memorial
Family and Friends Remembering Lore - In-person Event & Live on Zoom
Please join us remembering Lore Segal, novelist, essayist, short story writer, translator and children's book author.
Family and friends will remember Lore and celebrate her life well-lived, with words, film and music on March 9th from 2-4 pm.
Presented by:
memorial
concert
Andrzej Cieplinski Plays Jewish Clarinet Masterworks – In-person Event and Live on Zoom
Distinguished Warsaw-based clarinetist Andrzej Cieplinski will appear in a rare American recital performing Jewish classical music masterworks. This program will feature Alexander Krein's two suites of "Jewish Sketches" for Clarinet and String Quartet which take inspiration from Yiddish folksong and Klezmer music and Joseph Achron's Kindersuite, a collection of character pieces inspired by Hebrew cantillation for clarinet, string quartet, and piano. The program will also feature a new work by YIVO's own Alex Weiser and selections from Cieplinski's Limanowa project which features recently discovered pre-Holocaust Jewish music found in a small town in Southern Poland. Sergei Prokofiev's beloved Overture on Hebrew Themes completes the program. Cieplinski will be joined by cellist Julian Schwarz, pianist Marika Bournaki, violinists Peter Sirotin and Daniel Kurganov, and violist Colin Brookes.
The Sidney Krum Young Artists Concert Series is made possible by a generous gift from the Estate of Sidney Krum.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Presented by:
concert
panel discussion
Combating Antisemitism on Campus Through K-12 Jewish Identity Education – In-Person Program
This event focuses on the connection between the lack of substantive Jewish history in K-12 education and the rise in antisemitism on college campuses. We’ll probe how last year’s events on campuses are tied to a longstanding gap in understanding Jewish identity within education. We’ll also explore how that gap has influenced broader cultural narratives that limit Jewish history to the confines of the Holocaust.
The panel will feature Professor Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, a history professor at The New School and author of Classroom Wars, and the senior academic advisor to the NYC DOE overseeing the K-12 Jewish studies curriculum; Karen Marder, teacher and dean at Hillcrest High School in Queens; Professor Ester Fuchs, political scientist and co-author of Columbia's report on antisemitism; and JCRC CEO Mark Treyger, who will moderate the conversation.
Presented by:
panel discussion
film and discussion
Here Lived: The Stolpersteine Story with Jane Wells, Emile Schrijver and Ulrika Citron – In-Person Program
Here Lived: The Stolpersteine Story won Best Documentary at the Santa Barbara Jewish Film Festival in 2024 and has been screened at many festivals around the world.
When conceptual artist Gunter Demnig first conceived the idea of laying Stolpersteine (literal translation: stumbling stones) for Roma, Sinti, and disabled victims of National Socialism (Nazis) in his native Germany, he never imagined his project would grow to become the world’s largest decentralized memorial.
The Stolpersteine he crafted are, in theory, quite simple: concrete blocks measuring 10x10cm, topped with polished brass plates that are hand stamped with the names and fates of victims of Hitler’s reign of terror. These handmade stones are laid into the pavement in front of the last voluntarily chosen residence of those murdered by the Nazis. The stones, requested by surviving family members, represent a deeply personal commemoration to those affected by the horrors of Nazi occupation. Today, Stolpersteine have been placed in 30 countries across Europe, and on May 23, 2023, 3 Generations filmed Gunter Demnig laying the 100,000th Stolperstein.
Against the backdrop of a war in Europe, the perpetual plague of anti-Semitism and racism around the world, and the upcoming 80th anniversary of the Nazi’s defeat, this extraordinary tale of resilience, remembrance, and community deeply resonates with our contemporary moment. Here Lived is a timely and profoundly moving testament to the enduring power of human compassion and solidarity.
The screening will be introduced by Netherlands Ambassador to the United Nations Lise Gregoire-van Haaren and followed by a panel discussion with producer and director Jane Wells, historian Emile Schrijver, and producer Ulrika Citron. The conversation will be moderated by Tracey Petersen, Manager: The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme.
Distributed by Menemsha Films. Watch the trailer here.
Presented with Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme
Part of the Center’s film series Holocaust History on Film: Anne Frank and Beyond in connection with Anne Frank The Exhibition. Purchase your tickets to the exhibition here.
Thank you to Ancestry, the Center for Jewish History’s Family History sponsor
About the Speakers
Ulrika Citron, Producer, is the grandchild of Dutch Holocaust victims and the daughter of a hidden child. She was born and raised in Sweden, but has lived and worked in the USA for the last 30 years. In the film, Ulrika journeys to the Netherlands to honor her family and reclaim her Jewish identity.
Lise Gregoire-van Haaren is Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Nations in New York. Prior to this position, from August 2019 to August 2024, she was Director responsible for European Union affairs at the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as deputy Director-General for European Cooperation. From 2016 to 2019 she was (the first female) Ambassador - Deputy Permanent Representative - of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Nations in New York and one of the two Ambassadors representing the Kingdom in the UN Security Council (2018).
Before joining the Permanent Mission in New York, Ms. Gregoire-van Haaren was Head of the Political Affairs department in the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague, a post she held since 2013. Prior to that, from 2009 to 2013, she was Counsellor (Antici) at the Permanent Representation of the Netherlands to the European Union in Brussels.
Emile Schrijver is the General Director of The Jewish Cultural Quarter and professor of Jewish Book History at the University of Amsterdam. A world-renowned expert on Jewish history, he explains the horrors faced by Jewish people during the Nazi occupation, as well as his role in the initiative to place 733 stones in his hometown of Haarlem.
