Events

Finding or inheriting family letters, often in languages we don’t speak and barely decipherable handwriting, can present descendants of refugees and survivors from Nazi Europe with many challenges, dilemmas and rewards. Three Members of the Second Generation Network, Erika Hagelberg, Jackie Kohnstamm and Irv Adler, will share their experiences of dealing and working with family letters, how and where they were found, what steps they took to be able to read them, how they have used them (as the basis for memoirs, articles), what light they have shed on their relatives, and the repercussions within their own lives and the wider family. This Zoom event is open to all members of the First, Second and Third Generations. A booking link will be provided shortly. Please book on www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/second-generation-reading-between-the-lines-family-letters-tickets-870475253917

This special screening of L’Chaim! will open with an introduction by the film director, Elkan Spiller. His film shows how the Second and Third Generations still have to cope with the consequences of the Shoah. L’Chaim! portrays the life of 62-year-old Chaim Lubelski, who lives in Germany with his 95-year-old mother in a one-bedroom apartment in a Jewish residential home for the elderly. Chaim’s mother, Nechama, was born in Poland and survived the Nazi camps. Her parents and her first husband were killed in Auschwitz. After the war, she and her second husband, Wolf, also a camp survivor, wanted to emigrate to America, but because of Wolf’s tuberculosis they were forced to stay in Germany. Knowing what his parents had endured, Chaim made it his mission in life to care for them as they got older. After looking after his father during the final years of his life, he has spent the last three years caring for his mother 24 hours a day. These lively and humorous characters share both the light-hearted antics of daily life and the tears and memories of the Holocaust. 
Going beyond psychology and historical facts, L’Chaim! offers an insightful, touching and surprisingly joyful look at the plight of Second and Third Generation descendants of camp survivors. Like his name, Chaim stands for life. With faith and humour, he accepts his fate and never gives up hope. Following the screening there will be a Q and A with the director. 
The screening will take place at JW3 (Jewish Cultural Centre) 341-351 Finchley Road, London NW3 6ET.
We will update you as to when the event goes live but for now please put 7th May in your diary! This is an in-person event and not on Zoom (booking will be made via JW3 – ticket price to be confirmed).

Dr Rachel Pistol, a digital historian at King’s College London who works on the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure, will describe the contents of the World Jewish Relief archive (which has now been digitised) and how to access the many documents and files relating to refugees who fled Nazi persecution in Europe and came to the UK between 1933 and 1946. WJR has the names of over 315,000 people and records for 65,000 refugees whom they supported in the 1930s and 1940s, ranging from registration cards to case files. Our relatives may well be amongst those who were registered and/or assisted. 
Dr. Kathrin Kleibl, a provenance researcher at the German Maritime Museum and head of a project on the auctioning of Jewish removal goods in the late 1930s and early 1940s in Bremen and Hamburg, will speak about the LostLift database (https://lostlift.dsm.museum). The database records details of the items packed by families into Liftvans (portable storage containers) that were due to be sent abroad, as people fled, but were seized and ultimately auctioned off. The database also details the looting process and provides – in some cases – documents about the items in the Liftvans. Dr. Kleibl will give examples and explain how the descendants of the original owners are being traced, including Janet Lew, a member of the Network Committee, and how the LostLift database can be accessed.
This event is open to all members of the Second and Third Generations and there will be time after the presentations for your questions and comments.  6:30 – 8:00pm  Booking details will follow.

Network Member, Ido van der Heijden, will provide the introduction to this topic where we will explore our experiences as members of the Second and Third Generations. How easy and comfortable do we feel with intimacy, love, being close? How easy is it for us to trust others? An opportunity for Members to share their thoughts and experiences. Priority for the Network’s Discussion Group meetings is given to Network Members. If you would like to attend, please email davidwirth@secondgeneration.org.uk to book your place.

In this pair of events we will explore some of the many issues, challenges and rewards the Second Generation experience when writing and researching the stories of the First Generation, during and after the life of the First Generation.
On 13th February  Naomi Levy, Janet Lew and Valerie Neal will share their experiences of working during the lifetime of their parent.
On 27th February Naomi Levy, Esther Saraga and Merilyn Moos will speak about working after the parent has died.
Booking details will follow. 

In this pair of events we will explore some of the many issues, challenges and rewards the Second Generation experience when writing and researching the stories of the First Generation, during and after the life of the First Generation.
On 13th February  Naomi Levy, Janet Lew and Valerie Neal will share their experiences of working during the lifetime of their parent.
On 27th February Naomi Levy, Esther Saraga and Merilyn Moos will speak about working after the parent has died.
Booking details will follow.