UNITED NATIONS -- A group of diverse artists will discuss creative ways of conveying the universal lessons of the Holocaust through the powerful medium of the arts on April 28 at United Nations Headquarters in New York. The event is organized by the UN Department of Public Information’s Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Program, in partnership with the Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations and the World Jewish Congress.
“This important program will show how the arts can help human beings grasp the unparalleled crimes against humanity and the Jewish people perpetrated during the Nazi Holocaust,” said World Jewish Congress CEO Robert Singer, who will give remarks at the event. “In particular, the program will enrich young people’s understanding of these singularly terrible events, which happened long before they were born and so for them belong to a distant past. Learning the lessons of the past will educate the rising generation about the dangers of hatred and promote peaceful coexistence among peoples and nations.”
On the program are accomplished artists in the fields of dance, literature, film, and music, including choreographer Steven Mills of Ballet Austin, author Nava Semel, actress Olympia Dukakis, Professor Olga Gershenson of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, philanthropist and arts patron Clive Marks, and Shirli Gilbert of World ORT.
The event will open with remarks by Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, the United Nations under-secretary-general for Communications and Public Information; Ambassador David Roet, Israel's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, and World Jewish Congress CEO Robert Singer.
Each of the presenters has gained critical acclaim in his or her field. In 2005, Steven Mills, artistic director of Ballet Austin, led 13 organizations through a community-wide human-rights collaboration that culminated in Light/The Holocaust & Humanity Project. This ballet, which premiered in Austin in 2005, was inspired by the life of Holocaust survivor Naomi Warren, who will also take part in the panel discussion. Participants will learn why this inspiring project earned Mills the Audrey & Raymond Maislin Humanitarian Award by the Anti-Defamation League in 2006. Please visit www.balletaustin.org/light/.
Nava Semel is a renowned Israeli author who has published books, plays, poetry and screenplays. The daughter of two Holocaust survivors, Semel will discuss her work as an author writing from the perspective of a second generation Holocaust survivor. Her latest novel, 'Rosh Akum' (Head on Backwards), will soon be made into a feature film. Semel is the recipient of many awards, including the 2007 Tel Aviv Award for Woman of the Year in Literature (more on www.navasemel.com).
Olympia Dukakis is an Academy-award winning actress who has appeared in a wide-range of films including Steel Magnolias, Mr. Holland’s Opus, Jane Austin’s Mafia, The Thing about My Folks, and many others. In 1987, Dukakis won the Academy Award in the category of “Best Supporting Actress” for her performance in Moonstruck. Dukakis has also performed in a number of Broadway productions. In 1999 (London) and 2000 (Broadway), she starred in the one-woman play Rose, in which she portrayed a survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto. The play earned her an Outer Critics Circle Award and Drama Desk Award nomination.
An expert in Holocaust cinema, Olga Gershenson will provide an overview of the genre and discuss her recently published book “The Phantom Holocaust: Soviet Cinema and Jewish Catastrophe” (2013). This study focuses on unknown, forgotten or banned Holocaust films in the Soviet Union, which reflect how Russian artists tried to expose Hitler’s insidious plot against the Jews during World War II. Please visit www.phantomholocaust.org.
Clive Marks is a philanthropist and administrator of the Lord Ashdown Charitable Trust. A recipient of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), he has overseen £50 million in projects around the world over the past 34 years. His projects have ranged from improving communication in Cambodia, to setting up Jewish schools in Latin America, and helping to save both the London School of Music and the London School of Jewish Studies. The trust has also supported the Organization for Rehabilitation through Training (ORT), one of the largest non-governmental training organizations in the world. One of his most recent projects with ORT has been the development of the “Music during the Holocaust Project” an extensive on-line resource for researching music during, and associated with, the Holocaust.
Shirli Gilbert will present an overview of the World ORT Music during the Holocaust Project, a diverse collection of sound recordings and in-depth articles on composers and musicians who created music during the Holocaust-era. An interactive map facilitates the exploration of musical life in ghettos and camps across Europe. The project was funded by the Lord Ashdown Charitable Trust, and its administrator Clive Marks will also participate in the event. Please visit www.Holocaustmusic.ort.org.
The program is open to the public and free of charge, but registration is required. It will take place from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., in Conference Room 1 of the Conference Building. Seating will be available for the event on a first-come, first -serve basis. Guests may register for the event online now at http://bit.ly/UNHOP28Apr. For media accreditation, please visit http://www.un.org/en/media/accreditation.
The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme
The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme was established by General Assembly resolution 60/7 in 2006 to further education about and remembrance of the Holocaust to help prevent future acts of genocide. For more information, please visit: www.un.org/holocaustremembrance.
The World Jewish Congress
The World Jewish Congress (WJC) is the premier international umbrella organization whose mission is to address the interests and needs of Jews and Jewish communities throughout the world. Founded in Geneva in 1936 to unite the Jewish people and mobilize the world against the Nazi onslaught, today the WJC represents 100 Jewish communities and organizations and advocates for the safety and security of Israel and the Jewish people, while seeking to foster the unity and creative survival of the Jewish people and maintaining its spiritual, cultural, and social heritage. Please visit at www.worldjewishcongress.org.