Jane Wells, an Emmy-Award nominated filmmaker and activist, is the director and producer of HERE LIVED. Over fifteen years, Wells has produced groundbreaking documentaries chronicling a diverse range of social issues. TRICKED is an unflinching examination of sex trafficking in the United States; The Devil Came on Horseback chronicles the genocide in Darfur. Most recently, HERE LIVED focuses on the families impacted by the Nazis during World War II and the generational trauma that atrocity precipitates. In HERE LIVED, Wells and her team capture the story of the world’s largest decentralized memorial, explore the unknown history of the Netherlands’ hidden children, and give a platform to the relatives of Nazi victims and key figures in the Stolpersteine project to reflect on the meaning of the memorial and its role as a source of healing and reconciliation. As the daughter of Sidney Bernstein, who was responsible for documenting the liberation of the Nazi Concentration Camps for the Allies in World War II, Jane knows the power film has to shape history and empower survivors. This history led her to build her own legacy as a filmmaker focused on telling the stories of survivors of crimes against humanity. Over more than 15 years, Wells has produced 50 short films and documentaries. Her projects have been featured in international film festivals, such as Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca Film Festival, NY Jewish Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, Thessaloniki International Film Festival, and Human Rights Watch Film Festival. The films have been recognized by distinguished media outlets, such as the New York Times, the Huffington Post, CNN, and the BBC, among others. Wells wholeheartedly immerses herself in all of her projects. Actively participating in every stage of each production, she ensures her presence on the ground. However, what she holds dearest is the enduring relationships she has fostered with the individuals featured in her films. It is their stories that inspire her and drive her team to continue with their mission and work.
Presented by:
film and discussion
film and discussion
Bau, Artist at War with Writer/Producer Deborah Smerecnik, Director Sean McNamara, Clila Bau, Hadasa Bau, and Daniel S. Mariaschin – In-Person Program
Bau: Artist at War is a remarkable film based on the true love story of Joseph and Rebecca Bau, whose wedding took place in the Plaszow concentration camp during WWII, an event immortalized in Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List. Using his artistic skills and sense of humor in the camps, Joseph manages to stay alive and ultimately helps hundreds to escape. Years later, when called to be a key witness in the trial of the brutal Nazi officer who tortured him and killed his father, he is thrust back into vivid memories of the Holocaust. Emile Hirsch stars as Joseph Bau.
The screening will be followed by a conversation with writer/producer Deborah Smerecnik, Director Sean McNamara, and Joseph Bau’s daughters Clila and Hadasa Bau, moderated by Daniel S. Mariaschin.
Watch the trailer here.
Presented with Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme and B’nai Brith International
Part of the Center’s film series Holocaust History on Film: Anne Frank and Beyond in connection with Anne Frank The Exhibition. Purchase your tickets to the exhibition here.
Thank you to Ancestry, the Center for Jewish History’s Family History sponsor
About the Speakers
Deborah Smerecnik spent 14 years developing and producing "Bau, Artist at War." Her production company has a slate of projects, in different stages of development, including "VOICES", a dystopian sci-fi television series, "Wake-Up", a feature highlighting the sex trafficking industry of Ventura County, California, and a mini-series centered around the diaries of Rebecca Bau. A graduate of Scripps College with a diverse professional background in finance, management, and restaurant ownership, Smerecnik was deeply inspired by the Bau family's story. This project has profoundly impacted her, instilling a deep sense of gratitude for the opportunity to bring the Bau’s inspiring journey to life.
Clila Bau Cohen is a lecturer and performer. Hadasa Bau is an actress, singer, songwriter, lecturer and graphic artist. They both serve as managers of the Joseph Bau House, a museum focusing on the life and work of Joseph Bau.
Daniel S. Mariaschin is the CEO of B’nai B’rith International. As the organization’s top executive officer, he directs and supervises B’nai B’rith programs, activities and staff around the world. He is the spokesman for B’nai B’rith, interpreting its policies to a variety of audiences, including the U.S. Congress, world leaders, global diplomats and the media, with responsibility for coordinating the organization’s programs and policies on issues of concern to the Jewish community. In the United States and abroad, Mr. Mariaschin has met with scores of heads of state, prime ministers, foreign ministers, opposition leaders, religious leaders and influential members of the media, to advance human rights and to help protect the rights of Jewish communities worldwide as well as to promote better relations with the State of Israel.
Presented by:
film and discussion
theatrical performance
The Archive by Neta Pulvermacher - In-person Event
Leo Baeck Institute is proud to present the North American premiere ofinterdisciplinary performance The Archive by Neta Pulvermacher. The performances will take place February 24, 25, and 26 at the Center for Jewish History.
When the last person who remembers is gone, whole worlds disappear forever. Israeli/American artist, choreographer and performer Neta Pulvermacher situates her riveting one woman show, The Archive, inside this perforated post-memory landscape. Exploring her German-Jewish family history, she constructs a jarring, funny and deeply moving performative journey that follows the traces to Frankfurt and Berlin – once her family’s home.
Pulvermacher sifts through documents, old pictures, and personal artifacts, conjuring up fragmented narratives, voices, and characters that emerge briefly, only to fade back into oblivion. Through research and memory, she combines real and imagined sites and events, blurring the lines between past and present, battling the gradual disappearance of memories.
For a moment, this pursuit of traces materializes in the Great Hall of NYC’s Center for Jewish History, a place of remembrance itself. As Pulvermacher navigates this layered landscape, she invites the audience to join her as she attempts to reconstruct a lost world. Especially in times of crisis, the questions of memory and history and their significance for understanding our world(s) become relevant and urgent.
