Sunday, November 5th, 2006
10:00AM
 Ships of Hope (FILM)
10:00AM
Through the Eyes of Students: A Reflection on the March of the Living
10:30AM
My Personal Testimony
11:00AM
Tales of the Shoah
11:15AM
Children in the Holocaust
1:00PM
The Journey that Saved Curious George
2:00PM
I was a Child of Holocaust Survivors
4:00PM
Prisoner of Paradise (FILM)
4:00PM
Returning to my Roots: Czestochowa and Beyond
4:30PM
The Journey that Saved Curious George
5:00PM
My Personal Testimony
7:00PM
Prisoner of Paradise (FILM)
7:00PM
Learning to Make a Difference: Teaching the Shoah
7:00PM
A Memoir in the Family: Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Across the Generations
7:30PM
My Personal Testimony
7:30PM
Living in the Shadow of Persecution - Lesbians Under National Socialism
7:30PM
Out of the Ashes: Jewish-First Nations Dialoge on Cultural Renewal After Genocide
8:00PM
My Opposition: The Diaries of Friedrich Kellner (FILM)
8:00PM
Hiding Edith
Admission to all programs is free unless otherwise noted.
However, to ensure that the highest caliber of Holocaust programs may be perpetuated in future years, a voluntary donation of at least $3 per person per event would be appreciated. Donation boxes will be available at all events. We thank you for your generosity.
For program changes visit this website frequently or call our hotline at 416-631-5689.
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 10:00AM
Canadian Society for Yad Vashem
Temple Sinai Congregation
210 Wilson Avenue, Toronto
Contact: 416-487-4161 x226
SHIPS OF HOPE (FILM)
This documentary describes a little known episode
of the Holocaust. Having been denied permission to
disembark in various ports in the Caribbean and
The Guyanas, the Jewish refugees from the Caribia
and the Koenigstein were allowed to disembark in
Venezuela in 1939, thanks to the open door policy
of the President, General Eleazar López Contreras.
Most of the passengers were Austrians trying to
escape the Nazi terror just before the outbreak of
World War II. Sixty years later, some of the rescued
Jews tell their moving story. Portions of the film are
subtitled.
DR. LIA KOHN DE MERENFELD is the daughter
of Isack Kohn who immigrated to Venezuela in
1929. He served as first President of the "Union
Israelita de Caracas," a position he held for many
years. When the leaders of the Jewish community
in Caracas were alerted by the ships' refugees, Lia's
father contacted the authorities in order to urge a
change of attitude that would save their brethren.
Mr. Kohn brought the case to President López
Contreras, who gave his permission for the Caribia
to disembark, thereby saving 252 Jews. Mr. Kohn
often told his daughter, "When
every country closed its doors on
us, Venezuela welcomed us with
open arms." After the screening,
Dr. De Merenfeld will recall
her memories about her father's
heroic deeds.
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10:00AM
Temple Emanu-El
120 Old Colony Road, Toronto
Contact: 416-449-3880
THROUGH THE EYES OF STUDENTS: A REFLECTION ON THE MARCH OF THE LIVING
The March of the Living teaches about the horrors of
the Holocaust. It has influenced thousands of Jewish
high school students from all over the world who are
now, in turn, teaching this lesson to the next generation.
The participants first visit Poland, where they witness
the sites of Hitler's "Final Solution to the Jewish
Problem," then travel to Israel where they experience
entirely different emotions. Two recent March participants,
JENNIFER GREEN and MIRA PINKUS will
share their personal experiences and explain how this
life-altering trip has impacted their lives. Both girls
went on the March of the Living with their grandfather,
Holocaust survivor Nate Leipciger, an educator at the
UJA Federation Holocaust Centre of Toronto and a
member of Temple Emanu-El. A question and answer
period will follow.
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10:30AM
St. John's Norway Anglican Church
470 Woodbine Avenue, Toronto
Contact: 416-691-4560
MY PERSONAL TESTIMONY
Holocaust survivor ELLY GOTZ was born in Kovno,
Lithuania in 1928. He spent his teenage years in
concentration camps and eventually in Dachau, where
he was liberated in 1945 by the American troops. Later,
he was reunited with his parents and together they
lived in Germany, Norway, Rhodesia and South Africa.
Elly came to Canada in 1964. He will speak during the
Sunday service and will answer questions following
the service.
