DIALOGUE FOR DESCENDANTS
The Neuberger's Dialogue for Descendants (D4D) committee provides specialized programming for children of Holocaust survivors and their partners. Launched in 2016, D4D features a program during the Neuberger's annual Holocaust Education Week plus other dynamic and meaningful programs throughout the year.
For more information or to sign up for our newsletter contact the Neuberger.
Dialogue for Descendants (D4D) Holocaust Education Week 2021 Online Symposium
Sunday, 14 November 2021 // 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
(breakout sessions 11 AM - 12 PM)
Zoom // Suggested donation // $18 - click here to donate
REGISTRATION CLOSED
The Dialogue for Descendants (D4D) Symposium exclusively for children of Holocaust survivors (and/or their partners) is a forum for education, discussion and engagement. From childhood into adulthood, the children of survivors continue to experience pivotal moments in exploring their personal narratives in response to this shared tragic history. The past 18 months during the pandemic has been especially difficult for this cohort.
Join us for an online Dialogue Descendants Symposium where we will come together to learn and share. Participants will get a sneak peek of the Toronto Holocaust Museum now in development, with Executive Director Dara Solomon, the opportunity for special sharing sessions led by leaders in the field of intergenerational transmission of trauma, and a session on UJA’s renewed strategy to combat antisemitism with Steven Farber, UJA’s Senior Vice President, Countering Antisemitism and Hate. .
PREVIOUS PROGRAMS
The Generation of Postmemory
Featuring Dr. Marianne Hirsch
Monday, 26 October 2020 // 7:30 PM
In the early 1990s, Dr. Marianne Hirsch coined the term postmemory, making the case that memories of traumatic events live on to mark the lives of those who were not there to experience them. Children of Holocaust survivors and their contemporaries inherit catastrophic histories not through direct recollection but through haunting postmemories. In this Dialogue for Descendants Webinar, Dr. Hirsch will explore the literary and visual legacies of the Holocaust. Grappling with the ethics of empathy and identification, the artists presented by Hirsch attempt to forge a creative postmemorial aesthetic that reanimates the past without appropriating it.
Dr. Marianne Hirsch was born in Romania after the Second World War and immigrated to the United States as a teenager. She is the William Peterfield Trent Professor of English and Comparative Literature and Professor in the Institute of Research on Women and Gender at Columbia University. She has worked extensively on the second-generation memory of the Holocaust and has written several books on family narratives in literature and photography.
Be sure to register for the Holocaust Education Week Channel on the Virtual J in order to view this program on October 26 at 7:30 PM.
Getting Started:
A Writing Workshop Exclusively for Descendants of Holocaust Survivors
Arielle Berger, Azrieli Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Program
Sandy Lessig, Houston Holocaust Museum
Sunday, 22 November 2020 // 2:00 PM
As we approach the end of live first-person Holocaust accounts, the next generation is often compelled to carry on this important legacy. Join the Neuberger’s Dialogue for Descendants cohort for an informative workshop that explores how to approach and shape your family’s Holocaust narrative. This online program will help you develop a concise written history by providing thoughtful prompts and the tools necessary to begin this journey. Guidelines regarding story development and fact-checking will be provided. Please come prepared with paper and pen for a writing exercise.
Note: this is not a research workshop. Participants are encouraged to do research, in advance, so that a basic historical timeline of their parents’ story is outlined. This session includes a 30-minute Q+A following the hour-long workshop. Upon registration, you will be provided with appropriate resource suggestions for your research and be asked to fill out a form outlining your family’s story.
Click here to access Arielle Berger's program presentation slides.
Click here to access Sandy Lessig's program presentation slides.
Be sure to register for the Holocaust Education Week Channel on the Virtual J in order to particpate in this program on November 22 at 2:00 PM.
After registering for the program, please be sure to fill out this form to the best of your ability before the workshop on November 22. There are online resources and a bibliography listed in the document to help you with your research. CLICK HERE to fill out the fillable form or print it.
How Descendants of Holocaust Survivors are Experiencing the Current Pandemic
TUESDAY, MAY 19 @ 7:30 pm
This free program is open to descendants of Holocaust survivors (2G) and their partners. Registration required. Webinar link will be provided after registration.
Join renowned clinical psychologist and expert on trauma Dr. Irit Felsen for this Neuberger online webinar to explore the experiences of descendants of survivors during the COVID-19 pandemic. The daughter of Holocaust survivors, Dr. Felsen has worked extensively on inherited trauma in her professional practice and research. Children of Holocaust survivors often experience significant life events differently from their peers, in a way that is coloured by their unique legacy. Such sensitivity might be currently exacerbated as we collectively live through an unprecedented pandemic with many potential reminders and connections to the trauma of the Holocaust. This program focuses on articulating the multiple possible reactions of descendants of survivors to the pandemic, aims to increase understanding and enhance resilient coping during this complex time.
Irit Felsen, PhD, is Adjunct Professor at Columbia University Dept of Psychology and at Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, and a clinical psychologist with a special focus on Holocaust survivors and their families.
Hosted by: Dara Solomon, Executive Director, Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre
Photo: Henia Reinhartz. Brussels, circa 1948. Courtesy of the Azrieli Foundation Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Program.
reIMAGINING RESISTANCE THROUGH GENERATIONS: A GRANDMOTHER’S MOVING COMPOSITION TO HER GRANDCHILDREN
EVENT CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19 SAFETY PRECAUTIONS
The Neuberger's Dialogue for Descendants group presents a dynamic program that will explore portraits of resistance within Henia Reinhartz's memoir Bits and Pieces, a book that began as a private letter to her grandchildren. Dr. Lesley Simpson will explore how the grandchildren interpreted the legacy they had received and highlight the work of one of Reinhartz's grandchildren, the painter Shoshana Walfish. More Information
This program, presented by the Neuberger’s Dialogue for Descendants group, is open to all descendants (children and grandchildren) of Holocaust survivors and their partners.
rescuing stories while we can: d4d HEW pROGRAM
tuesday, november 5 / 7:30 PM
D4D opening night of the pianist of willesden lane
thursday, november 7 / 8:00 pm
Co-sponsored by Gerry & Sonia Rowan.
Reception Sponsors: Glenda & Alan Wainer, in honour of Deborah Vadas Levison and in memory of Leisor (Holocaust survivor) & Ann Wainer; Diane & Dave Tessler, Cheryl Ryshpan and Samuel Singer.
D4D Mid-Year Program
The Crate
The Neuberger's D4D Committee presents our annual mid-year program, featuring award-winning author Deborah Vadas Levison, daughter of Holocaust survivors.
Deborah will discuss her latest book, The Crate, describing the extraordinary account of her parents' ordeals, both in one of the darkest times in world history and their present-day lives. The book is equal parts detective story, history lesson, and family memoir, each searing in its own telling. Post-program the author will be available for book signing.
Monday, May 13
7:00 PM (Dessert Reception, 6:30 PM)
Prosserman JCC | Room 211
4588 Bathurst Street
D4D Symposium
The D4D full-day symposium is designed as a meaningful forum for education, discussion and engagement. Featuring keynote speakers and interactive workshops, participants consider different perspectives on their role in perpetuating the future of Holocaust memory and examine their unique experiences as children of survivors.