Jan 24, 2013
Holocaust Education Month to Present Films, Lectures and Education Programs Throughout Miami-Dade
The Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation will present a series of diverse and informative programs, free of charge, throughout the month of February, as it sponsors its Holocaust Education Month at various locations throughout Miami-Dade County.
The month of events will feature a film series, including the screening and director's commentary of a deeply moving documentary of the Nazi cataclysm. Lecturers will include a prominent Holocaust scholar whose most recent book analyzes the diary of a concentration camp prisoner, and the daughter of a Holocaust survivor whose mother rose from shtetl artist to internationally beloved illustrator.
"This month is extremely important to our community," said Andrew C. Hall, Esq., Chair of the Holocaust Memorial and himself a child survivor of the Holocaust. "By teaching the lessons of the Holocaust, we hope to ensure that this type of tragedy never happens again."
Film Series
Two films will be shown to the community during Holocaust Education Month. Yours Ivan, a unique look at the Terezin ghetto of Czechoslovakia, will be presented on Wednesday, February 13 at 2 p.m. at the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, 1933-1945 Meridian Avenue, Miami Beach. Dr. Miriam Klein Kassenoff, Miami-Dade County Public Schools' Educational Specialist for Holocaust Studies, will lead a discussion after the screening.
Refuge: Stories of a Special Generation weaves together historical narrative, archival footage and deeply personal testimony about the Nazi genocide, and will be shown on Monday, February 25 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation. The film's director, Ethan Bensinger, will lead post-screening discussions of his documentary.
Public Lectures
Holocaust scholar Dr. Robert Jan Van Pelt will examine and discuss Dutch student David Koker's concentration camp diary on February 7 at 10 a.m. at the Miami-Dade College Kendall Campus, 11011 SW 104th Street. Although Koker perished during his imprisonment, his fascinating diary was one of the few to survive the concentration camps. Dr. Van Pelt's book, At the Edge of the Abyss: A Concentration Camp Diary, 1943-1944, is a finalist for a 2013 National Jewish Book Award.
Dr. Thomas Bryant, a professor of history at Alice Salomon Hochschule Berlin–University of Applied Sciences, will discuss manipulation of information under totalitarianism in his lecture How Did Nazi Propaganda Impact the Youth of Germany?, which will be presented on Tuesday, February 19 at 11 a.m. at Miami-Dade College Homestead Campus, 500 College Terrace.
Mahli Leiblich, daughter of famed artist Irene Leiblich, will provide an intimate portrait of her mother's journey from shtetl painter and Holocaust survivor to world-renowned illustrator of Isaac Bashevis Singer's stories for children during a presentation on Wednesday, February 20 at 7 p.m. at Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center, 20400 NE 30th Avenue. Due to tremendous demand for tickets, advance reservations are required. Please contact 305.937.1880 or [email protected].
Other Special Presentations for Students and Educators
In keeping with the Holocaust Memorial's mission of educating students and teachers throughout the community, Holocaust Education Month will feature special programs for designed especially for these audiences.
Ninth- and 10th grade students at Miami Beach Senior High School will spend the morning of Wednesday, February 6 with two Holocaust survivors, Alex Gross and Bessie Bedzow, who will share their insights about surviving Nazi occupation and forging new lives in the United States. The program, First Person: Conversations with Holocaust Survivors, will be facilitated by David Reese, a language-arts teacher.
As part of the Florida State Mandate to teach Holocaust studies to Miami-Dade County public school teachers, an advanced symposium on the history of the Holocaust will be presented on Sunday, February 10. The program will feature presentations by Dr. Michael Berenbaum, Director of the Sigi Ziering Institute of American Jewish University, and Dr. Robert Jan Van Pelt, Professor at the University of Waterloo, Canada. Teachers will be given resource materials for use in future classroom programs. This symposium has been organized in cooperation with WLRN Public Radio and Television, and the University of Miami School of Law and Education.
The film Swing Kids, which examines freedom versus conformity in Nazi Germany, will be shown to students on Thursday, February 21 at Mater Academy Charter High School in Hialeah Gardens. After the film, Tom W. Glazer, a Mater Academy teacher, will lead a discussion about personal freedoms in Nazi Germany.
Holocaust Education Month is a community-wide program of the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation in cooperation with Aventura Jewish Center; Bet Shira Congregation; the Center for the Advancement of Jewish Education; City of Miami Beach, Cultural Affairs Program, Cultural Arts Council; Jewish Community Relations Council of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation; the Judaic Studies Program, School of International and Public Affairs, Florida International University; Miami Beach JCC Documentary Film Series; Miami-Dade College; Miami Dade County Public Schools Division of Social Services and Life Skills; and the Sue and Leonard Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic Studies, University of Miami. It is dedicated in blessed memory of Siggi B. Wilzig by Naomi Wilzig.
For more information about Holocaust Education Month, contact the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation at 305.538.1663 or [email protected].
