Past Events

How reliable are autobiographical works and biographical studies for historical work? Professor Mark Gelber (Ben-Gurion University) will discuss Stefan Zweig’s brilliant but problematic depictions of Herzl (and Zionism) and Freud (psychoanalysis, anti-Semitism, and Jewish survival) in his late autobiographical work written predominantly during the period of his American exile,“The World of Yesterday.” (1942)

The final installment of the Society for the History of Czechoslovak Jews’ lecture series entitled “Jewish Thought in Bohemian Lands and Slovakia from Late Renaissance to World War II.”

May 1, 2012 6:00 pm Acclaimed German Author Daniel Kehlmann introduces a dramatic reading of his first play “Ghosts in Princeton” in English translation.

Sunday, April 15, 11am The partners at CJH are selling out of scope and duplicate works from their collections. Pick up great books about Jewish and general history, literature, art, biographies, religion and other related topics by authors including Sholem Aleichem, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Itzik Manger, Chaim Grade and many others, priced from $1 to $10.

A lecture by the Author Andrew Nagorski. Americans were not prepared for Hitler’s rise to power nor for the extent of the horrors perpetrated by the Third Reich. The Americans who were in Germany at the time, either as diplomats, journalists, tourists or athletes, only slowly recognized the threat that was unfolding. In his new book, author Andrew Nagorski offers a startlingly fresh perspective on this heavily dissected era.

David Friedman’s talent for portraiture played a central role throughout his career and saved his life during the Holocaust. Three curators will discuss a new exhibition of his musician portraits at Deutsches Haus at NYU.

Artist David Friedmann was famous for his portraits of cultural icons in Berlin’s tumultuous 1920s and kept close ties with those most celebrated musicians of his era. Deutsches Haus at NYU and LBI are proud to present an exhibition of recovered pre-war portraits by Jewish artist David Friedmann, capturing members of Berlin’s world famous Philharmonic Orchestra.

Financed by the Third Reich, the Berlin Phil­har­monic was not only Germany’s flagship orchestra; as a major tool of Pro­pa­ganda Minister Goeb­bels, it also became an ambas­sador for the Nazi regime, par­ti­cu­larly on for­eign tours. In this docu­men­tary the spot­light is on the orchestra itself – the musi­cians, the people, and their indi­vi­dual desti­nies.

These three young graduates of London’s Royal College of Music have a passion for chamber Music. Ilya Movchan (violin) was born in Russia; Jordan Gregoris (cello) was born in France; Hannah Loewenberg-Harnest (piano) was born in New York and raised in Germany and England. At LBI, they performed works by Shostakovich, Bloch, Beethoven, and Suk.

Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer appointed an independent commission to investigate the role of the German Foreign Office during the Nazi Regime. He and one of the commission members, Dr. Norbert Frei, will discuss the initiative and the results of the investigation.