The Hong Kong Holocaust and Tolerance Centre collaborated on two public screenings of Claude Lanzmann’s monumental testament to The Holocaust, the film Shoah, as part of the Hong Kong International Film Festival. The screenings were introduced by HKHTC’s Chair, Jeremy Amias, and followed by a discussion with professor Glenn Timmermans of Macau University.
HKHTC Board member, Silvain Gilbert, has been active all year going to schools in Hong Kong to tell pupils about his experiences as a hidden child, during the Holocaust. Children have been captivated by his story and primary source information about the Holocaust and for many it stimulated further enquiries and study.
To commemorate the United Nations Holocaust Memorial Day the HKHTC held a memorial concert titled “Music from the Ashes” at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts. The concert featured musicians from Hong Kong, the United States and Israel who played music composed by eminent Jewish composers who perished in Nazi concentration and death camps. The leading musician was by the Professor Allan Sternfield of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. Over 400 people attended the concert, including Consul Generals, local dignitaries as well as a diverse cross selection of the Hong Kong public.
As part of the Hong Kong Jewish film festival, we screened two films, the “Heart Of Auschwitz” and “The Last flight of Petr Ginz,” to more than 700 local school children at more than 11 different schools. These events enabled students to learn about aspects of the Holocaust in a unique and engaging manner. We supplied speakers to introduce the films and run question and answer sessions afterwards.
Guest speaker and Head of Education at Yad Vashem – Ephraim Kaye, addressed students and academics at Hong Kong University in a joint lecture organised by the HKHTC and the University’s Modern Languages department.
The Resource Centre was officially inaugurated on May 14th 2012, during a ceremony at Elsa High School, Shau Kei Wan. Former Israeli Chief Rabbi and Child Holocaust Survivor, Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, attended the event as a guest of honour.
Local dignitaries as well as prominent members of the community attended the opening.
The HKHTC’s newly-appointed director of education Simon Li, a public historian and a university academic before joining the centre, visited the youngest Holocaust survivor from Schindler’s List in Jerusalem this fall. Before moving to Israel and establishing a family, Eva Levi, 77, lived a very different reality. She is now also the youngest person alive who lived through the horror of the Holocaust thanks to the famous Oskar Schindler, who was named Righteous Among the Nations by the Israeli government in 1963.
Click here to learn more about Oskar Schindler’s List.
We took the film Hana and her Suitacase around 13 schools in Hong Kong for special screenings that were presented by her brother George.The film enthralled students and along with the presentation by her brother, it proved to be a highly effective medium for Holocaust education.
The Hong Kong Holocaust & Tolerance Centre hosted the annual Yom HaShoah Memorial Service at the Jewish Community Centre.
Following the memorial the Hong Kong Jewish Film Festival presented a special screening of IN DARKNESS at AMC Pacific Place.
In our first event as the HKHTC, we welcomed Steven Smith, Head of the Shoah Foundation at the University of Southern California. Mr Smith spoke at the Jewish Community Centre, about the importance of Holocaust education and the preservation of memory, in order to avoid future genocides and crimes against humanity.
Smith was a co founder of Britain’s first Holocaust Centre and the Aegis Trust for Genocide Prevention before taking his current position.
The ceremony was attended by Consul Generals, faith leaders, members of the Jewish community as well as other distinguished guests.
http://www.cdeclips.com/en/hongkong/Holocaust_remembrance/fullstory_71750.html
