Shanghai: A Wartime Haven – August 2015

2017-04-05T15:17:10+08:00Tags: , , , |

To mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Shanghai Ghetto and the end of WWII, the Hong Kong Holocaust and Tolerance Centre (HKHTC) staged a public exhibition entitled Shanghai: A Wartime Haven. The exhibition told the story of Jews’ escape to Shanghai from Nazi Germany, the experiences of Jews and Chinese under Japanese internment during the war, and finally the city’s liberation and refugees’ subsequent transit to Hong Kong. Shanghai: A Wartime Haven also documented the Kadoorie family’s wartime and postwar humanitarianism, as well as the rescue activities of diplomats Ho Feng Shan from China and Japan’s Chiune Sugihara, who risked their lives to issue Jews travels visas out of Austria and Lithuania in the late 1930s.

We were delighted to launch Shanghai: A Wartime Haven at the Peninsula Hotel on Monday 31st August at 6:30pm. The exhibition was also on view at The Central Oasis Market Walkway (above Des Voeux Road), from 31st August to 14th September.

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Summer Workshop with Dr David Silberklang – June 1 at HKU

2017-01-18T15:10:47+08:00Tags: , , , |

On June 1st, HKHTC hosted Dr David Silberklang (Senior Historian, Yad Vashem’s International Institute for Holocaust Research) at Hong Kong University for its last teachers’ workshop of the 2014-2015 academic year.

Dr Silberklang’s talk was entitled: “When Did They Decide? Understanding and Teaching the Development of the Final Solution”. In addressing this question, Dr Silberklang referred to German documents and Jewish reports and suggested approaches to broaching the subject with students.

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Watchers of the Sky: A Genocide Awareness Event – May 13th in Hong Kong

2017-01-18T15:04:49+08:00Tags: , , |

On May 13th, HKHTC premiered Watchers of the Sky in Hong Kong:

WATCHERS OF THE SKY interweaves four stories of remarkable courage, compassion, and determination, while setting out to uncover the forgotten life of Raphael Lemkin – the man who created the word “genocide,” and believed the law could protect the world from mass atrocities. Inspired by Samantha Power’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, A Problem From Hell, WATCHERS OF THE SKY takes you on a provocative journey from Nuremberg to The Hague, from Bosnia to Darfur, from criminality to justice, and from apathy to action.

The film screening was followed by a panel discussion with the following three speakers:

-Kerry Propper, Producer, Watchers of the Sky (and Voices of Rwanda)

-Dr Khamboly Dy, Head of Cambodia’s Genocide Education Project

-Dr Mark Kielsgard, Scholar of the Armenian Genocide at City University HK

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2015 Yom Hashoah Ceremony

2017-01-18T14:57:04+08:00Tags: , , |

On the evening of April 15th, 2015 HKHTC marked Hashoah, Israel’s Holocaust Memorial Day, with a special ceremony at the Jewish Community Centre. The programme featured an abridged performance of Charlotte Delbo’s renowned play, “Who Will Carry the Word?”, based on the experience of 20 women imprisoned in Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Survivors, religious and lay leaders, students, and members of the community paused both to reflect on the horrors of the Holocaust and recommit to engaging with its history and mandate.

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Jackie Metzger, Instructor at Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies, Returns to Hong Kong

2017-01-18T14:58:48+08:00Tags: , , |

On his second visit to Hong Kong, Holocaust educator Jackie Metzger, of Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies, addressed both secondary school students and teachers on themes relevant to Holocaust poetry.

Jackie Metzger made aliyah from South Africa in 1965 and has been living on a communal moshav, Neve-Ilan, since 1978. For 24 years, he worked as a History and English teacher in the kibbutz school sector and for the past several years he has been working at Yad Vashem in two departments. He works with adult and youth groups who visit the site and writes materials to help teachers with Holocaust studies in their schools.

Here’s Jackie discussing Primo Lev’s poem, “Shema”.

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Screening of Auf Wiedersehen, ‘Til We Meet Again, at Hong Kong University

2017-01-18T14:49:18+08:00Tags: , , |

On March 25, 2015, HKHTC and the HKU Law Faculty hosted a special screening of Auf Wiedersehen, ‘Til We Meet Again.

