Chava Rosenfarb’s Yiddish works on tap at UCSD

ucsd logoLA JOLLA, California (SDJW)–The Holocaust Living History Workshop of UCSD will present the life and works of Chava Rosenfarb, described as “one of the great Yiddish writers of the second half of the 20th century” in a two-part, free program Wednesday, May 4, at the UCSD Geisel Library (Seuss Room).

At 3 p.m., the workshop will screen the film Chava Rosenfarb: The Bubble of Being (2015, Yiddish with English subtitles) and at 5 p.m. (following a short refreshment break), the workshop will introduce the late writer’s daughter and English translator, Goldie Morgentaler, a literature professor at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada. Prof. Morgentaler will lecture on her mother’s life and works.

“Born in 1923 in the Polish city of Lodz, she (Rosenfarb) began writing poetry in the ghetto,” according to an announcement from the workshop. “After barely surviving Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, she was homeless and stateless for several years before finally immigrating to Canada. She was married to the abortion rights activist and physician Heniek (Henry) Morgentaler, who was a Holocaust survivor himself.

Rosenfarb’s prize-winning trilogy Tree of Life, is based on her personal experience in the Holocaust.

The movie and lecture are sponsored by Laurayne Ratner.

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Preceding based on information provided by UCSD’s Holocaust Living History Workshop.  Comments intended for publication in the space below must be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and by his/ her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the U.S.)