On Monday 23rd May, a group of twenty local Church leaders visited the HKHTC Resource Centre.
Director of Education, Ben Freeman, presented on the history of anti-Semitism and the Holocaust for nearly two hours. They discussed the reasons why anti-Semitism existed in Europe for thousands of years and explored the historical context to the Holocaust.
We were honoured that Dr. Ephraim Kaye, of the International School of Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, visited Hong Kong on Friday 20th of May.
Accompanied by HKHTC Director of Education, Dr. Kaye visited Discovery College and Discovery Bay International Schools to discuss Holocaust history and Holocaust denial.
We were proud to host the annual Yom HaShoah (Jewish Holocaust Memorial Day) ceremony at the Jewish Community Centre on Wednesday 4th May, from 7pm – 8pm.
Students from Elsa High School led the commemoration ceremony, speaking of why keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive is important to them, the future generation. Members of the Hong Kong Jewish community, including two Holocaust survivors, lit candles to remember the six million.
Yom HaShoah is observed as Israel’s day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust as a result of the actions carried out by Nazi Germany and its accessories, and for the Jewish resistance in that period. In Israel, it is a national memorial day and public holiday. It was inaugurated on 1953, anchored by a law signed by the Prime Minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion and the President of Israel Yitzhak Ben-Zvi.
After the success of last year’s contest we were proud to announce the launch of the 2016 Art & Writing contest for Years 9 – 13.
Pick from one of the following three categories, answering the question
‘HOW AND WHY SHOULD WE REMEMBER ACTS OF GENOCIDE?’
Students are encouraged to approach this question creatively, entering the contest in one of the three categories below. One winner will be announced in each of these categories:
1- Performing Arts: drama, spoken-word poetry, dance, performance, composition.
2- Visual Arts: drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, photography, video, film.
3- Writing: creative or essay (max. 1,500 words)
The deadline was 11.59pm 30th May 2016. Prizes were awarded in each category. Winners were announced in mid June.
Most entries in the Performing Arts and Visual Arts categories require a 2-3 minute video explanation.
Entries must be entirely original works. Please fully cite and acknowledge any existing ideas or authors from whom you’ve drawn inspiration.
All questions/inquiries to info@hkhtc.org.
On Tuesday 15th March, HKHTC Director of Education, Ben Freeman, visited Li Po Chun United World College to discuss the issue of Genocide.
Ben and the class discussed the concepts of Genocide and how the Holocaust fits into that. The class also explored the process in which prejudice develops, the limitations of the term Genocide and together they explored this very complicated issue.
Along with the The Hong Kong Jewish Film Festival we were pleased to announce the general release of SON OF SAUL in HONG KONG from 3rd March 2016 onwards.
Taking place at Broadway Cinematheque/PALACE ifc and The Grand Cinema.
As part of the European Film Festival we were proud to have partnered with the Consulate of Hungary in Hong Kong and Macao, the European Union Film Festival and the Hong Kong Jewish Film Festival to screen the Oscar winning film, Son of Saul on 27 February & 1 March 2016.
One of the most-powerful foreign pictures of the year, Son of Saul captures a heartbreaking and haunting story of the Holocaust. Winning multiple awards in film festivals and award ceremonies, this film about a prisoner in the concentration camp sends viewers to the heart of this painful chapter of history. Son of Saul is the story about Saul Ausländer, who is forced to work for the Nazis to burn corpses in the concentration camp. During his shift in the crematorium, he discovers a boy who is brutally killed after an attempted escape, Saul decides to save this child’s body to give him a proper burial, even at the expense of his own escape.
Dov Landau, Holocaust survivor from Israel, spoke to 300 people at Asia Society on 1st February 2016 as part of his Holocaust Memorial Day tour of Hong Kong. He spoke wth Asia Society HK President Chairman Ronnie Chan and Josette Sheeran, President & CEO of Asia Society about his harrowing experiences in the Nazi concentration and death camps.
He shared his hopes for the future, expressing how important it is for every person to combat prejudice wherever they may find it.
There were also 120 students present from a variety of local schools & universities, some students even traveled all the way from mainland China to hear Dov speak.
For Holocaust Memorial Day HKHTC hosted Dov Landau, a Holocaust survivor from Israel. From the 26th of January to the 2nd of February Dov visited nine different schools & universities speaking to over a thousand students about his experiences.
For many of the students it was the first time they had ever heard from a Holocaust survivor and it was an incredibly meaningful and moving experience.
It is vitally important young people hear directly from Holocaust survivors so they may truly understand the depths to which humanity can plummet and understand how important it is to stand up for the right’s of others.
Please see below for a link to Dov’s talk at Harrow International School:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lmil-8QPL3M&feature=youtu.be
HKHTC Director of Education, Ben Freeman, ran workshops at Chinese International School discussing the Spanish Inquisition and the Jewish festival of Chanukah.
He also gave specials in Hebrew language helping the students learn about Jewish culture.