Originally commissioned as a site-specific work for a quartet of dancers at the Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem, The Archive was reimagined as a one-woman show for the KFW Stiftung Villa 102 in Frankfurt Germany (March 2024) and the Suzanne Dellal Center in Tel Aviv (June 2024). Following this North American premiere at the Center for Jewish History, Pulvermacher invites the audience to an artist talk.
Made possible in part by support from the Arnhold family and Mary and Saul Sanders.
Presented by:
theatrical performance
book talk
Russia’s Jews in World War I – Live on Zoom
When World War I began, the Russian Empire was home to more than 5.7 million Jews, the most densely settled Jewish population in the world. Thirty years later, by 1945, only remnants of this civilization remained. The years of World War I, from 1914 to 1918, launched nearly all the forces that led to this epic destruction.
In A Nation of Refugees: Russia's Jews in World War I, Polly Zavadivker tells how Jewish civilians experienced that war and its epicenter of violence on the Eastern Front. World War I transformed the lives of East European Jews in ways that were second only to the Holocaust in their magnitude. State violence and forced migration determined many aspects of Jewish wartime and revolutionary experience. These policies not only destroyed much of traditional Jewish life but also inadvertently compelled a transformation of Jewish civil society. The collapse of Russian imperialism enabled the growth of an empire-wide humanitarian campaign to rescue the “nation of refugees,” whose plight embodied that of the Jewish nation itself. By exploring this history of Jewish humanitarianism during World War I, Zavadivker provides the origin stories of key leaders and public institutions that served East European Jewry in the interwar years and during the Holocaust.
Join YIVO for a discussion with Zavadivker about this book, led by historian Eliyana Adler.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Presented by:
book talk
theatrical performance
The Archive by Neta Pulvermacher - In-person Event
Leo Baeck Institute is proud to present the North American premiere ofinterdisciplinary performance The Archive by Neta Pulvermacher. The performances will take place February 24, 25, and 26 at the Center for Jewish History.
When the last person who remembers is gone, whole worlds disappear forever. Israeli/American artist, choreographer and performer Neta Pulvermacher situates her riveting one woman show, The Archive, inside this perforated post-memory landscape. Exploring her German-Jewish family history, she constructs a jarring, funny and deeply moving performative journey that follows the traces to Frankfurt and Berlin – once her family’s home.
Pulvermacher sifts through documents, old pictures, and personal artifacts, conjuring up fragmented narratives, voices, and characters that emerge briefly, only to fade back into oblivion. Through research and memory, she combines real and imagined sites and events, blurring the lines between past and present, battling the gradual disappearance of memories.
For a moment, this pursuit of traces materializes in the Great Hall of NYC’s Center for Jewish History, a place of remembrance itself. As Pulvermacher navigates this layered landscape, she invites the audience to join her as she attempts to reconstruct a lost world. Especially in times of crisis, the questions of memory and history and their significance for understanding our world(s) become relevant and urgent.
Originally commissioned as a site-specific work for a quartet of dancers at the Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem, The Archive was reimagined as a one-woman show for the KFW Stiftung Villa 102 in Frankfurt Germany (March 2024) and the Suzanne Dellal Center in Tel Aviv (June 2024). Following this North American premiere at the Center for Jewish History, Pulvermacher invites the audience to an artist talk.
Made possible in part by support from the Arnhold family and Mary and Saul Sanders.
Presented by:
theatrical performance
theatrical performance
The Archive by Neta Pulvermacher - In-person Event
Leo Baeck Institute is proud to present the North American premiere ofinterdisciplinary performance The Archive by Neta Pulvermacher. The performances will take place February 24, 25, and 26 at the Center for Jewish History.
When the last person who remembers is gone, whole worlds disappear forever. Israeli/American artist, choreographer and performer Neta Pulvermacher situates her riveting one woman show, The Archive, inside this perforated post-memory landscape. Exploring her German-Jewish family history, she constructs a jarring, funny and deeply moving performative journey that follows the traces to Frankfurt and Berlin – once her family’s home.
Pulvermacher sifts through documents, old pictures, and personal artifacts, conjuring up fragmented narratives, voices, and characters that emerge briefly, only to fade back into oblivion. Through research and memory, she combines real and imagined sites and events, blurring the lines between past and present, battling the gradual disappearance of memories.
For a moment, this pursuit of traces materializes in the Great Hall of NYC’s Center for Jewish History, a place of remembrance itself. As Pulvermacher navigates this layered landscape, she invites the audience to join her as she attempts to reconstruct a lost world. Especially in times of crisis, the questions of memory and history and their significance for understanding our world(s) become relevant and urgent.
Originally commissioned as a site-specific work for a quartet of dancers at the Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem, The Archive was reimagined as a one-woman show for the KFW Stiftung Villa 102 in Frankfurt Germany (March 2024) and the Suzanne Dellal Center in Tel Aviv (June 2024). Following this North American premiere at the Center for Jewish History, Pulvermacher invites the audience to an artist talk.
Made possible in part by support from the Arnhold family and Mary and Saul Sanders.
Presented by:
theatrical performance
discussion
2025 Summer Program Advanced Level Information Session – Live on Zoom
Are you thinking of returning to the Summer Program to continue your advanced studies? Join Summer Program faculty and staff for a brief information session about YIVO’s advanced levels. Open to graduates of YIVO’s intermediate levels and those with comparable proficiency, this session will cover the structure of YIVO’s advanced levels, the online and in-person formats, admissions process, and more, with time for questions from prospective Summer Program students.
The session will be conducted in Yiddish and is entirely optional (prospective students are not required to attend).
