Holocaust Education Committee of the Quad Cities

  Noah Lederman, author of A World Erased: A Grandson’s Search for his Family’s Holocaust Secrets, will present at Bettendorf Public Library (2950 Learning Campus Dr, Bettendorf, IA) on Sep. 30 (7 PM) and Moline Public Library (3210 41st Street, Moline, IL) on Oct. 1 (6:30 PM).

For details regarding Moline Public Library speaking engagement, please see flyer: Noah Lederman Flyer

There will be a book sale and author signing during both speaking engagements.  Author website  Lederman Book Flyer

“The Interpreter”
Sunday, September 15, 2019, 4:00PM, Figge Art Museum Auditorium (225 W. 2nd Street, Davenport, IA) – 113 minutes – German, Slovak, Russian with English subtitles – Drama– 2018 

80-year-old Ali Ungar comes across a book by a former SS officer describing his wartime activities in Slovakia. He realizes his parents were executed by him. He sets out to take revenge but finds instead his 70-year-old son, Georg, a retired teacher. Georg, who had avoided his father all his life, decides to find out more about him and offers Ali to be his interpreter. The two old men, in everything opposite, embark on a bittersweet journey to meet surviving witnesses of the wartime tragedy. They discover a country eager to forget its past. They realize their memories are fragments mixed with their imagination and interpretation. They connect in silence and manage to discover their own identity.

“Itzhak”
Sunday, September 22, 2019, 4:00PM, Figge Art Museum Auditorium (225 W. 2nd Street, Davenport, IA ) –  82 minutes –  English and Hebrew with English Subtitles – Documentary – 2018

From Schubert to Strauss, Bach to Brahms, Mozart to…Billy Joel, Itzhak Perlman’s violin playing transcends mere performance to evoke the celebrations and struggles of real life; “praying with the violin,” says renowned Tel Aviv violinmaker Amnon Weinstein. Alison Chernick’s enchanting documentary looks beyond the sublime musician to see the polio survivor whose parents emigrated from Poland to Israel, and the young man who struggled to be taken seriously as a music student when schools saw only his disability. Itzhak himself is funny, irreverent and self-deprecating, and here his life story unspools in conversations with masterful musicians, family and friends, and most endearingly his devoted wife of 50 years, Toby. Itzhak and Toby’s lives are dedicated to their large, loving, Jewish family in NYC and their continual support of young musicians.

“Fig Tree”
Sunday, October 6, 2019, 4:00 PM, Figge Art Museum Auditorium (225 W. 2nd Street, Davenport, IA) – 93 minutes –  Amharic and Hebrew with English Subtitles- Drama – 2018  

Mina is 16 years old. The Ethiopian Civil War has been underway her entire life. She lives with her brother and grandmother in a humble house with newsprint for wallpaper. The family is Jewish and is planning to flee Ethiopia for Israel, where Mina’s mother awaits their reunion. But this plan leaves out the person Mina loves most: Eli, her Christian boyfriend, who lives in the woods so as to evade being drafted into Mengistu Haile Mariam’s army. Mina hatches a scheme to save Eli, but everyone and everything seems set against her.

“Leona“
Sunday, October 20,2019, 4:00 PM, Figge Art Museum Auditorium  (225 W. 2nd Street, Davenport, IA) – 95 minutes -Spanish with English Subtitles – Drama- 2019

“Leona” is an intimate, insightful, and moving film that tells the story of a young Jewish woman from Mexico City who finds herself torn between her family and her forbidden love. Ripe with all the drama and interpersonal conflicts of a Jane Austen novel, watching her negotiate the labyrinth of familial pressure, religious precedent, and her own burgeoning sentiment is both painful and beautiful — there are no easy choices to be made and the viewer travels back and forth with her as she struggles with her heart to take the best path.

Tickets available at the door. Adults $7; Seniors (60+) and Military $6; Students Free. For info call (309) 793-1300.

The Gordon Ney Jewish Film Series is part of the Jewish Cultural Series 2018, and is sponsored by: Jewel Oscos, Rauch Family Foundation II, Inc., Wheelan-Pressley Funeral Homes, The Joyce and Tony Singh Family Foundation, Quad City Bank & Trust, Randi and Gary Segal Family, Stanley and Bernice Harris Memorial Endowment Fund, Bernard and Irene Goldstein Memorial Endowment Fund, Louis and Ida Fox Rich Fund, and David and Marlyne Weiner Family.

Deborah E. Lipstadt’s new book Antisemitism: Here and Now: Podcast Link

Curriculum cases for teaching about the Holocaust in grades 6-8 are available for free checkout by Quad City area teachers.  These cases were developed by the Curriculum Committee for the Jeff Leibovitz Special Collection of Holocaust Education Materials.
Flyer Curriculum Cases

Three curriculum case topics:
Case 1: “You Can Make A Difference: Teaching About the Holocaust”
Case 2: “They Made a Difference: Rescuers and Resisters”
Case 3: “Voices from the Holocaust: Diaries & Memoirs”

Cases 1, 2, and 3 are located at WIU-Quad Cities Library (3300 River Drive, Moline, IL). Call to schedule curriculum case checkout at 309/762-1598. No delivery service. Self pickup required. Website

Case 1 is also available at Mississippi Bend AEA9 (729-21^st St., Bettendorf, IA). Call to schedule curriculum case checkout  at 563/359-1371. Iowa schools within the AEA9 district can request AEA9 van delivery to school building.

Dr. Art Pitz was interviewed on the radio show R.O.I. on Thursday, March 7, 2019, on the topic “History of Antisemitism and American Eugenics Movement.” His interview can be found at this link or click on the “play arrow” below.

Shows air locally on Friday night on KALA 88.5 FM and 106.1 FM at 9:30 PM. After airing, the full program and web segment will be available as a podcast at: https://soundcloud.com/kalaradio

R.O.I. is produced by KALA, an affiliate of Public Radio International, which is operated by St. Ambrose University, Davenport, Iowa. The show examines important topics and events in history and current events through books, journal article, papers, and presentations. The guest and show co-hosts then discuss the topic with experts and history buffs and ask the question “How is it relevant or irrelevant in today’s world?”

Previous Holocaust-related shows on R.O.I.: