United Nations Department of Global Communications Presents Screening of ‘Who Will Write Our History?’ at Headquarters, 30 January
Documentary Marks 2019 International Day to Commemorate Victims of Holocaust
The United Nations Department of Global Communications, in cooperation with Abramorama and the American Jewish Committee’s Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights, will screen the documentary Who Will Write Our History? on 30 January 2019, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Marking the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust, the screening will take place at United Nations Headquarters in New York. The film will also be shown at United Nation information centres on five continents, in English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
Who Will Write Our History? provides insights on the creation of a secret archive inside the Warsaw Ghetto where some 350,000 Jewish men, women and children were imprisoned during the Holocaust. At great risk to their lives, historian Emanuel Ringelblum and others documented their existence and gathered evidence of the ordeal endured by the Jewish community under the code name “Oyneg Shabes”. Determined that a record of Jewish life should survive the destruction wrought by the Nazis, select members of the group buried the archive in tin boxes and milk cans. After the war, two parts of the archive were unearthed; the third was not discovered. This record remains a powerful example of resistance and a heroic attempt to safeguard Jewish history, heritage and culture.
Featuring the voices of Academy Award winner Adrien Brody and three-time Academy Award nominee Joan Allen, the documentary integrates the writings of those who contributed to the archive with new interviews, rarely seen footage and dramatizations.
Maher Nasser, Director of the Department’s Outreach Division, will moderate the programme at United Nations Headquarters. Nancy Spielberg, the film’s executive producer, and Felice Gaer, Director of the American Jewish Committee’s Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights, will make brief opening statements. Following the screening, a discussion will be held with Roberta Grossman, the film’s writer, producer and director, as well as Ms. Spielberg and Professor Samuel Kassow, historian and author of Who Will Write Our History?
The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme was established by General Assembly resolution 60/7 in 2005 to further education about and remembrance of the Holocaust to help prevent future acts of genocide. Its multifaceted programme includes online and print educational products, seminars, exhibitions, a film series and the annual worldwide observance of the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust, on 27 January. For more information, please visit www.un.org/holocaustremembrance.
Media Contacts
Andraž Melansek at melansek@un.org.
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