Ver Vet Blaybn?

Attempting to better understand her grandfather Avrom Sutzkever, Israeli actress Hadas Kalderon travels to Lithuania, using her grandfather’s diary to trace his early life in Vilna and his survival of the Holocaust. Sutzkever (1913–2010) was an acclaimed Yiddish poet — described by The New York Times as the “greatest poet of the Holocaust” — whose verse drew on his youth in Siberia and Vilna, his spiritual and material resistance during World War II, and his post-war life in the State of Israel. Kalderon, whose native language is Hebrew and must rely on translation of her grandfather’s work, is nevertheless determined to connect with what remains of the poet’s bygone world and confront the personal responsibility of preserving her grandfather’s literary legacy.
Woven into the documentary are family home videos, newly recorded interviews, and archival recordings, including Sutzkever’s testimony at the Nuremberg Trial. The film examines the limits of language, geography, and time.

Christa P. Whitney is an oral historian and documentary filmmaker whose work focuses on language, culture, and identity. Originally from Northern California, she discovered Yiddish while studying comparative literature at Smith College. Since 2010, she has traveled in search of Yiddish stories as the director of the Yiddish Book Center’s Wexler Oral History Project.

Discussion

After the screening there will be a discussion with Christa P. Whitney, film director, and Stephen Naron, director of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies.

Free admission

Ticket reservation under: anmeldung@vwi.ac.at

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