Learn more about the YIVO-Bard Uriel Weinreich Summer Program in Yiddish Language, Literature, and Culture.
Presented by:
discussion
lecture
The YIVO Library in New York: Personal Reflections on Its History and Collections – Live on Zoom
In the mid-1930s a group of New York Yiddishist intellectuals established the Central Jewish Library and Press Archive, whose collections became the nucleus of the YIVO Library when the Institute relocated from Vilna to New York in 1940. Over the succeeding decades, the Library grew by leaps and bounds, thanks to the dedication of its librarians and supporters. It emerged as a “collection of collections,” absorbing the extensive personal libraries of prominent Yiddish writers, scholars, and book collectors. Crucially, after 1945 the Library also recovered large portions of the Vilna YIVO’s prewar holdings along with thousands of rabbinic works from Vilna’s Strashun Library. Throughout its history, the YIVO Library has been a beehive of scholarship and bibliography, which has been fostered by such outstanding figures as Mendl Elkin and Dina Abramowicz.
In this presentation, Zachary M. Baker will offer some personal reflections on the legacy that the YIVO Library’s founders and builders have left behind.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Presented by:
lecture
film and panel discussion
The Anne Frank Gift Shop with Mickey Rapkin, Ari Graynor, Avinoam Patt, and Sloane Crosley – In-Person Program
The Anne Frank Gift Shop was shortlisted for the 2024 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short. The film, written and directed by Mickey Rapkin, premiered at L.A. Shorts in 2023 and won the Film Movement Award at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival and a completion grant from JFI. Of the film, GQ magazine's Sarah Seltzer wrote: "Featuring darkly funny and ultimately moving turns by a strong cast including Ari Graynor and Chris Perfetti and comedian Mary Beth Barone as a stone-faced Gen Z influencer, The Anne Frank Gift Shop provides a poignant meta-commentary on our continually robust Anne Frank discourse. It’s a film that, per Sarah Paulson on Instagram, 'makes you laugh your face off AND FEEL things'." The film won the Audience Award in Philadelphia and has screened around the world at festivals including SCAD, the Cleveland International Film Festival, and the Hong Kong Jewish Film Festival.
A panel discussion and Q&A featuring writer/director Mickey Rapkin, Ari Graynor, and Avinoam Patt,moderated by the bestselling author of Grief Is for People, Sloane Crosley will follow the screening.
Part of the Center’s film series Holocaust History on Film: Anne Frank and Beyond in connection with Anne Frank The Exhibition. Purchase your tickets to the exhibition here.
Thank you to Ancestry, the Center for Jewish History’s Family History sponsor
About the Speakers
Sloane Crosley is the author of The New York Times bestselling books Grief Is for People, How Did You Get This Number, and I Was Told There’d Be Cake (a 2009 finalist for The Thurber Prize for American Humor). She is also the author of Look Alive Out There (a 2019 finalist for The Thurber Prize for American Humor) and the novels, Cult Classic and The Clasp, both of which she has adapted for film. Her work has been translated into ten languages. She has been a columnist for The Village Voice, Vanity Fair, Esquire, The Independent, Black Book, Departures and The New York Observer. A contributing editor at Vanity Fair, her work has appeared in various publications including The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Magazine, Vogue and The Guardian.
Ari Graynor most recently starred in the Ryan Murphy Netflix limited series Monsters: The Erik and Lyle Menendez Story as defense attorney Leslie Abramson. Her other television credits include Winning Time, Mrs. America and Showtime’s I’m Dying Up Here. Her many film credits include The Disaster Artist, The Front Runner, For a Good Time Call, and Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Graynor has performed on and off-Broadway including in Anna Jordan’s Yen (Lucille Lortel nominee), The Performers, Relatively Speaking, The Little Dog Laughed, Brooklyn Boy, and Dog Sees God.
Avinoam Patt is Rennert Director of the Center for the Study of Antisemitism at NYU. He previously held the Doris and Simon Konover Chair of Judaic Studies at the University of Connecticut, where he served as Director of the Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life. He is the author of multiple books on Jewish responses to the Holocaust, including Finding Home and Homeland: Jewish Youth and Zionism in the Aftermath of the Holocaust (2009). He recently completed a book on the early postwar memory of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (The Jewish Heroes of Warsaw: The Afterlife of the Revolt, 2021). His newest book, Israel and the Holocaust, was published by Bloomsbury Press as part of its Perspectives on the Holocaust series in 2024.
Mickey Rapkin made his directorial debut with The Anne Frank Gift Shop which was shortlisted for the 2024 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short. He also wrote the film, a dark comedy about antisemitism starring Ari Graynor and Chris Perfetti. Rapkin is a screenwriter and journalist whose first book, Pitch Perfect—about the world of competitive a cappella singing groups—inspired the film franchise of the same name. Previously a senior editor at GQ, he has written for the New York Times, WSJ, Town & Country, and Esquire.
