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2018 Monna and Otto Weinmann Annual Lecture “Far from Us, But Close at Heart”: Sephardic Jews in America Confront the Holocaust

Public Program
A Jewish family poses in front of Parthenon, circa 1930–1931. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Isaac Nehama

A Jewish family poses in front of Parthenon, circa 1930–1931. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Isaac Nehama

In the annual Weinmann lecture, Dr. Devin Naar will weave together two overlooked stories not part of the mainstream Holocaust narrative: the devastating experiences of Sephardic Jews in Nazi-occupied Greece and the frantic efforts of their relatives in the United States to come to their aid. By tracing the deep connections maintained among Sephardic Jews in the United States and their native communities in Greece, Dr. Naar will reconstruct the efforts of individuals, families, and organizations like the Sephardic Brotherhood of America to respond to the rise of Nazi Germany, the outbreak of World War II, and the ultimate destruction of Greece’s Jews. Continuing with their postwar efforts to commemorate their native communities in Greece, Sephardic Jews in America sought to show that although halfway across the globe, they remained “close at heart.”

Speaker
Devin Naar, Isaac Alhadeff Professor in Sephardic Studies, Associate Professor of History, and faculty at the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies in the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington

This event will be followed by a reception in the Museum's Hall of Witness.

This annual lecture has been made possible by Janice Weinman Shorenstein.