Pittsburgh events to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day
korkoro
The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh will mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which falls this year on Jan. 27, with these events:
• Screening of the French drama “Korkoro,” 2 p.m. Jan. 27 at Regent Square Theater. The 2009 film tells the story of a Romani family traveling through France during World War II and trying to evade the Nazis.
The program will include a discussion of the experience of the Romani, colloquially known as Gypsies or Roma, during the Holocaust.
Tickets are $10, or free to Holocaust survivors and students with valid ID.
• Talk by Georgia Hunter, author of the New York Times bestselling novel “We Were the Lucky Ones,” 7 p.m. Feb. 5 at Carnegie Library Lecture Hall in Oakland. Hunter’s book is based on the true story of her family’s survival during the Holocaust.
Her talk is presented in partnership with Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures.
Tickets are $18 in advance or $20 at the door, or free to Holocaust survivors and students with valid ID.
“Korkoro,” which means “Alone” in the Romanes, premiered at the Montréal World Film Festival, winning the Grand Prize of the Americas. Released in France as “Liberté” in February 2010, it has been described as a “rare cinematic tribute” to those killed in the Porajmos, or the Romani genocide by the Nazis during World War II, according to the Holocaust Center.
“The Romani in Europe had faced centuries of persecution even before the Nazi rise to power, and the targeted genocide of this ethnic population during the Holocaust resulted in the loss of almost 25 percent of the Romani people,” said Lauren Bairnsfather, director of the Holocaust Center. “In commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, it is important for us to shed light on the Romani experience — one of the lesser-known aspects of the Holocaust.”
The internationally recognized date for Holocaust Remembrance Day corresponds to the 27th day of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar. It marks the anniversary of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, an act of Jewish resistance when German troops and police entered the neighborhood in German-occupied Poland to deport remaining residents to concentration camps.
Details: hcofpgh.org
Shirley McMarlin is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Shirley at 724-836-5750, smcmarlin@tribweb.com or via Twitter @shirley_trib.
Shirley McMarlin is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Shirley at 724-836-5750, smcmarlin@tribweb.com or via Twitter .
