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).
Second Generation Network
For the children and families of survivors of and refugees from Nazi persecution