Yiddish literature exponent among UCSD lecturers

Goldie Morgentaler
Goldie Morgentaler

SAN DIEGO (SDJW) –Goldie Morgentaler, who was the subject of a feature story in San Diego Jewish World as well as a chapter in Donald H. Harrison’s recent book Schlepping Through The American West: There Is A Jewish Story Everywhere, will be retelling the stories of her mother, Chava Rosenfarb, a well-known Yiddish writer, as part of UCSD’s speaker’s series on the Holocaust.

SDJW editor Harrison met Morgentaler in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, which was the apex in Summer 2014 of his exploration with his of Interstate 15 from San Diego to beyond the Canadian border. Morgentaler, who is a professor of literature at the University of Lethbridge, will discuss her mother’s book The Tree of Life, described as an epic about life in the ghetto of Lodz, Poland.

Morgentaler’s lecture is scheduled May 4, 2016, in the Seuss Room of the UCSD Geisel Library and is sponsored by Laurayne Ratner. It will be one of eight lectures of UCSD’s Living History Workshop.

The schedule for that series is as follows:

Oct. 14: The Mitzvah Project – with Roger Grunwald
The Mitzvah Project is combines a one-person play with a lecture and a discussion that explores the experience of the many thousands of “Mischlinge” (German men with one or two Jewish grandparents) who served in the Wehrmacht during the Second World War.

Nov. 4: The Holocaust in Comparative Perspective – with Norman Naimark
Was the Holocaust unique, or was it a catastrophe comparable to other genocides? In this talk the prominent Stanford historian Norman Naimark provides a comparative look at the Shoah.

Jan. 13: Think only of today: a documentary about the life of the Holocaust Survivor Max Garcia – Alberto Lau and Robert Schneider
This documentary traces of life of Max Garcia from his childhood in Amsterdam through the Holocaust to his immigration and life in the United States.

Feb. 10: Exile in Ecuador – with Elio Schaechter
Moselio Schaechter fled Fascist Italy and found a new home in Ecuador. In this talk he shares memories of his youth and relates his experience in the Ecudorian Jewish refugee community.

March 2: Charlotte Salomon’s Interventions – with Darcy Buerkle
Charlotte Salomon, a writer and artist from Berlin, was deported to Auschwitz and murdered at the age of twenty-six. In her final work Life? or Theatre? Salomon envisioned the circumstances surrounding the eight suicides in her family.
Sponsored by Phyllis and Dan Epstein

April 13: Serenade: A Memoir of Music and Love from Vienna and Prague to Los Angeles – with Carol Jean Delmar
Serenade is Carol Jean Delmar’s tribute to her parents’ life, love, and suffering in Fascist Central Europe and beyond.

May 4: Chava Rosenfarb’s The Tree of Life: An Epic about Life in the Lodz Ghetto – with Goldie Morgentaler
Chava Rosenfarb was one of the great Yiddish writers of the second half of the 20th century. Her work and life will be introduced by her daughter Goldie Morgentaler, a literature professor at the University of Lethbridge and the translator of her mother’s works into English.
Sponsored by Laurayne Ratner

June 1: Tom Segev: Living with the Holocaust
Tom Segev is a prominent Israeli historian, author, and journalist. A leading figure among the so-called New Historians, he has earned wide praise for his unflinching look at Israel’s history and tortured attempt to come to terms with the Holocaust.
Sponsored by Michelle and Bill Lerach

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Preceding based on information provided by UCSD