Here is a calendar of upcoming events, up and down the country. Some are organized by us, others by like-minded organizations and groups.
We are pleased to welcome author, Lynley Smith to address the Society on December 1.
After finding a tenuous family connection to the mysterious and captivating Jane Haining, Lynley Smith crafted Jane’s fictionalized diary, a biography of a faithful servant and Scottish missionary who died at the hands of Nazi butchers in Auschwitz Concentration Camp during World War II, in the inspirational and bittersweet From Matron to Martyr.
One of Jane Haining’s best friends was Frances Warburton Lee, who ended up in the same prison cell as Jane in Budapest. Frances moved to Christchurch after the war and settled in Christchurch.
Jane’s story has had moved the hearts of many. In December she will be speaking at the Holocaust Centre for New Zealand in Wellington. The second largest publisher in Hungary has agreed to translate and publish the story, and sell it in their numerous bookshops throughout Hungary. The Budapest Holocaust Centre also plans to launch the book in June next year.
AS HANUKKAH ALSO STARTS AT THE SAME TIME, PLEASE BRING ALONG A PLATE OF APPROPRIATE FINGER FOOD TO MARK THE OCCASION
DANIEL GOLD: HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR MEETING
Hidden by his parents as the Nazis rounded up the elderly and the children in their Ghetto, they were unable to prevent their own incarceration in Dachau Concentration camp.
When the war ended Daniel Gold, was reunited with his father but his mother perished in the camp. He and his father made their way as refugees to Israel. Eventually he joined the IDF as part of his compulsory military service and became a fighter pilot, fightingin both the 1967 and 1973 wars. Following his military service he enrolled at a University and eventually rose to becoming a Professor of Medical Microbiology. He is touring New Zealand, telling his story to high school students and re-acquainting them to the evils of intolerance and the Holocaust. He will be addressing the society at a public meeting in Christchurch.
He has a remarkable and fascinating story to tell.
Please register your interest for security and catering purposes (see event contact details)
DANIEL GOLD: HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR MEETING
Hidden by his parents as the Nazis rounded up the elderly and the children in their Ghetto, they were unable to prevent their own incarceration in Dachau Concentration camp.
When the war ended Daniel Gold, was reunited with his father but his mother perished in the camp. He and his father made their way as refugees to Israel. Eventually he joined the IDF as part of his compulsory military service and became a fighter pilot, fightingin both the 1967 and 1973 wars. Following his military service he enrolled at a University and eventually rose to becoming a Professor of Medical Microbiology. He is touring New Zealand, telling his story to high school students and re-acquainting them to the evils of intolerance and the Holocaust. He will be addressing the society at a public meeting in Christchurch.
He has a remarkable and fascinating story to tell.
DANIEL GOLD: HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR MEETING
Hidden by his parents as the Nazis rounded up the elderly and the children in their Ghetto, they were unable to prevent their own incarceration in Dachau Concentration camp.
When the war ended Daniel Gold, was reunited with his father but his mother perished in the camp. He and his father made their way as refugees to Israel. Eventually he joined the IDF as part of his compulsory military service and became a fighter pilot, fightingin both the 1967 and 1973 wars. Following his military service he enrolled at a University and eventually rose to becoming a Professor of Medical Microbiology. He is touring New Zealand, telling his story to high school students and re-acquainting them to the evils of intolerance and the Holocaust. He will be addressing the society at a public meeting in Christchurch.
He has a remarkable and fascinating story to tell.
JIFF is the home of the most comprehensive range of Israeli and Jewish-themed films in Australia and New Zealand. The films premiere in our annual three-week film festival in November or our newly established Holocaust Film Series in March. JIFF is building on the long and proud 24-year history of Jewish film festivals in Australia.
Son of Saul (2015)
In the horror of 1944 Auschwitz, a prisoner forced to burn the corpses of his own people finds moral survival upon trying to salvage from the flames the body of a boy he takes for his son. 107 minutes.
Cannes Film Festival 2015
Won FIPRESCI Prize |
Competition László Nemes |
Won François Chalais Award |
László Nemes |
Won Grand Prize of the Jury |
László Nemes |
Won Vulcain Prize for the Technical Artist |
Tamás Zányi (sound designer)
for the outstanding contribution of sound to the narration.
|
Nominated Golden Camera |
László Nemes |
Nominated Palme d’Or |
László Nemes |
Ghent International Film Festival 2015
Nominated Grand Prix |
Best Film László Nemes |
Hamburg Film Festival 2015
Nominated Critics Award |
László Nemes |
Hawaii International Film Festival 2015
Nominated EuroCinema Hawai’i Award |
Best Film László Nemes |
London Film Festival 2015
Nominated Best Film |
Official Competition László Nemes |
Sarajevo Film Festival 2015
Won Special Jury Prize |
Feature Film László Nemes |
Nominated Heart of Sarajevo |
Best Film László Nemes |
JIFF is the home of the most comprehensive range of Israeli and Jewish-themed films in Australia and New Zealand. The films premiere in our annual three-week film festival in November or our newly established Holocaust Film Series in March. JIFF is building on the long and proud 24-year history of Jewish film festivals in Australia.
Sabena Hijacking (2015)
Sabena Hijacking My Version is a powerful, suspenseful docu-drama based on previously undiscovered audio recordings of the former pilot, Captain Reginald Levy. Captain Levy (now deceased) was in command of the Sabena Flight 571 from Brussels, Belgium to Tel Aviv, Israel on 8 May 1972, when it was hijacked by four members from the “Black September”, the armed wing of Fatah or Palestine Liberalization Organisation.
The film finally shares the untold story of what exactly took place on the flight throughout 30 hours of nerve-wrecking captivity. It channels the English pilots impartial view of the events and elaborates on them with exclusive access to three revered Israeli political leaders who were in charge of the rescue effort, as well as the only surviving hijacker, who tell their own story.
Current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu featured, alongside the other key political decision makers at the time, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak and former Prime Minister, President and Nobel Prize winner Shimon Peres.
Therese Halsa, one of the four hijackers who was a girl of just 18 at the time, gives her version of events, following release from a 220 year prison sentence of which she served 13 years. Sabena Hijacking My Version fuses candid interviews with archive material and dramatic reenactments of the tense scenes inside the aircraft and the control tower as Captain Levy was held at gunpoint.
It takes viewers into the aircraft to witness the events first-hand as the hijackers threatened to explode hand grenades unless 300 prisoners were released. It also gives insight to the tense negotiations which eventually led to a heroic rescue operation during which a special unit of soldiers (disguised as technicians) stormed the plane.
The result is a captivating, fast-paced film full of suspense, which poses significant political and historical questions that are not only still important, but have shaped the Israel of today.
104 minutes.