News Briefs - Fall/Winter 2005

Illuminated Manuscripts on Display; Opening Reception with Artist and Genocide Survivor

Opening Reception: 2-4pm on Sunday, November 13, 2005
Exhibit Dates: November 7, 2005 – January 13, 2006

“Beyond Genocide: Illuminations for Our Era” is a spiritually compelling exhibit of modern day illuminated manuscripts honoring victims of genocide worldwide. The exhibit, co-sponsored by the Harold Grinspoon Supporting Foundation, Hatikvah Holocaust Education Center, and the Springfield Jewish Community Center, will be showcased at the JCC’s Adult Lounge from November 7, 2005 through January 13, 2006.

This exhibit explores the civilizations and genocides of Afghanistan, Armenia, Bangladesh, and Cambodia. These four works are part of a retrospective which will eventually encompass twenty-seven episodes of genocide in world history.

Looking at and beyond the genocide itself, the series depicts and interprets various historical and cultural achievements and the uniqueness of each community that was affected. Each of these works contains the traditional Jewish memorial prayer for the dead which appears in various forms as part of the composition.

Cambodian Illuminated Manuscript An opening reception with the artist, Amy Fagin, will be held on Sunday, November 13th from 2:00-4:00 p.m. Ms. Fagin will talk about her work and Samkhann Khoeun, a survivor of the Cambodian genocide, will share a personal testimony.

The public is invited. There is no charge to attend.

For more information about these illuminations, visit the artist’s Web site at www.20thcenturyilluminations.com/beygen.html.

Annual Interfaith Kristallnacht Commemoration to be Held on November 7

Date and Time: 7:30-9:00pm on Friday, November 7, 2005
Location: Veritas Auditorium at Berchmans Hall, Elms College

The 2005 annual interfaith Kristallnacht event will take place in Veritas Auditorium at Berchmans Hall on the campus of Elms College on Friday, November 7 from 7:30-9:00pm.

This year’s commemoration coincides with the 40th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the Vatican document that transformed the relationship between the Jewish Community and the Roman Catholic Church.

The keynote speaker for this year’s program will be Father John Pawlikowski, one of the foremost international authorities on Nostra Aetate, Catholic-Jewish relations, and Polish-Jewish relations.

Father Pawlikowski is a Professor of Social Ethics and the Director of Catholic-Jewish Studies at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. He has written and spoken extensively on the Holocaust and its impact on relations between Catholics and Jews as well as on Poles and Jews. Father Pawlikowski is president of the International Council of Christians and Jews and chairs the Advisory Council of the National Catholic Center for Holocaust Education at Seton Hall College. In 1980, he was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to serve on the United States Holocaust Memorial Council and has since been reappointed to three successive terms. He also serves on the Advisory Committee on Catholic-Jewish Relations of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the National Polish-American-Jewish-American Council, and the National Christian Leadership Conference for Israel.

The program will also include a brief prayer service with readings from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim clergy and music by teenagers of those faiths.

More information about Kristallnacht or Nostra Aetate.

Lecture and Book Discussion with New York Times Writer and Holocaust Author

Date and Time: 7:30pm on Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Location: Hatikvah Holocaust Education Center

As part of the Springfield Jewish Book festival, journalist and Holocaust author Roger Cohen will discuss his book Soldiers and Slaves on Tuesday, November 15, 2005 at 7:30pm at the Hatikvah Holocaust Education Center. Mr. Cohen covers foreign affairs for The New York Times as Paris correspondent, Balkans and Berlin bureau chief, and foreign editor.

Cohen’s book documents the tale of 350 American soldiers taken prisoner during WWII. Instead of going to a prisoner of war camp, these soldiers – because they were Jews or thought to look like Jews – were instead sent in cattle cars to Berga, a concentration camp in eastern Germany to work as slave laborers.

A largely-forgotten chapter of the Holocaust, Mr. Cohen discusses why the commandants of Berga was not aggressively pursued and prosecuted and why these Jewish POWs were harshly treated and not given due recognition as Holocaust survivors.

The public is invited. There is no charge to attend For further information, contact the co-sponsors of the event: Hatikvah Holocaust Education Center at (413) 734-7700 or the Springfield Jewish Community Center at (413) 739-4715.

Attorney Whitney Harris and Senator Chris Dodd Spoke at Hatikvah First Anniversary Dinner

On Sunday, October 2, friends and supporters of Hatikvah gathered for the first anniversary of the opening of the permanent exhibit, “A Reason to Remember”. Whitney R. Harris, who is the last living prosecutor who worked at the Nuremberg Tribunal in 1946, gave the keynote address. Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut, whose father was also a prosecutor at Nuremburg, made the opening remarks and introduced Mr. Harris.

Attorney Harris shared his personal experiences and how they influenced him for the rest of his life. He is an advocate for international human rights and an outspoken proponent of legal tribunals that have been built on the legacy of Nuremberg.

Whitney Harris and Senator Dodd chat after their speeches Senator Dodd recounted that his father’s work gave him a greater understanding and fervor for the need to uphold freedom and human rights and to speak out against tyranny and violence. These two dynamic speakers shared powerful messages with an appreciative audience. Hatikvah looks forward to sharing equally as moving events with friends and supporters in the future.