Despite our ongoing effort to confront racism and hatred in all its forms, we are challenged by the current escalation of anti-Semitism, white supremacy, exclusion and immigration restrictions for those needing safe haven. Note resources and opportunities below to study the history and results of racist ideology both in the U.S. and Nazi Germany. Tragically what we see is not new – and links to our past help our students better understand this ongoing aspect of human behavior.
As we approach the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on January 27, we remind you that the Museum of Jewish Heritage exhibit “Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away” remains open through January 3 in NYC and local programming focusing on Auschwitz begins this fall.
Josey G. Fisher Holocaust Education Consultant
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
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 Foundby 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 Matthäuswith 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 Journalby 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 Betweenby 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/
JCRC PROGRAMMING
For information about Jewish Federation’s JCRC Holocaust Programs listed below, please contact Beth Razin:brazin@jewishphilly.orgor 215.832.0536.
Youth Symposium on the Holocaust
One-day program for students in grades 9-12 in the Delaware Valley, including discussion with survivors and educational workshop for teachers. Program runs from 8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
March 3 and March 5 at Gratz College
March 10 at St. Joseph’s University
March 12 at West Chester University
To register, contact Beth Razin.
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Mordechai Anielewicz Creative Arts Competition and Exhibition
For students in grades 7-12 in the Delaware Valley. Opportunity to respond to lessons of the Holocaust through creative expression - poetry, prose, painting, sculpture, music, dance and multimedia.
Deadline for entries is March 6, 2020. Art shown in this newsletter are some of the winners from the 2019 Competition.
For guidelines and to register, contact Beth Razin.
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Annual Philadelphia Holocaust Memorial Ceremony Sunday, April 26, 2020 1:00 PM. Horowitz-Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Plaza, 16th and the Ben Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia
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Dorothy Freedman Memorial Conversation with a Survivor Breakfast program for middle and high school students preceding ceremony 10 AM to 12:30 PM Moore College of Art and Design.
To register, contact Beth Razin.
The Train: Two Perspectives
Polina Ulyanova, Stetson Middle School
1st Prize, 2D art, 7th-8th grade
Anielewicz Art Competition 2019
Public Lectures
The Intersection of “Race” and “Religion” in the USA: African Americans, Jewish Americans, and Trauma
“Suffering Citizens: Past Traumas in American Youth Literature” with guest speaker Jodi Eichler Levine
Wednesday, October 23, 7-8:30 p.m.
“Did the Bible Sanction Slavery? How the Churches Used the Bible to Justify Slaveholding” with guest speaker Dr. Paul Finkelman
Wednesday, November 6, 7-8:30 p.m.
Both lectures will be held at North Doyle Banquet Hall, Campion Student Center, Saint Joseph’s University
Co-sponsored by Institute for Jewish-Catholic Relations, Saint Joseph’s University, with the Jewish Community Relations Council. For further details, see https://sites.sju.edu/ijcr/events/
New Online Resources
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
“Experiencing History: Holocaust Sources in Context” Online tool for advanced students and educators to create thematic clusters of different primary sources for research and presentations. Includes introductory text and critical questions.See: https://www.ushmm.org/research/tools/experiencing-history
“History of Antisemitism and the Holocaust” Lesson plan available through download is supplemented by links to external lesson plans on contemporary anti-Semitism, Tree of Life Synagogue shooting, and ways of talking with students about sensitive issues. Go to: https://www.ushmm.org/confront-antisemitism/teaching-about-antisemitism
“History Unfolded: U.S. Newspapers and the Holocaust” Adaptable lesson plan and supporting materials for students to research what Americans knew about the Holocaust through the contemporary press. Go to: https://newspapers.ushmm.org/about/teacher-resources
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"How the Ringelblum Archive Was Hidden and Found”. English translation of two volumes of the Archive, as well as summaries of Warsaw Ghetto history and deportations, documents, photographs, artwork, academic articles, timeline and suggested lessons for the classroom. A project of the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute in Poland in cooperation with the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute. https://delet.jhi.pl/en/
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“Art & Remembrance” Inspired by the artwork of survivor Esther Nisenthal Krinitz, this site provides lesson plans for students to process first-person accounts through the visual arts. Esther has told the story of her childhood in Nazi-occupied Poland through fabric art as well as her award-winning book Memories of Survival. A current exhibition of her work is in Baltimore, MD at the American Visionary Art Museum (through March 1, 2024). Her interview as well as a short documentary are accessible through this well-developed website. https://artandremembrance.org
The SS Quanza, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Pre-War Immigration -- Suggested Resources:
Nobody Wants Us -- Documentary account of three teens and their families seeking refuge in the U.S. from the SS Quanza. For trailer, purchase or streaming rights through New Day Films, see https://www.nobodywantsus.com
The Twins of Auschwitz Eliana Baron-Hionis, Agnes Irwin School
1st Prize, 2D art, 9th-10th grade
Anielewicz Art Competition 2019
2100 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
United States info@jewishphilly.org
215.832.0500
The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia mobilizes financial and volunteer resources to address the communities' most critical priorities locally, in Israel and around the world.
Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, 2100 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103, United States, 215.832.0500
