Searching for Jewish Heritage with Joseph Berger
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First Person: Jewish Stories, Jewish Lives
Presented by Center for Jewish History, Ackman and Ziff Genealogy Institute & YIVO Institute for Jewish Research Admission: $15 Purchase tickets at SmartTix.com: Or call (212) 868-4444 |
When Joseph Berger was growing up in the Bronx, his mother filled him with visions of Otwock, her hometown in Poland. She described an “enchanted spot graced by tall pine trees, lush lilac bushes and bracing air.” After she died, Joe and his sister went back to Poland and visited their parents’ childhood homes for the first time. What they discovered on their “roots journey” was both emotional and surprising.
Join Mr. Berger, a former New York Times reporter, and the author of the acclaimed memoir, Displaced Persons: Growing up American After the Holocaust, as he shares stories and photos from his fascinating journey and offers tips for successful family searches abroad. Reflecting on the current political climate in Poland and how it might impact a similar journey today, Joe will be joined by Jonathan Ornstein the Executive Director of the JCC in Krakow and Helise Lieberman, Director of the Taube Center for the Renewal of Jewish Life in Poland.
This program is presented in conjunction with Family History Today, the Center for Jewish History’s monthly genealogy program series.
About the Participants
Born in the Soviet Union, Joseph Berger was a New York Times reporter, columnist, and editor for over 30 years. He is a prolific speaker about about immigration, New York City, the Holocaust, Israel and themes in education. The author of four books, his memoir was chosen as a notable book of the year by The New York Times, which called it "an extraordinary memoir" and was praised by Elie Wiesel as a "powerful and sweetly melancholic memoir, brilliantly written."
Since 2008, Joseph Ornstein has been the Executive Director of the JCC in Krakow, organization devoted to rebuilding Jewish life in Krakow. Mr. Orenstein is a native of New York City, and moved to Poland in 2001.
Born in the United States, Helise Lieberman has lived in Warsaw since 1994. She was appointed the director of the Taube Center in Warsaw, with its flagship program, Taube Jewish Heritage Tours, in 2009. In 2015, she was awarded the prestigious Bene Merito Medal by the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs.