The Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre

Film: Questo ê un Uomo (This is a Man)
2023-02-05 15:00 - 17:00 UTC | Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre, 1 Duncombe Rd, Johannesburg, Gauteng, 2193, South Africa
In honour of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, The Italian Cultural Institute of Pretoria, the Embassy of Italy in Pretoria, the Consulate General of Italy in Johannesburg, and the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre invite you to join us for a screening of the acclaimed film, Questo ê un Uomo (This Is a Man, 2021),with a candle lighting ceremony, and an opening address by H.E. Ambassador Paolo Cuculi.
Questo ê un Uomo (This Is a Man, 2021), directed by Marco Turco, is a docu-fiction that remembers the life of Primo Levi, an Italian chemist, partisan, writer, and Holocaust survivor, who recounted the horror of the concentration camps and the tragedy of the Shoah.
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RSVP to dowi@jhbholocaust.co.za

Sexual Violence against Jewish Women during the Holocaust: Challenges and Reflections
2023-01-29 21:00 - 22:30 UTC | Online
In this series, we have invited four leading experts who will discuss one of the most difficult and less-researched topics: sexual violence against Jewish women and children both during and after the Holocaust, including the continuing brutality against survivors seeking to return home after liberation. The challenges involved in studying female and child sex abuse during the Holocaust and after liberation will also be addressed.
Dr. Sonja M. Hedgepeth and Dr. Rochelle G. Saidel, editors, discuss their 2010 groundbreaking book on the subject of sexual violence against Jewish women during the Holocaust. They pay tribute to early researchers on the subject and reflect on the continued challenges for scholars. Including this subject in Holocaust history provides a fuller understanding of what many women endured.
This programme is in partnership with the Remember the Women Institute, Women in the Holocaust – International Study Center (MORESHET), Wagner College Holocaust Center, Classrooms Without Borders, Rabin Chair Forum Washington University, and the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre.
Click here to register.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day
2023-01-26 18:30 - 21:00 UTC | Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre, 1 Duncombe Rd, Johannesburg, Gauteng, 2193, South Africa
The Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, and the United Nations Information Centre Pretoria invite you to their annual commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on the 78th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz.
The commemoration will include formal remarks from foreign dignitaries, candle-lighting by Holocaust survivors, and a commemoration lecture: ‘Remembering the Holocaust through personal objects’. Today, museums and exhibitions across the world collect and display original artefacts from the Holocaust. At first glance, many appear to be rather unremarkable: a shoe, a suitcase, a pair of spectacles. But this is to overlook the fact that these seemingly everyday objects are among the last remnants of a murdered people, and each has its own unique story to tell.
Join Paul Salmons as he shares the stories of artefacts that have touched him most deeply, and asks what meanings they hold for us today?
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Paul Salmons specialises in difficult, challenging histories, exploring the continued relevance of the past in today’s complex world. He helped create the United Kingdom’s national Holocaust Exhibition at the Imperial War Museum; co-founded the Centre for Holocaust Education at University College London; and for 20 years played a leading role in the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. He is also the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s first Gonda Fellow.
Paul is Chief Curator of Seeing Auschwitz (produced by Musealia for UNESCO and the United Nations), and co-curator of Musealia’s international award-winning Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. Recently he was consulting curator on two new permanent Holocaust exhibitions that opened in New York City and St Louis, Missouri, and he currently is working on a major new exhibition on the Berlin Wall.
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RSVP essential to dowi@jhbholocaust.co.za

Exclusive Walkabout of "Seeing Auschwitz" with Paul Salmons
2023-01-26 13:00 - 14:30 UTC | Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre, 1 Duncombe Rd, Johannesburg, Gauteng, 2193, South Africa
Paul Salmons is Chief Curator of Seeing Auschwitz (produced by Musealia for UNESCO and the United Nations), and co-curator of Musealia’s international award-winning Auschwitz: Not long ago. Not far away. Recently he was consulting curator on two new permanent Holocaust exhibitions that opened in New York City and St Louis, Missouri, and he currently is working on a major new exhibition on the Berlin Wall.
RSVP to dowi@jhbholocaust.co.za

Special Film Preview: I Am Here
2023-01-25 19:00 - 21:00 UTC | Ster Kinekor Nouveau Rosebank
Join us for a special film preview of “I am Here”, Holocaust survivor Ella Blumenthal’s story. The preview including remarks by Holocaust education expert Paul Salmons, followed by a Q&A with the producer and director of the film.
Book your tickets directly with Ster Kinekor here.

