Upcoming Events as of July 4, 2010
I
am looking for opportunities to talk about TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY and/or
show the documentary film, REFUSENIK,
in private homes. Hosts of ten or more attendees will receive their
choice of a signed copy of TRIUMPH OVER TYRANNY or a DVD of
REFUSENIK. Please contact me at philipspiegel@gmail.com.CALIFORNIA
Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010 - San Mateo: 2:00 PM, "Heroism, Hillel and Hanukkah in the Soviet Jewry Movement" sponsored by B'nai B'rith at Peninsula Temple Beth El, , 1700 Alameda De Las Pulgas, (650) 349-4911, www.ptbe.org
NEW YORK
Sunday, August 1, 2010 - East Hampton:
3:00 to 6:00 PM, "Freedom from Tyranny" at Jewish Center of the
Hamptons, 44
Woods Lane,
(631) 324-9858, www.jcoh.org
ONE AMERICAN WOMAN’S STRUGGLES AND TRIUMPHS
TO SAVE SOVIET JEWRY UNVEILED AT THE JCOH, AUGUST 1
EAST HAMPTON, N.Y., 6/30/10 --Between 1967 and 1991 almost half of the Jewish population of the Soviet Union left for freedom to Israel, the U.S. and other western countries. This was over two million Jews. An American woman, Lillian Butler Hoffman (1913– 1996), was one of the early pioneers of the Soviet Jewry Movement, a collective grass-roots effort that crossed all party lines in America to free Jews to practice their religion without State persecution. A first-ever fascinating look at Hoffman’s 30 years of bravery and activism against the U.S.S.R., a struggle which changed the course of Jewish and world history, will be unveiled in the Lillian Butler Hoffman Archive Project, at The Jewish Center of the Hamptons, on August 1, 2010, 3 to 6 p.m. The Archive project was created by her daughter Sheila Hoffman Bialek, founder of The Sheila Hoffman Bialek Foundation, who participated in many of her mother’s activities and is a part-time East Ender, and will be presented in cooperation with the JCOH.
“Freedom From Tyranny: An American Woman’s Struggles and Triumphs to Save Soviet Jewry” will include an exhibit of Lillian Hoffman’s collection of U.S. Congressional Records citing her work, photographs, letters, posters and films compiled in six books showing her launch of one of the early committees to save Soviet Jewry, the Colorado Committee; protesting; conducting prayer vigils around the world; meeting with “Refuseniks” (a new English word derived from the Russian otkaznik, meaning one refused permission to leave) in the U.S.S.R., Israel and Europe including Natan Sharansky, Ida Nudel and Joseph Mendelevich to aid their liberation. There will be records of Lillian meeting with Presidents, Senators and Congressmen to push for freedom. In 1972, Lillian helped Senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson, to help pass his amendment, the Jackson/Vanik bill, which precluded the U.S. from doing trade with the USSR until all Jews were let out. There will be photographs of the culminating moment of the Movement in 1987 when a quarter of a million people held a mass event in Washington D.C. protesting Gorbachev’s summit in Washington with President Reagan.
“Lillian Hoffman protested for many years to save Soviet Jewry but along the way she really knew how to enjoy life,” said Bialek. “This is as much a celebration as it is an event marking a landmark victory (and moment) of Jewish history. These archives bring to life Lillian as a young woman in Colorado, as the wife of Harry, a leading wine and spirits retailer the country, as mother to three, as activist with her colleagues in the Movement and for other Jewish struggles, including as chairwoman of the International Committee to Save Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who helped rescue 100,000 Hungarian Jews and disappeared in the closing days of WWII into Soviet Gulag.”
Hoffman
convinced Congressman Lantos and Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich,
to honor
Wallenberg with his bust to stand permanently in Statuary Hall in the
Capital
Building. He is the second non-American to have this privilege (Sir
Winston
Churchill was the first.)
The event will include a panel discussion by Movement experts including Glenn Richter, one of the founders of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry in 1964, who today documents the Soviet Jewry movement; Peter M. Sichel, a Senior Officer in the CIA during the Cold War from 1946 to 1959 working in Berlin, Washington and as American Consul in Hong Kong; Karl Grossman, investigative journalist specializing in Soviet media coverage of the Movement, also will serve as the moderator; Gal Beckerman, a reporter at The Forward, and author of the soon to be released book “When They Come For Us, We’ll Be Gone” about the rescue of Soviet Jews.
Among the film records on display will be a DVD produced by Richter of activists that worked with Hoffman; short clips of ex-prisoners of Zion, activists and the famous activist Rabbi Avi Weiss; and a movie about the “Refuseniks” produced by an Israeli filmmaker. The event will be filmed for inclusion in the permanent archive. The Town of East Hampton will announce a Resolution honoring Lillian Butler Hoffman.
“One American woman’s record of successful activism has implications for other Jewish issues today -- such as advocacy for Israel,” said Bialek. “‘As Elie Weisel has said: ‘today, we are not silent anymore.’"
There will be Russian and Jewish music performed by the violinist, Yevgenia Strenger (Jenny), who is the concert master of the NYC Opera, as well as a classical guitarist, and a wine reception hosted by Sheila and Al Bialek. There is no admission charge and the event is open to everyone. 44 Woods Lane, East Hampton; 631 324-9858; jcoh.org.
The Sheila Hoffman Bialek Foundation is dedicated to honor Lillian Hoffman Butler’s work for Soviet Jewry and to further understanding of transformative events in modern Jewish history.
Media
Contact:
Andrea Gurvitz
631 324-3082 agurvitz@optonline.net