SPECIAL YOM HASHOAH PROGRAM APRIL 18TH
Yom Hashoah--Holocaust Remembrance Day--will be observed by Jews throughout the world from sundown April 18 through sunset April 19. The Northshore Jewish Congregation will mark the occasion by hosting a pair of speakers undeniably qualified in holocaust history at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 18. Our own Av Szyller lived the experience and Dr. Edward Hafer has devoted extensive time researching the atrocities. Of course, Av is a past-president of NJC, while Dr. Hafer is an assistant professor of Music History at the University of Southern Mississippi.
Av will recall his life, with pictures, as a Jew in Nazi occupied France in the early 1940s. He was
arrested with his family, managed to escape, and had numerous close calls during a perilous journey on foot through the mountains of France; his father and other relatives died in the Auschwitz concentration camp. He returned to Europe in 1945 as a U.S. Army sergeant. Among others, Szyller has spoken about his experiences to hundreds at such places as the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.
Dr. Hafer will lecture about the amazing cabaret performances of Jews in the Netherlands’ Westerbork concentration camp. His moving presentation will illuminate the lengths Jewish victims went through in attempts to maintain their sense of worth while staying alive in the darkest days of World War II.
“My talk,” Dr. Hafer says, “will consider the oddly symbiotic relationship between the (cabaret) performers
and the (Westerbork) camp commandant and document the prisoners’ concerted effort to use the productions to curry favor with camp leadership as an act of survival.” He will present an overview of the performances through images, music and video of actual Westerbork productions and consider contemporary reactions, including those of fellow prisoners who objected to seemingly light-hearted entertainment amidst a backdrop of death and uncertainty. The camp commandant considered the productions to be a status symbol that earned him favor in the eyes of Nazi superiors. He granted special privileges to star performers as the cabarets grew more elaborate. Participants sought to involve
as many prisoners as possible in hopes of sparing them from weekly transports to the death camps.
The presentations are open to the public--no admission charge. The congregation is hoping to attract area students whose school studies include the Holocaust, as well as all others concerned and interested
about the Holocaust. Please pass the word about this important program. For more information, call the congregation office at (985) 951-7976.
Av will recall his life, with pictures, as a Jew in Nazi occupied France in the early 1940s. He was
arrested with his family, managed to escape, and had numerous close calls during a perilous journey on foot through the mountains of France; his father and other relatives died in the Auschwitz concentration camp. He returned to Europe in 1945 as a U.S. Army sergeant. Among others, Szyller has spoken about his experiences to hundreds at such places as the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.
Dr. Hafer will lecture about the amazing cabaret performances of Jews in the Netherlands’ Westerbork concentration camp. His moving presentation will illuminate the lengths Jewish victims went through in attempts to maintain their sense of worth while staying alive in the darkest days of World War II.
“My talk,” Dr. Hafer says, “will consider the oddly symbiotic relationship between the (cabaret) performers
and the (Westerbork) camp commandant and document the prisoners’ concerted effort to use the productions to curry favor with camp leadership as an act of survival.” He will present an overview of the performances through images, music and video of actual Westerbork productions and consider contemporary reactions, including those of fellow prisoners who objected to seemingly light-hearted entertainment amidst a backdrop of death and uncertainty. The camp commandant considered the productions to be a status symbol that earned him favor in the eyes of Nazi superiors. He granted special privileges to star performers as the cabarets grew more elaborate. Participants sought to involve
as many prisoners as possible in hopes of sparing them from weekly transports to the death camps.
The presentations are open to the public--no admission charge. The congregation is hoping to attract area students whose school studies include the Holocaust, as well as all others concerned and interested
about the Holocaust. Please pass the word about this important program. For more information, call the congregation office at (985) 951-7976.
1403 North Causeway Blvd. | Mandeville, LA 70471 | (985) 951-7976