Resistance in Treblinka: The Tangible Witnesses
2023-01-18 20:00 - 21:30 UTC | Online
80 Years After Aktion Reinhard: The Industrial Killing of European Jewry:
Resistance in Treblinka: The Tangible Witnesses
In the third programme of this series, resistance in Treblinka is examined. The systematic murder on the Treblinka extermination camp began in July 1942 with the arrival of the first transport from the Warsaw Ghetto. By the time the camp was dismantled, a little over a year later, roughly 900,000 people, the vast majority of whom were Jews, had been murdered there. The existing sources of information available demonstrate how difficult it is to paint a clear picture of what was happening in that terrible place of mass killing. Whether these sources date back to the time the events took place, or were later sources, we can witness the many influences affecting them.
Dr. Tamir Hod will present examples of the gaps between memory and history when it comes to the Treblinka extermination camp. This introductory lecture will explain the importance of combining research from different fields, such as archeology and history, in order to try to grasp the impossible.
Professor Caroline Sturdy Colls will discuss the tangible and intangible evidence of resistance at Treblinka, derived from her archaeological and historical investigations since 2007. As well as addressing the material traces of resistance at the infamous extermination camp (Treblinka II), she will also consider the lesser-known role of the inmates and guards from Treblinka labour camp (Treblinka I) in resistance activities.
The program will conclude with a virtual tour given by Yaron Tzur of the Treblinka model that is located at the Ghetto Fighters’ House. This model, serving as post-war tangible evidence, was built by Yaakov Wiernik who was one of the survivors of the Treblinka and the uprising in August, 1943.
Registration link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_byLpgDYvRI6YulHGzZCX2Q

Beyond Oneg Shabbat: Groundbreaking Research and Findings in the JHI
2022-12-11 21:00 - 22:30 UTC | Online
Talking Memory Series Marking the 75th Anniversary of the Jewish Historical Institute. Join us for the third and final programme in the series on the Jewish Historical Institute:
Beyond Oneg Shabbat: Groundbreaking Research and Findings in the JHI
In this third and final programme, our speakers will present their research and findings in the JHI that go beyond the Warsaw ghetto.
Guest Speakers:
Dr Ewa Wiatr who will give a talk on The Łódź ghetto’s Legacy at the Jewish Historical Institute and Piotr Nazaruk who will reveal the latest discoveries in a talk entitled: Unburned: The Library of the Lublin Yeshiva.
This series is in partnership with the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, the Polish Institute in Tel-Aviv, the Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre in Lublin, the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Center, Liberation 75, Classrooms without Borders, and the Rabin Chair Forum at George Washington University.
Click here to register.

Mass-Killing in 1942-1943: ‘Operation Reinhardt’ Killing Centres
2022-12-07 20:00 - 21:30 UTC | Online
A Special Series with the Galicia Jewish Museum and the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Center. Join us for the second programme in the series on 80 Years After Aktion Reinhard: The Industrial Killing of European Jewry:
Mass-Killing in 1942-1943: ‘Operation Reinhardt’ Killing Centres
Guest Speakers:
Chris Webb
Tali Nates
In the second programme of this series, author Chris Webb will explore the history of the Bełżec, Sobibór and Treblinka death camps. He will look at some of the key SS figures responsible for running the sites and the Jewish prisoners who were deported there. Finally, he will describe the heroic and dramatic revolts that took place in the camps. Tali Nates, director of the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Center (South Africa) will share her family’s history connected to both Treblinka and Belżec death camps.
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Film Screening: Facing Auschwitz
2022-12-01 19:00 - 20:30 UTC | Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre, 1 Duncombe Rd, Johannesburg, Gauteng, 2193, South Africa

Coming to terms with Genocides
2022-11-29 19:30 - 21:30 UTC | Online
Click here for the zoom.

