CHATAM SOFER TRIBUTE SEMINAR (25TH – 26TH MAY 2008)
The
Guests at the Seminar were Peter Salner, President of the Jewish
Community of Bratislava, Ján Oparty, Film director and producer and
Karol Sidon, Chief Rabbi of Prague.
I suppose that it was the
most successful event we had so far. In both days about 40 people came.
The attendants really enjoyed their visit to the Chatam Sofer memorial.
It is not open for the public. The president of the Jewish community
of Bratislava gave a lecture about this holy place (which is said to be
the second holiest Jewish place in the world) and about the history of
Jews at Chatam Sofer times.
The event also attracted a
TV-channel. On the second day we showed a documentary movie about
Chatam Sofer and the public discussed with the authors his life as a
teacher. This was followed by a discussion with the authors about the
movie. The biggest applause was given to the Chief Rabbi of Prague
Karol Sidon, who came especially for this event. He spoke for almost 2
hours and the audience really enjoyed it.
See: http://www.makor.sk/programdetail.php?id=40
EXCURSIONS TO FAMILY HISTORY (26TH JUNE 2008)
Guest: Katarina Hollander, Zurich University
For
this event we selected specific episodes from the Jewish past in
Slovakia, important events in Jewish lives, migration to the USA in
18th century, and the situation during and after the Second World War.
For this lecture we invited the well known Swiss – Slovak born Katarina
Hollander from Zurich.
She is a professional in literature and art specializing in research in Jewish culture and history.
In
spite of the stormy evening, as all around Europe, some 30 people
attended. Many remained and held discussion later with Mrs. Hollander
even after the official lecture finished. It was very informative and
successful evening. People learned a great deal about their history.
See: http://www.makor.sk/programdetail.php?id=41
NO HONEST ACT IS AFRAID OF JUSTICE – SLOVAK ARYANISM (20TH DECEMBER 2007)
Guests:
Ivan A. Petranský - Chair of the Executive Board - elected by the National Council on 1.2.2007
Mgr. Jan Hlavinka - research consultant of Nations Memory Institute and the author of lists of Slovak members of Aryanism
Nations
Memory Institute is a public organization which collects and searches
for names of agents of the secret police during the communist era, as
well as for names of people who were stealing property from Jews during
the Second World War. Many Jews are waiting for such names to be found.
Concerning
awareness of Makor it was probably the greatest success until now. The
meeting was crowded and the most important personalities of Jewish
community were there, including Prof. Stern, Prof. Traubner. Dr.
Kamenec, Prof. Mestan etc. People were asking many questions and at
20.30 pm we had to close the debate by force. The Holocaust in
Slovakia is still a very sensitive issue for many people there and they
had some strong words against the said institute, which in their
opinion is not doing enough. The moderator Michael Szatmary had to calm
down the debate. There were almost 50 people attending.
See: http://www.makor.sk/pic.php?id=31
KRAV MAGA (27TH OF JANUARY 2008)
Guests:
Tamir Gilad - Head of the world KM federation – Israel
Branislav Krizak - Head of the Slovak KM federation
How to protect ourselves?
We
learned not only about the world most famous Israeli self-defense
technique but also about the founder Imi Lichtenfeld, who was born in
Slovakia. We got also information about the Jewish life in this region
before 2nd WW and for some years thereafter.
This event was a
great success. There were nearly 35 - 40 people even it it was Sunday
and the weather was bad. People were very interested about Krav Maga,
and asked many questions. The Israeli specialist also invited
volunteers and showed some live “tricks”.
We also found someone
who would give finances to affix a memorial tablet on the house where
Imi Lichtenfeld had lived. This will also be under supervision of Makor
and the monthly Delet. A member from Krav Maga federation of the Czech
Republic was also present.
See: http://www.makor.sk/pic.php?id=33
THEY SHOULDN’T RETURN HOME (5TH MARCH 2008)
Guests:
Dušan Hudec – director, screenwriter, producer
Miroslava Trizmova - producer
Makor
hosted Dusan Hudec the many awards winning director of documentary
movies and his producer. His most famous movie is called “Love your
Neighbor”. It is about Jews returning from concentration camps to their
homes to the city Topolcany. They had to suffer another pogrom from the
local population. The tragic thing is that it happened after the War.
Nobody
in Slovakia is talking about it and nobody knows about it. It was a
very intense discussion, because we had found also a survivor of the
pogrom who spoke about his experiences. There were around 25 persons
present who remained in the hall for more than an hour after it
finished and continued to discuss about these holocaust movies and
experiences. It was an instructing, but sad evening.
See: http://www.makor.sk/pic.php?id=35
Report by Ralph Weill
