Parkes Public Outreach Event Event

‘Lost and Found’

An evening of talks about the rediscovery of Jewish histories and Jewish lives.

Shirli Gilbert , ‘From Things Lost: Forgotten Letters and the Legacy of the Holocaust’

In May 1933, a young man named Rudolf Schwab fled Nazi Germany. His departure allegedly came at the insistence of a close friend who later joined the Party. Schwab eventually arrived in South Africa, one of the few countries left where Jews could seek refuge, and years later, resumed a relationship in letters with the Nazi who in many ways saved his life. ‘From Things Lost: Forgotten Letters and the Legacy of the Holocaust’ is a story of displacement, survival, and an unlikely friendship in the wake of the Holocaust via an extraordinary collection of letters discovered in a forgotten trunk.

James Jordan , ‘Television’s Lost, Forgotten and Rediscovered Holocaust Stories’

This illustrated talk explores some of the many lost and forgotten television programmes from the 1960s that are now being reconsidered. The first, ‘A Covenant with Death’ (ATV/NBC, 1963), sees two members of the Norwegian resistance standing trial in a post-war courtroom for the murder of an elderly Jewish couple. The second That’s Not My Name (BBC, 1965), a single drama presented as part of the BBC’s Thirty Minute Theatre, considers the pursuit of justice in 1960s London. That too is the setting for 'State Visit' (ITV, 1964), an episode of the once popular Gideon's Way series, offers an early engagement with survivor trauma. Each programme considers in some form the intersection of identity, memory and justice, although in some cases things are not always as they first appear.

Tony Kushner , ‘I am the Egg Man (or from Folklore to Yolklore)’

A lost but utterly fascinating story is that of the East European Jewish egg importers who came with the huge wave of Jewish migrants before the First World War. These men brought the majority of the eggs consumed in Britain from the 1880s to 1939. Remarkably these eggs came on boats from the Baltic and, in the winter, from Egypt and still made a profit for those who organised their trade. One of these egg entrepreneurs was Samuel Gordon, the great grandfather of the author. This talk will focus on my attempt to recover his activities (and those of his fellow egg importers) and why this Russian Jew can be found pictured riding a camel at the foot of the Sphinx with the pyramids in the background. Was he the Zelig of his generation, a Yiddisher Richard Branson, or just a very naughty boy?

RSVP

This event is free however you must register to attend, please click on the booking button above to secure your place.  Please note bookings close Sunday 17 June 2018