Presented by:
film and panel discussion
concert
Two Pianos, Six Hands: Phoenix Chamber Ensemble performs Bach, Schubert & Prokofiev – In-Person Concert and Live on YouTube
J.S. Bach/A. Vivaldi: Concerto for 4 Pianos in A minor BWV 1065, transcribed for 2 Pianos, 6 Hands by E. Braslavsky
F. Schubert: Lebensstürme; Characteristic Allegro, Op.144, D.947
S. Prokofiev: Suite from "Cinderella" for 2 Pianos, 4 Hands, edited by Mikhail Pletnev
J.S. Bach: Concerto in C minor, BWV 1060 for 2 Pianos
F. Schubert: Fantasia in F minor, Op.103, D.940
Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach (1759-1845; J.S. Bach’s grandson): Das Dreyblatt for Piano, 6 Hands
Founded in 2005 by pianists Vassa Shevel and Inessa Zaretsky, the Phoenix Chamber Ensemble has, over the course of two decades, become a vital part of the New York classical community, presenting more than 70 public concerts at the Center for Jewish History. The ensemble has garnered a devoted following with its innovative programming and sensitive interpretations, earned an international reputation presenting concerts in Russia, Poland, Italy, and other European venues, and collaborated with numerous acclaimed guest artists, including clarinetist David Krakauer, the Grammy-nominated Enso Quartet, the Tesla Quartet, members of the Jasper String Quartet, the New York Little Opera Company, the Metropolitan Opera, and New York City Ballet.
Made possible by the Stravinsky Institute Foundation through the generous support of the Blavatnik Family Foundation.
Presented by:
concert
book talk
Hollywood's Unofficial Film Corps: American Jewish Moviemakers and the War Effort – In-person Event
Join the American Jewish Historical Society and NYU’s Center for the Study of Antisemitism for a book talk on Hollywood’s Unofficial Film Corps: American Jewish Moviemakers and the War Effort with author Michael Berkowitz and moderator Avinoam Patt.
It has long been known that Hollywood was actively involved in shaping US public opinion during World War II. Less well documented are the ways in which Washington sought to work behind the scenes, subtly obliterating the boundaries between “studio” and “government” films. Michael Berkowitz studies the contributions of humorist and best-selling author Leo Rosten (The Joys of Yiddish, The Education of H*Y*M*A*N* K*A*P*L*A*N) and writer, producer, and screenwriter Budd Schulberg (On the Waterfront, A Face in the Crowd) in order to examine the elusive story of Jewish Hollywood’s role in World War II.
Hollywood’s Unofficial Film Corps shows that Rosten, Schulberg, and others—including Garson Kanin, George Cukor, Stanley Kramer, and Jules Buck—created movies that were both entertaining and politically expeditious for US war aims. At the same time, in an effort to unify the American public, they avoided focusing on the fate of European Jews, even while addressing racism and antisemitism in the United States. Jewish themes were often downplayed, and Jewish directors, writers, and other contributors frequently went uncredited. As Berkowitz writes, “Rosten’s cohort changed feature films forever.” Thanks to his research, we now have a better understanding of how and why.
Presented by:
book talk
book talk
Rupture, Reconciliation, & Visual Storytelling - In-person Event
Stefanie Fischer and Kim Wünschmann will join LBI to discuss their recent graphic history, Oberbrechen: A German Village Confronts Its Nazi Past. The talk will be moderated by acclaimed graphic memoirist Ari Richter. In addition, two members of the Lichtenstein family (featured in the book) will sit on the panel.
Oberbrechen (illustrated by Liz Clarke) chronicles the events of the Holocaust and its aftermath in a small village in rural Germany, through the eyes of historians Fischer and Wünschmann. Based on meticulous research and using powerful visual storytelling, the book provides a multilayered narrative that explores the experiences of both Jewish and non-Jewish villagers from the First World War to the present. Its focus on how "ordinary" people experienced this time offers a new and illuminating insight into everyday life and the processes of violence, rupture, and reconciliation that characterized the history of the twentieth century in Germany and beyond. The graphic narrative is accompanied by source documents published in English translation for the first time, an essay on the wider historical context, and an incisive reflection on the writing of this book--and of history more broadly. (Oxford University Press)
Presented by:
book talk
film screening
The City Without Jews: A Live Cine-Concert with Alicia Svigals and Donald Sosin – In-person Program
The City Without Jews (Die Stadt ohne Juden), H. K. Breslauer’s 1924 silent masterpiece, is based on the bestselling dystopian novel by Hugo Bettauer. It was produced two years after the book’s publication and, tragically, shortly before the satirical events depicted in the fictional story transformed into all-too-horrific reality. All complete prints were thought to be destroyed, but thanks to the discovery of a nitrate print in a Parisian flea market in 2015, this “lost” film can once again be appreciated in its unfortunately ever-relevant entirety.
Set in the Austrian city of Utopia (a thinly-disguised stand-in for Vienna), the story follows the political and personal consequences of an antisemitic law passed by the National Assembly forcing all Jews to leave the country. At first, the decision is met with celebration, but when the citizens of Utopia eventually come to terms with the loss of the Jewish population – and the resulting economic and cultural decline—the National Assembly must decide whether to invite the Jews back. Though darkly comedic in tone and stylistically influenced by German Expressionism, the film nonetheless contains ominous and eerily realistic sequences, such as shots of freight trains transporting Jews out of the city. The film’s stinging critique of Nazism is part of the reason it was no longer screened in public after 1933.