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11:00AM
Jewish Storytelling Arts
Miles Nadal JCC
750 Spadina Avenue, Toronto
Contact: 416-924-6211 x154
TALES OF THE SHOAH
The past comes to life through stories. Tales of the
Holocaust with ELI RUBENSTEIN and others will be
presented by the Miles Nadal JCC with Congregation
Habonim.
This program is dedicated to the memory of the
late Alec Gelcer z"l.
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11:15AM
Agricola Lutheran Church
25 Old York Mills Road, Toronto
Contact: 416-489-7600
CHILDREN IN THE HOLOCAUST
Youth members of Agricola Lutheran Church will
present a comprehensive talk on Children in the Holocaust
and show a short film, Preserving the Past to Ensure
the Future. This film describes how children are
commemorated in Yad Vashem (Holocaust Memorial
Museum in Jerusalem).
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 1:00PM
Beit Rayim Synagogue
Richmond Hill United Church
10201 Yonge Street, Richmond Hill
Contact: 905-770-7639
THE JOURNEY THAT
SAVED CURIOUS GEORGE
Author LOUISE BORDEN will explore the remarkable
story of how Hans and Margret Rey, Germanborn
Jewish artists escaped Paris in 1940 as Hitler's
tanks rolled in and how their experiences are reflected
in some of the internationally-renowned Curious George
books they wrote.
Click here and see program at 4:30PM for more
information.
Co-sponsored by the Richmond Hill United Church.
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2:00PM
Lodzer Centre Holocaust Congregation
12 Heaton Street, Toronto
Contact: 416-636-6665
I WAS A CHILD OF
HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS
In her book, BERNICE EISENSTEIN speaks about her
parents' harrowing past and her own relationship to
the Holocaust and how it has shaped who she is
today. Her book distills, through text and drawings,
her memories of her 1950s childhood in Toronto with
her Yiddish-speaking parents, whose often unspoken
experiences of the War were nonetheless always present.
The memories also draw on inherited fragments
of stories about relatives lost in the War whom she
never met.
Generously co-sponsored by Irene, Teddy and Judy Csillag, in
honour of Deborah Berlach, and in memory of Judith and
Michael Berlach.
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4:00PM & 7:00PM
Toronto Jewish Film Society
Miles Nadal JCC, Al Green Theatre
750 Spadina Avenue, Toronto
Contact: 416-924-6211 x606
PRISONER OF PARADISE (FILM)
This Academy Award-nominated film (2002) features
provocative interviews with those who knew
actor/director Kurt Gerron. One of the most popular
actors in Germany during the 1920s and '30s, the
Jewish Gerron co-starred with Marlene Dietrich in The
Blue Angel and sang Mack the Knife in the original production
of Brecht's The Threepenny Opera. Eventually
interned in Theresienstadt, Gerron was presented a
choice by his captors: he must either direct a pro-Nazi
propaganda film, depicting the concentration camp as
a Bohemian paradise, or face death. The result was the
film The Fuhrer Gives A City to the Jews.
Tickets for both
shows go on sale at the door 15 minutes before the screening.
$12 for MNJCC members; $15 for non-members.
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4:00PM
The Chenstochover Aid Society
Holy Blossom Temple
1950 Bathurst Street, Toronto
Contact: 416-789-3291
RETURNING TO MY ROOTS: CZESTOCHOWA AND BEYOND
ANDREW RAJCHER, FICM, AIMM, MFIA, the son of
Holocaust survivors from Czestochowa and Sosnowiec,
is the co-founder of "Dialogue," a private Polish-Jewish
group in Melbourne, Australia. He will discuss his
first-time visit to Czestochowa as well as life there
today. He will also describe his work with young Poles
to establish Poland's first national Catholic-Jewish
youth dialogue organization. He is a regular visitor to
Poland and has applied for Polish citizenship. See
pages 4 and 27 for more information.
Co-sponsored by the Polish-Jewish Heritage Foundation of Canada.
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 4:30PM
Beth Sholom Synagogue
1445 Eglinton Avenue West, Toronto
Contact: 416-922-5959
THE JOURNEY THAT
SAVED CURIOUS GEORGE
At the start of World War II,
Margret and Hans Rey were
German-born Jewish artists living
in France. As Hitler's tanks rolled
into Paris in 1940, the Reys escaped
on bicycles. In one bicycle basket
were the Reys' drawings and
story of a mischievous little
monkey with the French name Fifi. Author
LOUISE BORDEN had been intrigued for many
years by the story of Margret and Hans Rey's flight
from Paris which ended in New York where Fifi
became Curious George. Others in the children's
book field had known about this escape from the
Nazi invasion, but no one seemed to know the
details of those harrowing days. Ms. Borden wanted
to know more; she wanted real images and began
her own journey of research. Her book, The Journey
That Saved Curious George, introduces readers, especially
elementary and middle school students, to
World War II.