JHGC Members Only: "Seeing Auschwitz" Exclusive Viewing
2022-11-28 15:00 - 17:00 UTC | Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre, 1 Duncombe Rd, Johannesburg, Gauteng, 2193, South Africa

South Africa - On the Edges of Polish Identity
2022-11-27 15:00 - 17:00 UTC | Online
Event Details
During and after WWII, Russia forcibly uprooted millions of Poles from the Kresy of eastern Poland. Those Kresovians who survived the deportations to Siberia were scattered around the globe. In South Africa, 500 children and their caregivers found safety and refuge in Oudtshoorn. These Polish children of Oudtshoorn went on to form the core of the Polish community in South Africa. Listen to Dr Wanda Chunnett and Dr Marta Nowakowska discuss these refugees re-establishing their identity in a new country.
Source: Map generated by the authors from MPIDR and CGG (2011) and GADM (2008).

Characteristics of Polish Refugee Entrepreneurs who Established Sustainable Businesses in South Africa
Wanda’s presentation provides a contribution to the debate on the value that is created by migrant entrepreneurs in developing economies and answers the question as to what these countries can do to leverage sustainable growth opportunities from resource constrained, involuntary migrant entrepreneurs. Wanda investigated three migrant groups to South Africa, namely, Rwandese, Chinese and Polish migrants. Wanda seeks to take the involuntary migrant debate beyond the “refugee as burden” paradigm, by focusing on a theoretical proposition that the legal, knowledge, language and economic capital gained by constrained migrant entrepreneurs gives them a competitive advantage when establishing small businesses. The entrepreneurial spirit of a group of Polish orphans that was involuntarily transported to South and Southern Africa during WWII, allowed them to establish a locus of power in their host country, augmented by additional “migration capital”. The presentation considers the benefit that can be realised by host country, in this case South Africa, where the process driver remains the migrant entrepreneur, eager to become established in a new country and achieve their long-term vision, including re-establishing their identity.
Wanda Chunnett is a business practitioner with a passion for the development of small businesses as a route to long term economic sustainability. The daughter of a displaced migrant, her Doctoral thesis focused on providing insight into how these migrants add value to their host countries, providing a counterpoint to the often-prevalent view of “migrant as burden.

Managing Cultural Heritage. An introduction to the identity of Kresovians/Borderlanders of inter-war Poland
Involuntary migrants occupy a special place in the landscape of many modern states. Despite the diverse national cultures surrounding them – they strive to preserve their own identity. They are often united by multi-generational cooperation, coexistence and a system of values. Awareness of cultural identity is associated with a sense of belonging to one’s own community, with identification with that community with its specific culture and shared history, with a particular territory that one inhabits together, at the same time as a sense of apparent distinctiveness to other groups. Marta will address the issue of Borderland/Kresy identity. The Borderlands/Kresy are a Polish place of memory, vividly pulsating, full of individual emotions, and at the same time, a myth-making message. The longing for the lost homeland triggers unique memories, inscribing them into the cultural memory of successive generations of Poles. How do the generations of the South African Siberians remember the Borderlands/Kresy? How does the memory of the Borderlands/Kresy shape generations of Poles living outside their homeland? What is the concept of double identity? How should we think about our homeland? Marta’s presentation aims to answer these and other questions.
Marta Nowakowska is an assistant professor at the Department of Management, Wrocław University of Science and Technology. Her scientific background is an MA and PhD in Anthropology of Culture. She is interested in the subject of cultural heritage, identity and memories, and cultural risk analysis. In her profession, she addresses the topic of the training methods to minimise cultural errors.

Register for the event online.