Join the Jewish Music Forum and YIVO for a screening of The City Without Jews accompanied by live original music composed and performed by world-renowned klezmer violinist Alicia Svigals and celebrated silent film pianist Donald Sosin. A Q&A session with the musicians will follow the cine-concert.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Presented by:
film screening
book talk
Yiddish Literature Under Surveillance in Soviet Ukraine – Live on Zoom
Yiddish Literature Under Surveillance: The Case of Soviet Ukraine gives a broad view on Soviet Jewish literary life, and on the repression suffered by Yiddish writers under Stalinist rule. It moves from the paradigm of writing almost exclusively about the most prominent authors, whose execution in Moscow on August 12, 1952 is tragically known as "The Night of Murdered Poets." Instead, the narrative is built as a group biography of five writers whose literary home was in Kyiv, the capital of Soviet Ukraine from 1934 to 1991. Those authors are as follows: Avrom Abchuk (arrested and executed in 1937), Chaim Gildin (arrested in 1940; died in a camp in 1943), Itsik Kipnis (arrested in 1949; released in 1955), Rive Balyasne (arrested in 1952; released in 1955), and Hirsh Bloshteyn, an enthusiastic agent of the secret police. In addition, this book is populated by other Yiddish, Ukrainian, and Russian literati. Kyiv was the primary fountainhead for Yiddish literary creativity in the early postrevolutionary period for seven decades and remained a leading Soviet Yiddish literary center, second in importance only to Moscow. Author Gennady Estraikh pays special attention to the victims’ rehabilitation, posthumous or otherwise, in the mid-1950s and onwards.
Join YIVO for a discussion with Estraikh about this book, led by Mikhail Krutikov.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Presented by:
book talk
book talk
When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary – In-Person Book Talk
Bestselling author Alice Hoffman delivers a stunning novel, aimed at a young adult audience, about one of contemporary history's most acclaimed figures, exploring the little-known details of Anne Frank's life before she went into hiding.
Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl has captivated and inspired readers for decades. Published posthumously by her bereaved father, Anne's journal, written while she and her family were in hiding during World War II, has become one of the central texts of the Jewish experience during the Holocaust, as well as a work of literary genius.
With the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, the Frank family's life is turned inside out, blow by blow, restriction by restriction. Prejudice, loss, and terror run rampant, and Anne is forced to bear witness as ordinary people become monsters, and children and families are caught up in the inescapable tide of violence.
In the midst of impossible danger, Anne, audacious, creative, and fearless, discovers who she truly is. With wisdom far beyond her years, she will become a writer who will go on to change the world as we know it.
Critically acclaimed author Alice Hoffman weaves a lyrical and heart wrenching story of the way the world closes in on the Frank family from the moment the Nazis invade the Netherlands until they are forced into hiding, bringing Anne to bold, vivid life. When We Flew Away features archival content provided by the Anne Frank House, as well as information about Otto Frank's desperate bids to get his family to safety in America gathered from correspondence between Otto Frank and Nathan Straus, Jr. from the Straus Historical Society’s Archives. Based on extensive research and published in cooperation with the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, When We Flew Away is an extraordinary and moving tour de force.
Alice Hoffman will be in conversation with her editor at Scholastic, Lisa Sandell. Book sales and signing will follow the program. Get a discount on the price of your ticket if you pre-order the book.
Part of the Center’s programming series Anne Frank in History and Memory in connection with Anne Frank The Exhibition. Purchase your tickets to the exhibition here.
Presented with Scholastic
Thank you to Ancestry, the Center for Jewish History’s Family History sponsor.
About the Speakers:
Alice Hoffman is the highly acclaimed author of over 30 novels for readers of all ages, including The Dovekeepers, The World That We Knew -- winner of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, The Marriage of Opposites, Practical Magic, Incantation, The Foretelling, and most recently, The Invisible Hour. Her previous novels for Scholastic Press are Aquamarine, which was made into a major motion picture, Indigo, Green Witch, and Green Angel, which Publishers Weekly, in a boxed, starred review, called "achingly lovely." She lives outside of Boston.
Lisa Ann Sandell is an editorial director at Scholastic Inc., where she publishes literary and commercial fiction and narrative nonfiction, including critically acclaimed author Alice Hoffman’s New York Times bestseller, When We Flew Away;the New York Times bestselling False Prince series by Jennifer A. Nielsen; and #1 New York Times bestseller Sharon Cameron’s The Light in Hidden Places, which was a Reese’s YA Book Club pick; among many other books. Lisa is also the author of four young adult novels. She lives in New York City with her family.
Presented by:
book talk
discussion
2025 Summer Program Information Session – Live on Zoom
Have you always wanted to study Yiddish at the YIVO-Bard Summer Program? Are you wondering what it would be like to take the program online or in person? Join faculty and staff of the Summer Program for a brief information session. This 30-minute session will cover the program’s structure, online and in-person formats, admissions process, and more, with time for questions from prospective Summer Program students. The session will be conducted in English and are entirely optional (prospective students are not required to attend).
Learn more about the YIVO-Bard Uriel Weinreich Summer Program in Yiddish Language, Literature, and Culture.
Presented by:
discussion
book talk
Saints and Liars by Debórah Dwork - In-person Event
Saints and Liars is a moving history of American relief workers during the Hitler years who sought to save Jews and political opponents targeted by the Nazi regime. Praised by Publishers’ Weekly as “a gripping study of individuals’ operations in terrible extremis,” and selected by Apple Books as a Winter’s Most Anticipated Book, the story historian Debórah Dwork tells arcs through time, place, and situation. From negotiating with government representatives to doing direct (and sometimes secret) refugee relief, aid workers contended with moral questions and fast-changing historical circumstances in their mission to bring people to safety. Drawing on rich archival sources, Saints and Liarsoffers a glimpse into the lives of people who risked all to help those fleeing persecution.
Author Debórah Dwork, director of the Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at the Graduate Center – CUNY, will discuss her book with Marion Kaplan, Skirball Professor Emerita of Modern Jewish History, NYU.
Presented by:
book talk
discussion
2025 Summer Program Information Session – Live on Zoom
Have you always wanted to study Yiddish at the YIVO-Bard Summer Program? Are you wondering what it would be like to take the program online or in person? Join faculty and staff of the Summer Program for a brief information session. This 30-minute session will cover the program’s structure, online and in-person formats, admissions process, and more, with time for questions from prospective Summer Program students. The session will be conducted in English and are entirely optional (prospective students are not required to attend).