Her text captures the tension in Paris
in 1940 and the urgency to escape, the uprooting of
lives, and the difficulty
of leaving a place you
love. At the same time,
this story is about
the creative process -
the inspiration, joy, and
constant work that
went into creating the
curious, lovable monkey.
Generously co-sponsored
by Elizabeth Frank, in memory of Andrew Frank.
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5:00PM
World's Biggest Bookstore
20 Edward Street, Toronto
Contact: 416-977-7009
MY PERSONAL TESTIMONY
Holocaust survivor VERA SCHIFF, award-winning
author of Hitler's Inferno: Eight Intimate and Personal
Histories from the Holocaust and Theresienstadt: The Town
the Nazis Gave to the Jews, will discuss her personal experiences
during the Holocaust. Vera was born in 1926 in
Prague, Czechoslovakia and was deported in 1942 to
Theresienstadt (Terezin) concentration camp, where
several members of her family died. She remained
there for three years and was liberated by the Soviet
Red Army in May 1945. The sole survivor of her family,
she lived in Israel before coming to Canada in 1961.
A question and answer period will follow.
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7:00PM
Canadian Society for Yad Vashem
Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda Synagogue
100 Elder Street, Toronto
Contact: 416-633-3838
LEARNING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE: TEACHING THE SHOAH
Program panelists are Canadian educators who
attended the Yad Vashem International School for
Holocaust Studies in Jerusalem. Each year Yad Vashem
sponsors dedicated teachers to study and gain a greater
understanding of the Holocaust which better equips
them to impart this knowledge to their students.
The discussion will be moderated by MARGARET
WENTE, one of Canada's leading columnists. As a
writer for The Globe and Mail, she provokes heated
debate with her views on social and political issues.
Co-sponsored by Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda Synagogue.
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7:00PM
Darchei Noam Congregation
15 Hove Street, Toronto
Contact: 416-638-4783
A MEMOIR IN THE FAMILY:
HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR MEMOIRS ACROSS THE GENERATIONS
Holocaust memoirs speak to the past and the future.
They reflect horror and loss, continuity and renewal.
They are at once both very public and very private.
This program will feature presentations on three
Holocaust memoirs from three different generational
perspectives: an adult survivor, child survivor, and
child of a survivor. JEANETTE NESTEL will reveal
her War experiences as described in her book There Is
An Apple In My Freezer; RENATE KRAKAUER will
discuss her memoirs But I Had A Happy Childhood!; and
PROFESSOR MYER SIEMIATYCKI will talk about
My Name Was Jan Janzcak, a book by his father
Mordechai Siemiatycki z"l.
Co-sponsored by the Azrieli Foundation and the Memoirs of Canadian Holocaust Survivors Publishing Program. The Azrieli Foundation collects the written memoirs of survivors in Canada for publication and distribution to libraries and institutions across Canada and abroad."
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7:30PM
Indigo Books Music & Café
8705 Yonge Street, Richmond Hill
Contact: 905-731-8771
MY PERSONAL TESTIMONY
Born in Lenin, Poland, FAYE SCHULMAN saw the
Nazis murder her family in 1942. Escaping, she joined
the Soviet partisans in the forest to fight for freedom.
Liberated by the Soviet Red Army in 1944, Faye was
decorated by several governments for her bravery.
She immigrated to Canada in 1948. Faye is the author
of A Partisan's Memoir and is featured in three
documentaries, one of them a Canadian production Out
of the Fire, parts of which will be shown during this presentation.
A question and answer period will follow.
Co-sponsored by Temple Kol Ami's annual Adult Education
Lecture Series.
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 7:30PM
Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto
115 Simpson Avenue, Toronto
(Limited parking - public transportation encouraged)
Contact: 416-406-6228 x107
LIVING IN THE SHADOW OF PERSECUTION - LESBIANS UNDER NATIONAL SOCIALISM
DR. CLAUDIA SCHOPPMANN
is renowned for her research into
the experiences of lesbians in
Germany during the Nazi period.
