On the afternoon of December 15, authors Joy Wolfe Ensor, Nancy Szabo and Fran Lewy Berg presented on how their parents shared their wartime experience, ranging from the highly secretive to the more open perspective. The participants included 2G members of a synagogue and a book club based in Colorado. A couple of women from Israel were also able to join the Zoom. The richest part of the event followed the authors’ presentation. Participants chose to each speak on how the Holocaust had affected them, some stating that this was their first opportunity to ever do so. It was an emotionally moving experience for all. A most wonderful result from this presentation was that the attendees decided to start meeting regularly as a Jewish women's circle.
In the morning of December 15, it was a pleasure for Rita Benn to engage in writing practice with 14 members of Detroit's 2G group known as C.H.A.I.M. Participants included those who were brand new to crafting their parents' story into a cohesive narrative to others who had more formal training and functioned as volunteer guest speakers for the Zekelman Holocaust Center in Farmington Michigan. Irrespective of the level of experience, most attendees had not deeply contemplated how the Holocuast shaped aspects and events in their own lives. Participants commented on how grateful they were to have the opportunity to respond to prompts that invited this exploration. Several planned to enliven their speaking stories with this new approach, and a few hoped to continue to develop full length memoirs.
We were delighted when Jenni Frumer, PhD, LCSW of Holocaust Learning Experience/MorseLife invited us to create a multi-part educational series for their programming. Over the course of four evenings in November and December, we shared our stories with a community of learners who Zoomed in from across the U.S. and Canada. The participants had the opportunity to meet many of our authors and to delve into such themes as Family Secrets, Belonging and Identity, Legacies, and the Healing Power of Writing. Attendees experienced a powerful sense of connection, as expressed in this feedback: "This series has been so enlightening as I could resonate with so much that was shared and appreciate that these feelings were put into words. I purchased the book [last year] but haven't had the courage to read it. And now I do."
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