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“In Conversation" series
marking Yom HaShoah
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The
Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme will begin the
“In Conversation” series this month, marking Yom HaShoah. The series
brings Holocaust survivors and their families together to talk
about family and memory, home and belonging, and what it means to
carry the history of the Holocaust so intimately. The theme guiding
the Holocaust remembrance in 2023 is “Home and Belonging”. To mark
Yom HaShoah in 2023, we turn to the matter of family as a core part
of what “Home and Belonging” means and will be holding two
conversations – one on the 17 April and the other, on the 18 April.
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Holocaust survivor Lily Ebert and her great-grandson
Dov Forman,
in conversation with Debórah Dwork
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On Monday, 17 April, at 10 a.m. EDT,
we will hold an online discussion. Dov Forman and his 99-year-old great-grandmother Lily Ebert will speak about their influential
collaborative project on Holocaust education, and what their
relationship has meant for them. Hosting the conversation will be
renowned Holocaust historian, Professor Debórah Dwork, The Graduate
Center, CUNY.
At the peak of the pandemic Dov Forman, then a 16 year-old-student,
was stuck miles away from his great-grandmother. They were forced to
engage in conversation online, which they did frequently. Dov
saw his online conversations with his great-grandmother as an
opportunity to learn as much as he could about her life. He decided
to share Lily’s story on social media where it quickly became a
sensation. In 2022 Lily and Dov published a book “Lily’s Promise”, a
memoir of Auschwitz and its aftermath. In 2021 Dov was awarded
the Points of Light, in recognition of exceptional services to
Holocaust education. In 2023 Lily was awarded an MBE for her
contribution to Holocaust education.
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A conversation across three
generations
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On Tuesday, 18 April, 2023,
a special recording will be screened of a conversation hosted by
Melissa Fleming, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Global
Communications across three generations: sisters Edith Shapiro and
Selma Rossen, Edith’s son, Mark Shapiro, and Selma’s grandson, Alex
Rossen. Born in Zlaclov, Poland, Edith was six and Selma was four
when the Second World War began. Through hiding in cellars, in
bunkers, in attics, and being sheltered by courageous rescuers,
Edith, Selma and their parents survived. Today Edith is a retired
psychiatrist, and Selma, a retired engineer. Mark is a professional
musician and conductor, and Alex is the co-founder of the Zikaron
collective, an initiative about raising awareness on the link between
state violence and intergenerational trauma.
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