News Article

Hendry/Glades Center Hosts Dr. Talbot Spivak Holocaust Memorial Week

Mar 27, 2013

March 27, 2013 – LABELLE, FLA. – Edison State College’s Hendry/Glades Center will observe the Dr. Talbot Spivak Holocaust Memorial Week on Monday, April 1, through Friday, April 6.  A series of events will be held throughout the week, and all events are free and open to the public.

Monday, April 1, 10:30 a.m.-noon, Building A-119, Edison State College Hendry/Glades Center-Holocaust Survivor Steen Axel Metz

Tuesday, April 2, 3 p.m., Building A-119, Edison State College Hendry/Glades Center-The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Wednesday, April 3, 4 p.m., Building A-109, Edison State College Hendry/Glades Center- I Have Lived a Thousand Years

Thursday-Saturday, April 4-6, 7 p.m., Firehouse Community Theater- Children of the Holocaust and In Memory’s Kitchen

The program begins on Monday with Holocaust survivor Steen Axel Metz, who will speak about his experience in a concentration camp in Terezin, Czechoslovakia. Born in Denmark, Metz, his father, mother, and grandmother were captured after the Nazi’s changed their policy toward the Danish Jews. They were held in an area camp in transit to Theresienstadt (Terezin) in Czechoslovakia. Terezin, in Czech, was a fortress city that had been converted into a combination ghetto and concentration camp. While there, Steen’s father was worked to his death six months after their arrival. The mother and son survived a lack of food and rough conditions and were later evacuated.

A viewing of the movie The Boy in the Striped Pajamas will be held on Tuesday. Set during World War II, the story is seen through the innocent eyes of Bruno, the eight-year-old son of the commandant at a concentration camp, whose forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startling and unexpected consequences.

On Wednesday, the library will host a discussion of the novel I Have Lived a Thousand Years by Livia Bitton-Jackson. The book is based on the experiences of Holocaust survivor Bitton-Jackson.

These events will be held at the Edison State College Hendry/Glades Center, located at 1092 E Cowboy Way, LaBelle.

The Firehouse Community Theater continues the program Thursday-Saturday with Children of the Holocaust performed by LaBelle High School students. After World War II, over 200 children’s diaries like Anne Frank’s, were found. What happened to these children? Who might they have been if they had survived? This play of remembrance speaks poignantly of the hopes and dreams of Anne, David, Rachael, and Michael, victims of the Holocaust.

Immediately following the performance, Lori Shula, Edison State College Writing Lab technician, performs her script, In Memory’s Kitchen. The play tells the story of Mina, a Jewish woman who endured horrendous transport and subsequent starvation in the concentration camp, Terezin, but found a way to bring comfort and hope to the women of her dorm, by stimulating their memories of working in their own kitchens. This is a story of resiliency and courage in the face of most dire privations.

The Firehouse Community Theater is located at 241 N. Bridge St., LaBelle.

The program is named in memory of the late Edison Professor Dr. Talbot Spivak, whose determination to teach the lessons of the Holocaust both inside and outside the classroom led him to create this week-long program with college-wide support in 1996. Dr. Spivak had retired after 21 years of dedicated service to the college in 2006.

For more information about Dr. Talbot Spivak Holocaust Memorial Week or any of the events, call Brooke Roughgarden, assistant director, Student Services, Edison State College Hendry/Glades Center, at 863-674-0408.

Last Updated: March 27, 2013