Learn more about the YIVO-Bard Uriel Weinreich Summer Program in Yiddish Language, Literature, and Culture.
Presented by:
discussion
film and discussion
UnBroken Film Screening with Beth Lane and Ginger Lane – In-person program
In the documentary filmUnBroken, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor embarks on an international quest to uncover answers about the plight of her mother and her six siblings who, as mere children, escaped Nazi Germany relying solely on their own youthful bravado and the kindness of German strangers.
UnBroken chronicles the seven Weber siblings who evaded certain capture and death, and ultimately escaped Nazi Germany following their mother’s incarceration and murder at Auschwitz. After being hidden in a laundry hut by a benevolent farmer, the children spent two years on their own in war-torn Germany. Emboldened by their father’s mandate that they ‘always stay together,’ the children used their own cunning and instincts to fight through hunger, loneliness, and fear, and survive bombings and attacks. Their journey culminates with a painful ultimatum, when, separated from their father, they are told that they must declare themselves orphans in order to escape to a new life in America. Unbeknownst to them, this salvation would become what would finally tear them apart, not to be reunited for another 40 years.
After the screening, join us for a panel discussion with the film’s director, producer, and writer Beth Lane and subject (Beth’s mother) Ginger Lane.
View the trailer here.
Thank you to Ancestry, the Center for Jewish History’s Family History sponsor for International Holocaust Remembrance Day programming.
Presented with The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme
Part of the Center’s programming series Anne Frank in History and Memory and film series Holocaust History on Film: Anne Frank and Beyond in connection with Anne Frank The Exhibition. Purchase your tickets to the exhibition here.
This screening is made possible by The Weber Family Arts Foundation.
Presented by:
film and discussion
lecture
“America – A New World for Jewish Children”: An Unknown Letter by Sholem Aleichem in the YIVO Archives – Live on Zoom
Within the Herman Bernstein collection at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research lies an unknown and previously unpublished letter by Sholem Aleichem (Shalom Rabinowitz, 1859–1916), one of Yiddish literature’s most renowned writers. Unidentified for over a century, it was first recognized in 2017, 101 years after the author’s death. In the letter, Sholem Aleichem addresses the theme of Jewish cultural assimilation in general, and Americanization in particular.
Apparently written not long after Sholem Aleichem first arrived in America in 1906, the letter is significant because it demonstrates his approach to the phenomenon of Jewish American children, a subject which he developed during the last decade of his life and which culminated in his final literary work, Motl, the Cantor’s Son. A close reading of the letter sheds new light on the his impressions of American Jewish immigrants and, in particular, of American Jewish children. The excitement and fascination generated by this topic would turn out to be one of his main literary subjects until his death 10 years later.
In this presentation, Yael Levi will explore the letter’s content, situating it within the historical and cultural context of Sholem Aleichem’s biography and epistolary legacy, with a particular focus on the pivotal period of Jewish migration and the experience of East European Jewish children in America.
Presented by:
lecture
book talk
The Many Lives of Anne Frank – In-person program & live on Zoom
A revealing biography of Anne Frank, exploring both her life and the impact of her extraordinary diary.
In this innovative biography, Ruth Franklin explores the transformation of Anne Frank (1929–1945) from ordinary teenager to icon, shedding new light on the young woman whose diary of her years in hiding, now translated into more than seventy languages, is the most widely read work of literature to arise from the Holocaust.
Comprehensively researched but experimental in spirit, this book chronicles and interprets Anne’s life as a Jew in Amsterdam during World War II while also telling the story of the diary—its multiple drafts, its discovery, its reception, and its message for today’s world. Writing alongside Anne rather than over her, Franklin explores the day-to-day perils of the Holocaust in the Netherlands as well as Anne’s ultimate fate, restoring her humanity and agency in all their messiness, heroism, and complexity.
With antisemitism once again in the news, The Many Lives of Anne Frank takes a fresh and timely look at the debates around Anne’s life and work, including the controversial adaptations of the diary, Anne’s evolution as a fictional character, and the ways her story and image have been politically exploited. Franklin reveals how Anne has been understood and misunderstood, both as a person and as an idea, and opens up new avenues for interpreting her life and writing in today’s hyperpolarized world.
Ruth Franklin will be in conversation with author Jonathan Rosen. Book sales and signing and a reception will follow the program. Get a discount on the price of your ticket if you pre-order the book.
Thank you to Ancestry, the Center for Jewish History’s Family History sponsor for International Holocaust Remembrance Day programming.
Presented with Jewish Lives and Jewish Book Council
Part of the Center’s programming series Anne Frank in History and Memory in connection with Anne Frank The Exhibition. Purchase your tickets to the exhibition here.
Ruth Franklin is the author of A Thousand Darknesses: Lies and Truth in Holocaust Fiction, a finalist for the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature, and of Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Jonathan Rosen is the author, most recently, of The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions, which was named a top ten book of the year by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Slate and People Magazine, and was chosen by Barack Obama as one of his Favorite Books of 2023. The Best Minds was also a finalist for the 2023 Pulitzer Prize. Rosen is also the author of the novels Eve’s Apple and Joy Comes in the Morning, and two additional non-fiction books: The Talmud and the Internet: A Journey Between Worlds and The Life of the Skies: Birding at the End of Nature. His essays and articles have appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, and other publications. He is a consulting editor at The Free Press.