Film Screening: Raoul Wallenberg’s War
2022-11-24 19:00 - 20:30 UTC | Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre, 1 Duncombe Rd, Johannesburg, Gauteng, 2193, South Africa
RSVP to dowi@jhbholocaust.co.za

The Witnesses of the Warsaw Ghetto: The Archives and the Streets
2022-11-20 21:00 - 22:30 UTC | Online
Dr. Eleonora Bergman joined the Jewish Historical Institute in 1991, serving as its deputy director between 1996-1997 and 2001-2006. She was director from 2007 to 2011. In this programme, our guest speaker will discuss her involvement in the recently published volume on clandestine education and children that reflects not only their fate but is a record of civil resistance. It contains 47 archival items including several dozen documents – essays, drawings, texts for learning, invitations to performances, songs, and other.
Another initiative that Bergman will discuss is the project to mark the ghetto borders so that both residents and visitors can experience the size of the ghetto, can try to imagine the old sites, even if nothing is left of them, and to recall the people who once lived and died there.
This programme is in partnership with the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, the Polish Institute in Tel-Aviv, the Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre in Lublin, the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Center, Liberation 75, Classrooms without Borders, and the Rabin Chair Forum at George Washington University.
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The Road to the "Final Solution": 1933-1941
2022-11-16 20:00 - 21:30 UTC | Online
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Exhibition Opening: Seeing Auschwitz
2022-11-13 14:30 - 16:00 UTC | Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre, 1 Duncombe Rd, Johannesburg, Gauteng, 2193, South Africa

84th Commemoration of the November Pogrom (Kristallnacht)
2022-11-09 19:00 - 20:30 UTC | Goethe-Institut, 119 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parkwood, South Africa
In-person registration to dowi@jhbholocaust.co.za
Online registration click here

"Let the World Read and Know" - The Oneg Shabbat Archives
2022-11-06 21:00 - 22:30 UTC | Online

Children as Victims of Medical Experiments in Nazi Camps
2022-11-03 19:00 - 20:30 UTC | Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre, 1 Duncombe Rd, Johannesburg, Gauteng, 2193, South Africa

Film Screening: Polmission
2022-10-27 19:00 - 20:30 UTC | Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre, 1 Duncombe Rd, Johannesburg, Gauteng, 2193, South Africa
RSVP is essential to dowi@jhbholocaust.co.za

Honouring our Colleague Tali Nates
2022-10-26 19:00 - 20:30 UTC | Online
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Beyond the Umschlagplatz: Remembering the Warsaw Ghetto
2022-10-23 20:00 - 21:30 UTC | Online

Holocaust Museums and Memorials Around the World: Museums of the Future
2022-10-20 20:00 - 21:30 UTC | Online
Join the JHGC in collaboration with Classrooms Without Borders for the second session in our series Holocaust Museums & Memorials Around the World. Executive director of the JHGC Tali Nates will be joined by writer, lecturer, and teacher consulting in the conceptual development of museums and historical films Dr. Michael Berenbaum and Alice Herscovitch from The Montreal Holocaust Museum.
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Exhibition Opening by Tuomo Manninen: In The Shadow of Conflict
2022-10-18 19:00 - 20:30 UTC | Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre, 1 Duncombe Rd, Johannesburg, Gauteng, 2193, South Africa

Farm Killings in South Africa: A Conversation
2022-10-13 15:00 - 17:00 UTC | Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre, 1 Duncombe Rd, Johannesburg, Gauteng, 2193, South Africa
Space is limited, RSVP to dowi@jhbholocaust.co.za

Workshop: Education and Memory in Times of a Global Crises IV
2022-10-06 15:00 - 17:30 UTC | Online

Remembering the Holocaust in the United Kingdom
2022-09-29 20:00 - 21:30 UTC | Online

Environmental Destruction & Ecocide
2022-09-28 19:00 - 20:30 UTC | Online

FILM: Crows of the Desert
2022-09-19

The Hippocratic Oath at the Umschlagplatz: The Jewish Doctors of the Warsaw Ghetto
2022-09-18 20:00 - 21:30 (Europe/Helsinki) | Online
