The Network is currently planning a joint hybrid event with the Wiener Holocaust Library. 2024 marks the 80th anniversary of the 1944 mass deportations of Jews from the provincial areas and cities of Hungary outside the capital, 90% to be murdered upon arrival in Auschwitz. An historical perspective will be provided as well as considering the impact on the Second and Third Generations. If you would like to participate in this event by sharing your experiences and feelings about this part of your family history as a Member of the Second or Third Generation, please contact davidwirth@secondgeneration.org.uk.. Booking details to follow.
Events
Tuesday 8th October – Part Two in our series 2G/3G and the Creative Arts – Online Event
Following the very successful Part One, where Members of the Second and Third Generations spoke about their use of theatre and music to commemorate and engage with their Holocaust heritage, on this panel we have two Second Generation visual artists: Network Member, Maarten van der Heijden and Monica Petzal. Maarten lives and works as an autonomous visual artist in Amsterdam. He graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Art Academy Amsterdam in 2010 with works that reflect his Second Generation identity – his grandfather was murdered in Auschwitz. In 2022, he opened the Jewish Second Generation Art & Family Museum at his home in Amsterdam. He will speak about his museum, focussing on his photographic artwork and other projects, and how his Second Generation background plays a part in his work. Monica, the child of German Jewish refugee parents, studied painting at Kingston and the Royal College of Art and printmaking at the Camberwell School of Art, before co-founding The Foundation for Women’s Art and starting her own gallery ‘Printroom’. She will talk about her well known panels entitled ‘Dissent and Displacement’ and how her Second Generation roots have influenced her work. There will be time after their presentations for questions and for you to share your own experiences of using art to explore and express your own Holocaust heritage. If you missed Part One, with Roger Peltzman and Clare Fraenkel, there is a recording in the Members’ Area of the Network website.
Eventbrite link: https://Creative-Arts-Pt2.eventbrite.co.uk
Tuesday 10th September 6.30pm BST Online: Packing and Travelling
Network Member Gina Burgess Winning will introduce this topic, drawing on her
own gradual understanding of what might lie at the root of the anxiety associated with preparing to go away, deciding what to pack and coping with the idea of leaving home. An opportunity for Members of the Second and Third Generations 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.
Tuesday 9th July 6.30pm BST Online Discussion Group Meeting: The Impact of Events in Israel, Gaza and Beyond
Following an introduction by Network Member Ido van der Heijden, we will discuss how Members of the Second and Third Generations are affected by the events in Israel, Gaza and beyond, and how we are coping. How do we feel about our Jewish identity in the current climate? What are our experiences of support and anti-Semitism? An opportunity for Members of the Network 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.
Tuesday 2nd July 6.30pm BST Online: Reading Between the Lines
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
Tuesday 7th May: A screening of ‘L’CHAIM’ – a joint Network event in conjunction with JW3
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).