What was your mother tongue or first language? Which languages did you hear as you grew up? How did they shape your identity and sense of belonging? Network Member Brian Fine will introduce the discussion of this topic with reflections on his own experiences of languages growing up within a Holocaust refugee family. A chance for members of the Second and Third Generations to share their thoughts and experiences. The Discussion Group meetings are for members of the Second and Third Generations. Numbers are limited and Network members will be given priority.
A Zoom link will be provided. Start time: 6.20pm for 6.30pm GMT to give everyone time to set up and check their Zoom connection. If you would like to attend please email: davidwirth@secondgeneration.org.uk
Archives for 2023
Tuesday 25th April – Family Holocaust Research: Making the Best Use of the ITS: Update
In the course of researching the fates of our relatives, many of us will have received documents from the vast ITS archive at Bad Arolsen, or even used the copy held at the Wiener Holocaust Library. What we may not know is that the archive is updated annually. The 2023 edition has recently arrived at the Wiener Holocaust Library, including 20,000 new documents from Stutthof. Elise Bath, ITS Archive Team Manager, and Dr Ian Rich, ITS Archive Researcher, at the Wiener Holocaust Library will speak to the Network about some of the recent additions to the archive and how to make best use of the online ITS archive. Their presentations will be followed by a chance to ask questions about your own family Holocaust history research. Start time: 6.20pm for 6.30pm BST to give everyone time to set up and check their Zoom connections. Eventbrite Registration is: https://ITS-Update.eventbrite.co.uk
Sunday 16 April – Bristol & SW Group
The next in-person meeting of our group will be on 16 April 2.30-4.30 at David Hodes’ house 15 Elliston Road, Redland, Bristol BS6 6QG. David’s room is large and airy, and has French windows and plenty of ventilation. Our agenda is usually made up of items that people suggest, and lately has included family history, book reviews, Holocaust Memorial Day, and more. All welcome. Further details from Marian Liebmann, email: marian@liebmann.org.uk, tel: 07776 150931.
During Covid we met on Zoom, and acquired members from Somerset, Devon, Cornwall and South Wales. We now alternate in-person meetings with Zoom meetings, meeting every 2-3 months.
Monday 3rd April – Being Second-Third Generation: Awareness, Challenges, Gains.
A previous discussion meeting was held last year to examine emotional patterns arising from having parents or grandparents who suffered trauma, led by Ido van der Heijden, a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist, who outlined common emotional patterns passed down the generations. How that expresses itself will differ, but there are also common themes.
This time, there will be the opportunity to discuss certain themes in smaller break-out groups, so that everyone has a chance to contribute and participate. Each group will examine some of the following themes: anger, guilt and lack of trust, self-doubt and identity issues, anxiety and depression, difficulty in expressing feelings and emotions.
Ido van der Heijden will start us off with a brief summary of the psychological background of these (pseudo) inherited patterns and how we can work with ourselves to give these patterns less power. After which there will be 30 minutes in break-out groups, followed by 30 minutes report back and discussion in the wider group. Start time: 6:30pm BST, via Zoom. The registration link is: https://being-second-third-generation.eventbrite.co.uk
Tuesday 14th March – Discussion Group: The Anschluss, a Transmitted Event
To mark 85 years since the Annexation of Austria, we will reflect on how, through family stories, this event has been transmitted to the Second and Third Generations. How have you been affected by what you have been told or have learned or uncovered about the silence and what lay behind it? A chance for members of the Second and Third Generations to share their thoughts and experiences. The Discussion Group meetings are for members of the Second and Third Generations. Numbers are limited and Network Members will be given priority.
A Zoom link will be provided. Start time: 6.20pm for 6.30pm GMT to give everyone time to set up and check their Zoom connection. If you would like to attend please
email: davidwirth@secondgeneration.org.uk
Sunday 5th March – The Fire and the Bonfire – Jewish Book Week Event in Association with the Second Generation Network
Celebrated artist Ardyn Halter, in conversation with art historian Monica Bohm-Duchen, offers a profound meditation on genocide, memory and art, interwoven in three compelling journeys through time and place. From the dynamics of the relationship with his father Roman Halter, to his own work designing and creating stained-glass windows for the Rwandan National Genocide Centre to tracing his father’s journey during the Shoah, The Fire and the Bonfire has been described as the ‘defining statement of the Second Generation’.
This is a free unticketed ‘in-person’ event, 1:30-2:00pm, taking place at Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9AG. Entry is on a first-come first-served basis and is subject to availability. Full details of this and the many other Jewish Book Week events can be found on www.jewishbookweek.com. Jewish Book Week 2023 takes place from 25th February – 5th March.