The Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County presents its calendar of March 2021 virtual public programs:
Wednesday, March 3 at 12:00 Noon – Curator’s Corner: Getting Approval to Depart: Sabina Ghitman’s Effort to Escape the Nazis
Thorin Tritter, the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center’s Museum and Programming Director, explores a 1941 letter written to John Baron from the U.S. government about Sabina Ghitman’s visa application and provides insights into the bureaucratic hurdles that made it so difficult for Jews to get out of Nazi Germany and into the United States during the Holocaust.
Register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_8w7nsa0kTC2c9hcLz7JJ8A
Tuesday, March 9 at 6:30 p.m. – Screening of “Sweet Lorraine” (1987) with commentary by Dr. Linda Burghardt
This is the second of three programs in the HMTC Series, “The Catskills on the Big and Small Screen,” which explores film depictions of the Catskills when it served as the summer retreat for Yiddish-speaking and other Jewish residents of the New York City area. In this program, HMTC will provide a virtual screening of the 1987 film ‘Sweet Lorraine,’ which depicts the fictional Lorraine Hotel at the end of the Catskill’s heyday in a slice-of-life comedy about old friendships and new romance.
The film stars Maureen Stapleton as the owner of the struggling hotel and Trini Alvarado as her granddaughter who is working at the Lorraine for the summer and falls headlong into a summer romance.
After the screening, Dr. Linda Burghardt, HMTC’s Scholar-in-Residence, will provide comments about the accuracy of the film and answer questions about Catskills and its image in popular memory.
Register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UxUkOIUsTaKzRRb_e1aqAg
Wednesday, March 10 at 12:00 Noon – Curator’s Corner: Charlotte Gillman – A Survivor
HMTC’s Museum and Programming Director, Dr. Thorin Tritter, will talk about a pre-war photograph in our first gallery that shows Charlotte Gillman, who survived the Holocaust after being hidden in a series of Catholic convents and was able to reunite with her family. Charlotte recently passed away, but her photo remains a central part of our opening gallery.
Register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_mrQ7gdGFR7-VcDd6gSDq_Q
Monday, March 15 at 6:30 PM – The Destruction of Salonica’s Jewish Community: The First Hand Account of Dr. Albert Menache
Although less well known than events in Poland and France, Greek Jews suffered the highest mortality rates of any country attacked by the Nazis in WWII. Dr. Joe Halio, the president of the Foundation of Advancement of Sephardic Studies and Culture, will draw from a recently republished first-hand account to explore the destruction of this center of Sephardic life and culture.
Register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PUNc7vT9SQCfiTkdoD9hjQ
Wednesday, March 17 (St. Patrick’s Day) at 12:00 Noon – Virtual Tour: Women’s History Month
HMTC marks Women’s History Month with a special virtual guided tour of its galleries that will focus on the experiences of women during the Holocaust. The tour will be led by HMTC’s Director of Education, Helen Turner, and the Museum and Programming Director, Thorin Tritter.
Register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_BAMzmj0eSsGQ1CML4fbH9g
Thursday, March 18 at 1:00 PM – Book talk with Wendy Lower about “The Ravine: a Family, a Photograph, a Holocaust Massacre Revealed”
Join HMTC for a talk with acclaimed historian Wendy Lower, about her new book, The Ravine, which explores a single photograph, an exceptionally rare “action shot” documenting the horrific final moment of the murder of a family during the Holocaust that is shown in HMTC’s museum. Professor Lower’s book follows her forensic and detective work to identify details of about the image and unlock a new understanding of the place of the family unit in the ideology of Nazi genocide.
Register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89687434713?pwd=QmQ0eUhyV2g0endYTUttZ3pacGRTUT09
Sunday, March 21 at 1:00 PM – Discussion about “Dirty Dancing” (1987) with commentary by Dr. Linda Burghardt
This is the third and final program in the HMTC Series: The Catskills on the Big and Small Screen, which explores depictions of the Catskills when it served as the summer retreat for Yiddish-speaking and other Jewish residents of the New York City area. In this afternoon discussion, the program will focus on Dirty Dancing, the award-winning film that follows the Housman Family during their summer in the Catskills, when Frances “Baby” Housman (Jennifer Grey) falls in love with the camp’s dance instructor, Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze), a totally unsuitable match in her father’s eyes. Dr. Linda Burghardt, HMTC’s Scholar-in-Residence, will discuss the accuracy of the film and answer questions about Catskills and its image in popular memory. [Please note that only clips of the film will be shown during this program. To watch the film in its entirety, see local listings on HBO, Amazon, or wherever available.]
Register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_I8ttG9buSPKV0Mmnjki7kQ
Tuesday, March 23 at 7:00 PM – Prepping for Passover: Baking Meringue Cookies with Cookbook Author Jake Cohen
HMTC celebrates Passover by remembering some of the recipes of pre-war Europe. Join HMTC for a cookie baking demonstration by Jake Cohen, a former food staffer at Saveur and food editor of Tasting Table and Time Out New York, who has recently published his first cookbook Jew-ish and will show us how to make his great Aunt Lotte’s kosher for Passover, meringue cookies with walnuts and dark chocolate.
Register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_U940DMN_QlmzIhA0WzTsYg
Wednesday, March 24 at 12:00 Noon – Curator’s Corner: Art from Theresienstadt – A Painting by Marietta Gruenbaum
In this virtual “Curator’s Corner,” Dr. Thorin Tritter, HMTC’s Museum and Programming Director, focuses on a piece of artwork created by Marietta Gruenbaum, one of 15,000 children who passed through the ghetto and camp in Theresienstadt, and discusses some of the experiences of children during the Holocaust.
Register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_C53j7pwJTRyUnuXuAipIOA
Thursday, March 25 at 3:00 PM – Story Time – The Day the Crayons Quit, with Mireille Taub
Please join Holocaust survivor Mireille Taub for a fun and free virtual story time! Together, we will read The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt and talk about what it means to include others and be a good friend. (Designed for ages 3-7.)
Register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMtcOiqrT8uEtVlZ09cPQPYZx-13w3kpmbO
Wednesday, March 31 at 12:00 Noon – Curator’s Corner: Vladka Meed – A Resistance Fighter
Thorin Tritter, HMTC’s Museum and Programming Director, will talk about Vladka Meed, a woman who is memorialized in HMTC’s Children’s Memorial Garden for her active involvement in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
Register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_fNZjKLedS2WBQOmJvxe3bg
Registration is free for all of the March public programs but donations to HMTC are welcomed. For more information contact Dr. Thorin Tritter at (516) 571-8040 or programs@hmtcli.org.
