East Brunswick library hosts Jews of Belarus Holocaust program – MyCentralJersey.com

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As the world recognizes Holocaust Remembrance Day, or "Yom HaShoah" as it is known in Hebrew, on Monday, the East Brunswick Public Library will present the fourth annual installment in the series The Jews of Eastern Europe Before The Holocaust on April 30. The multimedia event of lectures and music were created by Holocaust survivor Michael Kesler. Since Kesler's retirement in 2006, he has written extensively of his and his late wifes experiences during World War II.(Photo: ~Courtesy of Michael Kesler)

EAST BRUNSWICK As the world recognizesHolocaust Remembrance Day on Monday, the East Brunswick Public Library will present thefourth annual installment in the series The Jews of Eastern Europe Before The Holocaust on April 30.

This years program will focuson the Jews of Belarus and the Baltic States.Previous programs, which were attended by more than 250 people,highlighted the Jews of Ukraine, the Jews of Polandand the Jews of Russia.

The internationally recognized date for Holocaust Remembrance Day, or "Yom HaShoah" as itis known in Hebrew,corresponds to the 27th day of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar. It marks the anniversary of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in Poland.

The multimedia event of lectures and music were created by Holocaust survivor Michael Kesler. Exploringthe long history and rich culture of the regions Jews, thisprogram in particular delves into the Jews of Belarus and the Baltic States, whohad a significant presence before theirextinction by the Germans and their allies.

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Since Kesler'sretirement from the petroleum industry in 2006, hehas written extensively of his and his late wifes experiences during World War II.

"I believe it is important that our people, particularly the new generation, appreciate the roots they sprung from, since nearly three-quarters of American Jews derive their origins from that area," Kesler said. "To paraphrase Stalin, a mass-murder 'cousin'of Hitler: 'A million killed is a statistic, a single death is a tragedy.' In my waning years as a survivor, I want people of the community to get an up-close look at the people behind the 6million number of those who had perished from 1939 through 1945 at the hands of Hitler and his followers."

Kesler said the first part of the program focuses onthe history of the region.

"During the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, this area brimmed over with Jewish scholarship and new cultural and social movements," he said. "It became the center of traditional houses of study. It was where the so-called Lubavitch branch of Hasidism emerged. At the same time, it spawned Jewish rationalism under the leadership of the Gaon(genius) of Vilna, which paved the way for enlightenment, Zionismand secularism."

Rabbi Esther Reed, senior associate director of Hillel at Rutgers University, will preview the series, the programand the participants.Professor Glenn Dynner of the Sarah Lawrence College faculty, and a member of the Princeton Institute of Advanced Study, will review the history of Jewish life in the major cities of Belarus and the Baltic States, such as Grodno, Minsk, Bialystok, Kovnoand Marc Chagalls birthplace, Vitebsk.Rabbi Joshua Finkelstein of the East Brunswick Jewish Center will offer reflections on the regions passed-down heritage. There also will be a Q&A session.

The second part will introduce the Jewish music of that period, based in part on Eleanor Gordon Mloteks book "Mir Trogn a Gezang."Dr. Tamara Reps Freeman, an ethnomusicologist, will lead the programs selections of traditional and classical compositions and playa 1935 Joseph Bausch viola rescued from the Holocaust.

Tenor Michael Kesler,alto Susan Hornstein, recorder player Donna Messer, vocalist Deborah Gerberand pianist David Schlossbergwill join Freemanwith a performance of songs such as "Sleep, Yankele," alullaby by Mordechai Gebertig, "Margaritkelech (Daisies)," byZalman Schneur, a Yiddish poet and novelist from Vilna, "Shterndl(My Little Star) " by Moshe Kulbak, aJewish poet who was executed duringStalins reign of terror against Jewish intellectuals, "Caprice Hbraqueby Alexander Krein, a Soviet composer born in Belarus, "Rachel"from the Opera La Juive by Jacques Halvy, a contemporary of Verdi and "Ale Brider(All Brothers)" by Morris Winchevsky, born in Kovno, Belarus.

The ensemblealso will perform arendition of "Tumbalalaika," a well-known and beloved folk song with lyrics of the first two stanzas by Gedalia Evin, Messers grandfather.

Theprogram is sponsored by the East Brunswick Public Library, the Karma Foundation, the Jewish Federation in the Heart of New Jerseyand the East Brunswick Jewish Center. The event will take place at the East Brunswick Public Library, 2 Jean Walling Civic Center, at2:30 pm. April 30. The program is free and open to the public. Registration is not required.

Staff Writer Cheryl Makin: 732-565-7256; cmakin@mycentraljersey.com

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East Brunswick library hosts Jews of Belarus Holocaust program - MyCentralJersey.com