by disguising her as his Muslim assistant. He is the first and only Arab to be recognized as Righteous Among the Nations, but his family refused to accept the award for decades out of fear of reprisal. Helmy’s nephew, Dr. Nasser Kotby, who finally accepted the award over his family’s objections, is the first Arab Muslim to commemorate the Holocaust on film. Anna and the Egyptian Doctor presents a story that transcends the boundaries of time, religion, and politics.
Heroes of the Jewish Resistance
11 AM LOS ANGELES • 2 PM NEW YORK
Paula Apsell‘s stunning new documentary film, Resistance – They Fought Back, will be the basis of this film-and-discussion program. This groundbreaking film uncovers a deeper and fuller story than has yet been told, using cutting edge techniques of documentation, including forensic archeological investigation. Meet the filmmaker and two of the people interviewed in the film, Dr. Steven Meed and Prof. Yoel Yaari, whose mothers were the real-life heroes Vladka Meed and Bela Hazan. Dr. Jud Newborn, a leading world authority on Jewish resistance during the Holocaust, will moderate.