Women’s History Month at NYC’s Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust

Edited by: TJVNews.com

The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, which is currently presenting the acclaimed exhibition Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. through August 2020, will host three programs in March to commemorate Women’s History Month: “Heroines of the Holocaust,” a conversation on female resistance fighters (March 11), a book launch for memoir Franci’s War (March 18), and WRITE ME, a panel discussion that examines the branding and trafficking of women’s bodies (March 26).

“March provides an occasion for us to focus on remarkable heroism and inspiring stories of resilience,” said Jack Kliger, Museum President and CEO. “We look forward to honoring the experiences of women during the Holocaust and to learning from the impressive scholarship of the women who will be presenting their work at these events.”

Those visiting the Museum during Women’s History Month are also encouraged to take in the extraordinary stories of courageous women featured throughout the Museum’s primary exhibition, Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away.

These stories, as told through artifacts and photographs, include a small, metal comb that a 16 year-old Ruth Grunberger fashioned by secreting metal scraps from a factory where she worked while a prisoner in Auschwitz. For Ruth, who was shaved bald and dressed in rags, the comb symbolized the promise of a future day when, once again, she would have hair, and freedom. Ruth did survive and held onto her comb all these years, ultimately donating it to the Museum. She resides today in New York City.

They include a photograph of Rabbi Regina Jonas, who made history as the first woman ever to be officially ordained as a rabbi in December 1935. She served as a pastoral-rabbinic counselor for Jewish welfare institutions in Berlin and then, as more rabbis fled Germany or were arrested, she preached at synagogues throughout Germany. In 1942, she was deported with her mother to Terezin, where she continued to work as a rabbi, before her final deportation to Auschwitz in 1944, where it is believed she was killed on arrival.

The exhibition also includes the heroic story of martyr Róża Robota. One of the most notable uprisings in Auschwitz was the Sonderkommando revolt of October 1944, the planning for which began as early as 1943. In the summer of 1944, Róża Robota recruited women prisoners working in the munitions factory next to the camp to smuggle gunpowder off-site. Robota passed it to Timofei Borodin, a Russian technician, who carried it to the Sonderkommandos. Their aim was to destroy the crematoria and spark a rebellion.

Unfortunately, the uprising did not go according to plan. The Sonderkommandos of Crematorium 5, hearing that they were to be gassed, revolted ahead of schedule. On October 7, they killed three SS men, wounded 12, and burned down Crematorium 4. At the same time, the Sonderkommandos of Crematorium 2 attempted a breakout.

In retaliation, the SS killed 451 Sonderkommandos. The camp Gestapo also identified Robota and three other Jewish women—Regina Sapirstein, Ala Gertner, and Ester Wajcblum— as plotters. Following weeks of torture, they were publicly hanged.

As the noose was placed around her neck on January 6, 1945, Robota cried out, “Nekama!” (Revenge!). “Hazak v’ematz” (Be strong and have courage).

These, along with the stories of Chaya Porus, Fania Fainer, Esther Friedlander, and other women and girls, including the widely known Anne Frank, are told throughout Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away., whose artifacts, imagery, video, and text bring women’s history to life.

 

PROGRAM CALENDAR

Exhibition

Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away.

This is the most comprehensive exhibition dedicated to the history of Auschwitz and its role in the Holocaust ever presented in North America, bringing together more than 700 original objects and 400 photographs from over 20 institutions and museums around the world. In response to demand, the exhibition’s run is extended to August 2020.

Entry is by timed ticket available at Auschwitz.nyc. Audio guide (available in 8 languages) is included with admission.

$25 Flexible Entry—entry any time on a specific day

$16 Adults

$12 Seniors and People with Disabilities

$10 Students and Veterans

$8 Museum Members

FREE for Holocaust survivors, active members of the military and first responders, and students and teachers through grade 12 in schools located in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut (with valid school-issued ID). A student attending a NYC public school may bring up to three family members for free (with proof of valid school-issued ID or report card). The Auschwitz exhibition is recommended for ages 12 and up.

Conversation

Heroines of the Holocaust

Wednesday, March 11 | 7 PM – 8:30 PM

During the Holocaust, more than 3,000 women fought back against the Nazis. This talk, which takes place on International Women’s Day, will focus on female resistance fighters of the Holocaust, including Zivia Lubetkin, the highest-ranking woman in Warsaw’s underground, and Vitka Kempner, a partisan leader who blew up a German ammunition train with a grenade. Dr. Lori Weintrob, Director of the Wagner College Holocaust Center, will be joined by Auschwitz survivor Rachel Rachama Roth who will provide her eyewitness testimony to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The discussion will be moderated by Yiddish culture writer Rokhl Kafrissen (Tablet).

Tickets: $10, Members $8

Book Launch

Franci’s War

Wednesday, March 18 | 7 PM

Author Helen Epstein (Children of the Holocaust, The Long Half-Lives of Love and Trauma) will introduce this new memoir by her late mother, Franci Rabinek Epstein. Franci, born into a privileged family in Prague, was a spirited young fashion designer who lied to Dr. Mengele at an Auschwitz selection by saying she was an electrician – an occupation that both endangered and saved her life. Helen will be joined in conversation by Columbia University Film Professor Annette Insdorf.

Co-sponsored by the Czech Cultural Center

Free; advance reservations recommended at mjhnyc.org/events

Panel Discussion

WRITE ME: Women’s Studies & Activism

Thursday, March 26 | 7 PM

Join artists, scholars, and activists in a series that explores the branding of women’s bodies in the Holocaust and human trafficking. Write Me (2019), a short film by Pearl Gluck, follows an older woman who joins other survivors in reclaiming the histories tattooed on their bodies. In this final part of the series, a panel of women scholars from diverse fields will discuss the role of branding of women’s bodies in the context of human trafficking and power. Speakers will be Rochelle G. Saidel, Founder and Executive Director of the Remember the Women Institute; Carol E. Henderson, Editor of Imagining the Black Female Body; Ornit Barkai, documentary filmmaker of the forthcoming Laid to Rest: Buried Stories of the Jewish Sex Trade; and moderator Amy Sodaro, Professor of Sociology at Borough of Manhattan Community College. Co-sponsored by Battery Park City Authority

Free; advance reservations recommended at mjhnyc.org/events

In addition to the above events programmed for Women’s History Month, visitors to the Museum in March can also view the institution’s main exhibition Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. (on view through August 2020), its recently unveiled exhibition Rendering Witness: Holocaust-Era Art as Testimony (on view through July 5, 2020), and Ordinary Treasures: Highlights from the Museum of Jewish Heritage Collection.

 

GENERAL INFORMATION

Hours

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 10 AM to 6 PM

Wednesday 10 AM to 9 PM

Friday 10 AM to 3 PM

Saturday Closed

Last admission to Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. is 2 hours before closing time. Last entrance to the rest of the Museum is 30 minutes prior to closing time.

The Museum is closed on Saturdays, Jewish holidays, and Thanksgiving.

Address

Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust

36 Battery Place, New York City

Neighborhood: Battery Park City in Lower Manhattan

mjhnyc.org

646.437.4202