In this compelling and often funny tale of recovery and renewal, author and activist Linda G. Mills is propelled by her family’s life-threatening experience of September 11, 2001 to return to the site of her mother’s flight from Vienna, Austria in 1939. Accompanied by her comically bored ten-year-old son, Ronnie, her highly opinionated and wholly engaging mother Annie and Aunt Rita, Linda discovers unsettling truths that upend a series of familial and historical myths.

Auf Wiedersehen is an unconventional documentary that brings the lessons of history into the present day through the eyes of an irreverent ten year-old-boy. Along the way, the family discovers an astonishing array of collaborators, victims, perpetrators, and unlikely heroes in a startlingly humorous adventure spanning five generations.

Prof. Glenn Timmermans (Faculty of Arts & Humanities, University of Macau) moderated a post-screening discussion with Linda Mills (New York University) and Peter Goodrich (Sin Wai-Kin Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Humanities, The University of Hong Kong/Benjamin N. Cardozo School).

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Buchenwald Liberator, Sergeant Rick Carrier, Tours Hong Kong Schools

2017-01-18T14:45:00+08:00Tags: , |

Alongside the United States Consulate in Hong Kong and Macau, the HKHTC arranged for Sergeant Carrier to address the following nine schools across the region: St. Stephens Girls’ College, Elsa High School, Kellett School, Po Leung Kok Laws Foundation College, Hong Kong International School, NLSI Lui Kwok Pat Fong College, Hong Kong University, Discovery College and Sha Tin College.

Sergeant Carrier spoke about his experience as a solider in the Second World War, recounted the liberation of Buchenwald, and shared his advice for fighting bigotry and intolerance today.

In total, 2,500 students (aged 12-22) were present for Sergeant Carrier’s talks.

Sergeant Carrier’s visit to Hong Kong was covered by Apple Daily, CNN, and Phoenix TV.

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2015 International Holocaust Remembrance Day Ceremony

2020-12-31T09:26:26+08:00Tags: , |

On the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the HKHTC marked 2015 International Holocaust Remembrance Day with a special programme co-sponsored by the United States Consulate in Hong Kong and Macau. Some 400 Jewish and local community members were in attendance, as were 30 diploamts and dignitaries, including The Hon. Tung Chee-hwa, former Chief Executive of Hong Kong and The Hon. Tsang Tak-sing, HKSAR Secretary for Home Affairs.

The keynote speech was delivered by retired US Army Sergeant Rick Carrier, veteran of the Normandy landings and a liberator of the Buchenwald concentration camp.

The ceremony was followed by the Hong Kong premiere of Night Will Fall (co-sponsored by the Hong Kong Jewish Film Festival) an as yet unreleased film documenting the liberation of the concentration camps—overseen by Alfred Hitchcock.

The event was covered by the South China Morning Post and appeared on the front page of the newspaper the next day, on January 28th.

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HKHTC Teachers’ Workshop on Liberation

2017-01-18T14:38:49+08:00Tags: , , |

On January 23, 2015, to mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Hong Kong Holocaust and Tolerance Centre will hosted its first-ever half-day teachers’ workshop on themes relevant to the end of the Second World War and liberation.

The three talks included pedagogical methodologies for classroom use. Speakers were Simon Goldberg and Prof. Glenn Timmermans (HKHTC) and Miguel Maneros De Lemos (Faculty of Law at University of Macau).

The workshop was attended by 45 secondary school and university educators from Hong Kong and Macao, representing the following faculties: History, English, Philosophy, and Religious Studies.

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HKHTC Event Series for Read@ Polytechnic University 2014

2017-01-18T14:35:11+08:00Tags: , |

In the months of September-November 2014, the HKHTC partnered with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University on an exhibition and event series around The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, this year’s choice for Read@PolyU. The exhibition in the campus library prompted students to interact with panels on Holocaust history, as well as information on other genocides, offering historical context to the book.

As part of this initiative, students also heard from Holocaust survivor Silvain Gilbert and partook in one of two film screening of the film adaptation of John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, each followed by a discussion.

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