On Wednesday, April 15, there will be a community-wide remembrance program to honor the survivors and the memory of holocaust victims 70 years ago, hosted by JCC Greenwich & UJA Greenwich. The entire community is invited to attend the program which begins at 6pm with a screening of “Numbered”, the prizewinning documentary which tells the remarkable stories of Auschwitz survivors whose tattooed numbers add up to resilience of the spirit. Followed by a commemoration program at 7pm with keynote speaker and holocaust survivor Agnes Vertes, participation from local clergy and leadership, and candle lighting ceremony. Please RSVP online at JCCGreenwich.org or call 203-552-1818.
About “Numbered”: Auschwitz prisoners, both Jewish and non-Jewish, were tattooed with serial numbers, first on their chests and then their left arms. An estimated 400,000 numbers were tattooed in Auschwitz and its sub-camps. The film documents the dark time and setting during which these tattoos were assigned as well as the meaning they took on in the years following the war. The film’s protagonist is the number itself, as it evolves and becomes both a personal and collective symbol. These scars, paradoxically unanimous and anonymous, reveal themselves to be diverse, enlightening, and full of life.
About Agnes Vertes: Agnes Vertes was born in Budapest and came to the United States at the age of 16. As a young child, Agnes survived the Holocaust and is currently president of Holocaust Child Survivors of Connecticut, which she represented at the meeting of the World Federation of Jewish Child Holocaust Survivors in Berlin. Afterwards, she traveled to Essen and Gelsenkirchen, the site of work camps. As an independent filmmaker, she is in the process of making a documentary about the Jewish prisoners working for Krups. In the 1990’s she volunteered as an interviewer for Spielberg’s Shoah Foundation and interviewed over seventy survivors from around the world.
When: Wednesday, April 15. Film screening at 6pm. Commemoration program at 7pm.
Where: Temple Sholom, 300 E. Putnam Ave, Greenwich
RSVP requested online at JCCGreenwich.org or call 203-552-1818. Free & open to the community
Contact: Leah Schechter, Assistant Director, JCC Greenwich (203) 552-1818 or leah@jccgreenwich.org