Her groundbreaking book Days
of Masquerade (1996) is the first
in-depth look at lesbians during
the Third Reich available in
English. For anyone with an interest in the
Holocaust, Lesbian and Gay issues and Modern
German History, Dr. Schoppmann's work opens up
new roads for further research. It is a bold reminder
of the often forgotten victims of the Third Reich.
Dr. Schoppmann lives in Berlin and works for the
German Resistance Memorial Center. She is
currently preparing a permanent exhibition on Jews
in hiding in Nazi Germany and the non-Jews who
helped them survive.
Dr. Schoppmann's presentation will include an
introduction that highlights the governmental policy
towards homosexuality in both the Weimar
Republic period and the Third Reich. It demonstrates
that lesbianism was driven underground by
the Nazis, though not criminalized or subjected to
systematic persecution as was male homosexuality
since it was not considered a threat to women's
reproductive potential.
Co-sponsored by Carson Phillips, in honour of
the memory of the victims of National Socialism
"totgeschlagen, totgeschwiegen."
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7:30PM
Morris Winchevsky School & United Jewish People's Order
585 Cranbrooke Avenue, Toronto
Contact: 416-789-5502
OUT OF THE ASHES: JEWISH-FIRST NATIONS DIALOGUE ON CULTURAL RENEWAL AFTER GENOCIDE
A dialogue between representatives from the Jewish
and First Nations communities on how we rebuild our
culture "out of the ashes" through education and the
arts. The forum will also include a cultural component.
Panel member BEN CARNIOL is Professor Emeritus,
Ryerson University, where he currently works with
coordinators from the First Nations Technical Institute
to deliver Ryerson's social work program off-campus to
Aboriginal students. He was a hidden child during
the Holocaust.
ANNE SOLOMON is Anishnawbe-kew
of the Bear Clan and has been active in her Native
community and the broader community for over 40
years. She teaches about the genocide, the healing and
renewal of her First Nations Peoples.
Co-sponsored by the Miles Nadal JCC.
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8:00PM
Congregation Habonim
5 Glen Park Road, Toronto
Contact: 416-782-7125
MY OPPOSITION: THE DIARIES OF FRIEDRICH KELLNER (FILM)
Directed by Habonim members and award-winning
filmmakers, FERN LEVITT and ARNIE ZIPURSKY, this
film tells the never-before-told story of the opposition of
a German civil servant to Nazi policies - and of his
American grandson's journey of discovery. It uncovers
the life of Friedrich Kellner, a German political activist
who spoke out against the Nazis before and throughout
World War II. Refusing to join the Nazi Party, he
wrote his eyewitness testimony of Nazi atrocities while
continuing to work as a court magistrate for the
German government. His prophetic diaries detail his
unique perspective and are meant to be a warning for
future generations. This film also tells the story of his
orphaned grandson, Dr. Robert Scott Kellner, who grew
up in America. Kellner spent his entire adult life
translating the diaries and bringing his grandfather's
message to the world in order to ensure that genocide
never happens again.
The filmmakers will be on hand
for a question and answer period following the screening,
which will be preceded by a short memorial
service recalling Kristallnacht.
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8:00PM
Second Story Press
Leah Posluns Theatre
4588 Bathurst Street, Toronto
Contact: 416-537-7850
HIDING EDITH
Speakers include Holocaust survivor EDITH GELBARD
and author KATHY KACER, whose latest book, Hiding
Edith: A True Story, describes the wartime experiences of
Edith (Schwalb) Gelbard, a young Jewish girl sent to
live in the French town of Moissac after the invasion of
France by Germany. Edith's story is remarkable not
only for her own bravery, but also for the bravery
of those who helped her - an entire town which heroically
conspired to conceal the presence of hundreds of
Jewish children living in the "safe" house. Kathy Kacer
is the award-winning author of The Secret of Gabi's
Dresser, Clara's War and The Night Spies. Edith Gelbard,
the heroine of Hiding Edith, is a survivor speaker at the
UJA Federation Holocaust Centre of Toronto.
This event is free, but call
416-636-1880 x368 to reserve tickets.
Generously co-sponsored by Alan and Lorraine Sandler,
in memory of the 1.5 million Jewish children who perished
in the Holocaust; by the Jewish Book Fair; and the
UJA Federation Holocaust Centre of Toronto.
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