Presented by:
book talk
discussion
Person Place Thing with Zalmen Mlotek and Steven Skybell – In-person Event and Live on Zoom
Join YIVO and the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene for a recording of the public radio show, Person Place Thing, with actor Steven Skybell and Artistic Director of the NYTF Zalmen Mlotek. Hosted by humorist Randy Cohen, Person Place Thing is an interview show based on the idea that people are especially engaging when they speak, not directly about themselves, but something they care about. Guests talk about one person, one place, and one thing with particular meaning to them.
The conversation will consist of reflections on Skybell and Mlotek’s work, including their experiences with the North American production of Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish and Skybell’s current role as Herr Schultz in Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club on Broadway, for which he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. Skybell and Mlotek will also perform live music throughout the event.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Presented by:
discussion
conversation
At Lunch with Adam Moss – Live on Zoom
Julie Salamon (New York Times best-selling author) sits down with editor and author Adam Moss. Adam was the editor of New York magazine, The New York Times Magazine, and 7 Days. As editor of New York, he also oversaw the creation of five digital magazines: Vulture, The Cut, Daily Intelligencer, Grub Street, and The Strategist. During his tenure, New York won forty-one National Magazine Awards, including Magazine of the Year. He was an assistant managing editor of The New York Times with oversight of the Magazine, the Book Review, and the Culture, and Style sections, as well as managing editor of Esquire. He was elected to the Magazine Editors’ Hall of Fame in 2019.
Throughout his forty-year career, Moss has been drawn to origin stories— how a cultural moment or a piece of art came to be. It is a question that animates his beautiful and mind-expanding book THE WORK OF ART: How Something Comes from Nothing an illuminating exploration of the rigorous, complex, personal, and elusive work of making art. Moss wondered how an artist thinks; is there a way that artists look at the world that would be instructional for the rest of us? To answer these questions, Moss interviews a truly incredible slate of artists and traces the evolution of transcendent novels, paintings, jokes, movies, songs, and more. Weaving these conversations together with artifacts of the artist’s craft—the journal entries, napkin doodles, and early sketches that were their tools—THE WORK OF ART demystifies the creative process that leads to moments of genius. The result is a breathtaking and inspiring guided tour inside the artist’s head.
Presented by:
conversation
lecture
Autocracies in the 21st Century – Live on Zoom
We think we know what an autocratic state looks like: There is an all-powerful leader at the top who controls the police. The police threaten the people with violence. There are evil collaborators, and maybe some brave dissidents.
But in the 21st century, that bears little resemblance to reality. Nowadays, autocracies are underpinned not by one dictator, but by sophisticated networks composed of kleptocratic financial structures, surveillance technologies, and professional propagandists, all of which operate across multiple regimes. Corrupt companies in one country do business with corrupt companies in another. The police in one country can arm and train the police in another, and propagandists share resources and themes, pounding home the same messages about the weakness of democracy.
International condemnation and economic sanctions cannot move the autocrats. Even popular opposition movements, from Venezuela to Hong Kong to Moscow, don't stand a chance. These dictators aren't linked by a unifying ideology, like communism, but rather a common desire for power, wealth, and impunity.
In this conversation, journalist Anne Applebaum and YIVO Executive Director Jonathan Brent discuss how autocracies have evolved in the 21st century.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Presented by:
lecture
book talk
Closing Borders: Immigration and World War I - In-person Event
The rise of the United States and Israel as centers of Jewish life is closely tied to immigration. Yet the success story of Jewish immigration obscures the experiences of hundreds of thousands of Jews from Eastern Europe who were displaced during and after the First World War. Wherever they turned they faced closed doors. The United States shifted to a restrictive immigration regime in 1921, implicitly targeting Eastern European Jews. Most other countries also restricted immigration. Many Jews who were stranded in permanent transit after 1918 perished in the Holocaust because they could not reach safe havens.
In his new book "Between Borders: The Great Jewish Migration from Eastern Europe" Tobias Brinkmann (Penn State Univ.) sheds light on the journeys of Jewish migrants and refugees before and after the First World War. He argues that the experience of permanently displaced Jews after 1918 deserves more attention and shows parallels to the situation of unwanted refugees and migrants today.
For this event Tobias Brinkmann will be joined by José C. Moya (Barnard College/Columbia University), a leading specialist of modern Latina America and global migration.
Presented by:
book talk
discussion
2025 Summer Program Information Session – Live on Zoom
Have you always wanted to study Yiddish at the YIVO-Bard Summer Program? Are you wondering what it would be like to take the program online or in person? Join faculty and staff of the Summer Program for a brief information session. This 30-minute session will cover the program’s structure, online and in-person formats, admissions process, and more, with time for questions from prospective Summer Program students. The session will be conducted in English and are entirely optional (prospective students are not required to attend).
Learn more about the YIVO-Bard Uriel Weinreich Summer Program in Yiddish Language, Literature, and Culture.
Presented by:
discussion
book talk
On Settler Colonialism: Ideology, Violence, and Justice – Live on Zoom
Since Hamas’s attack on Israel last October 7, the term “settler colonialism” has become central to public debate in the United States. A concept new to most Americans, but already established and influential in academic circles, settler colonialism is shaping the way many people think about the history of the United States, Israel and Palestine, and a host of political issues.
By critiquing the most important writers, texts, and ideas in the field in his book On Settler Colonialism: Ideology, Violence, and Justice, Adam Kirsch shows how the concept emerged in the context of North American and Australian history and how it is being applied to Israel. He examines the sources of its appeal, which, he argues, are spiritual as much as political; how it works to delegitimize nations; and why it has the potential to turn indignation at past injustices into a source of new injustices today.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Presented by:
book talk
