Events set for Sarratt, Belcourt, Blair School of Music
Music and film will play a strong role in the annual Holocaust Lecture Series at Vanderbilt University, which this year takes the theme of “Different Speaking, Indifferent Listening.”
“While we can shut out images of atrocity with eyelids, we cannot close our ears to cries of pain,” said Shaiya Baer and Elizabeth Weber, co-chairs of Vanderbilt’s 33rd annual Holocaust Lecture Series.
“But whether our ears hear the voices that cry out is another matter. [rquote]We decide whether we listen. Listening is active, not passive. [/rquote]”
Events of the Holocaust Lecture Series at Vanderbilt University, the longest continuous Holocaust lecture series at an American university, are free and open to the public except for the Oct. 23 film screening at the Belcourt Theater.
The schedule:
7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 20, in Sarratt Cinema: The film Unter Bauern (Saviors in the Night) by Ludi Boeken will be screened as part of the International Lens Film Series at Vanderbilt. The film will be introduced by Jay Geller, associate professor of modern Jewish culture, who will also lead a discussion following the screening.
7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 23, at the Belcourt Theater, 2102 Belcourt Ave.: The film A Film Unfinished by Yael Heronski will be screened. A ticket is required to attend, but Vanderbilt students, staff and faculty may request a free ticket through the Office of the Dean of Students at (615) 322-6400. The film reveals the little-known story of a film of the Warsaw Jewish ghetto filmed by the Nazis in 1942 to illustrate that Jews enjoyed “the good life” under Nazi rule. This presentation adds raw footage not included in the Nazi production that gives perspective beyond the propaganda. A Vanderbilt faculty panel discussion in partnership with the Nashville Jewish Film Festival will follow the screening.
7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 24, in Ingram Hall at Vanderbilt’s Blair School of Music: Martin Goldsmith will relate the absorbing story of the Jewish Kulturbund, an all-Jewish performing arts ensemble maintained by the Nazis between1933 and 1941. Goldsmith’s parents were part of the ensemble. Following the talk, a special ensemble of musicians from the Blair School of Music and the Nashville Symphony will perform selections from the Jewish Kulturbund repertoire.
7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 1, in the multipurpose room of The Commons Center: Alan Rosen, who studied under Holocaust survivor and scholar Elie Wiesel and is editing a critical introduction to Holocaust literature for Cambridge University Press, speaks on “The Wonder of Their Voices: The History and Meaning of Interviewing Holocaust Survivors.”
7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 14, in the multipurpose room of The Commons Center: John Prendergast, author and human rights activist, speaks on “Enough: Preventing Genocide Then and Now.” His newest book, co-authored with Don Cheadle, is The Enough Moment: Fighting to End Africa’s Worst Human Rights Crimes, which focuses on building a popular movement against genocide and other human rights crimes.
7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 16, in Room 103 of Wilson Hall: Jimmy Gentry, who as a soldier during World War II was among the first to liberate Germany’s Dachau concentration camp, will speak.
For more information, visit the Holocaust Lecture Series website.