This fall has been a busy one at the DHM/CET, starting with Museum’s participation in Smithsonian Magazine’s annual Museum Day on September 22, where hundreds of visitors toured the exhibit for free.
On Sept. 23, the Museum co-sponsored (with Three Stars Jewish Cinema) the premiere of A Film Unfinished at the Dallas Video Fest at the Angelika Theater on Mockingbird.
About the film: At the end of WWII, 60 minutes of raw film, having sat undisturbed in an East German archive, was discovered. Shot by the Nazis in Warsaw in May 1942, and labeled simply “Ghetto,” this footage quickly became a resource for historians seeking an authentic record of the Warsaw Ghetto.
However, the later discovery of a long-missing reel, inclusive of multiple takes and cameraman staging scenes, complicated earlier readings of the footage.
A Film Unfinished presents the raw footage in its entirety, carefully noting fictionalized sequences (including a staged dinner party) falsely showing “the good life” enjoyed by Jewish urbanites, and probes deep into the making of a now-infamous Nazi propaganda film.
Our own Max Glauben was featured in a brief filmed interview about his experiences in the Warsaw Ghetto and later answered questions from the audience.
The Museum hosted a meeting of the Texas Holocaust and Genocide Commission in late September/early October. Members of the commission, including commission Chairman Peter Berkowitz, Memorials and Exhibits Chair Chaja Verveer, joined our own Zsuzsanna Ozsvath and Fran Berg, among others, in planning sessions, some open to the public, on issues ranging from traveling exhibits to expanding Holocaust and Genocide education in Texas.
In October, the Museum was the meeting place for the surviving WW II POWs from Oflag 64, a prisoner-of-war camp in Szubin, Poland. More than a dozen POWs heard the testimony of Holocaust Survivor Jack Repp and spoke with several news crews about their experiences in the camp.
Also in October, best-selling author Eric Metaxas spoke about his new book, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy to a full house of Museum members and guests. Following a riveting presentation, Metaxas signed books, including a few copies of his previous work, AMAZING GRACE: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery. Signed copies of Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy are available at the Museum Store. For more information, call Nicole Gray at 214-741-7500.
A Film Unfinished
POWS from Oflag 64 Camp
Eric Metaxas
