Bella Mischkinsky Memorial Lectures
A Mother's Letter from the Grave: The Frank Grunwald Collection
Date: October 5, 2023
Time: 12:30 PM
Location: Globe Hall, Germantown Campus
About the Speaker
Judith Cohen is a graduate of Harvard University in History and Literature and received her MA from Brandeis in Contemporary Jewish Studies. She originally came to the Holocaust Museum in 1995 to work on the exhibition “Hidden History of the Kovno Ghetto” before moving to the Photo Archives where she later served as its director before becoming head of the Curatorial Acquisitions and Reference branch and chief acquisitions curator. She has curated web exhibits and written and co-authored articles on the Museum’s collection entitled “Memento Mori: Photographs from the Grave,” “Three Approaches to Exploring the Höcker Album,” ”Jewish Ghetto Photographers,” “The Mantello Rescue Mission,” “Roman Vishniac: A Different Kind of Holocaust Photographer” and “Virtual Tombstones: The Power of Holocaust Photography.” Following her retirement from the Museum in 2020, she worked as a part-time researcher for the museum’s permanent exhibition revitalization project focusing primarily on Jewish rescuers.
About Bella Mischkinsky and the Annual Memorial Lecture Series
Bella, a Holocaust survivor, was born in September1922 in Lodz, Poland. She came
to the United States in 1946, moving later to Montgomery County, Maryland. She retired
to Clearwater, Florida to live near her sister Irene Glassberg, and other dear family
members.
Bella was active as a volunteer with the United States Holocaust Museum and with the
Montgomery College Alumni Association. Over the years, she developed deep ties to,
and lasting friendships with the College, our faculty and staff. Bella was also one
of our students. She and her husband Hank (Henry) Bermanis enrolled in Dr. Myrna
Goldenberg’s course, Literature of the Holocaust. She told Dr. Goldenberg that she
was taking to class to be sure that the class accurately portrayed the Holocaust.
Reassured by her experiences in class, she committed to a legacy of Holocaust scholarship
at MC. This series is supported by a generous gift from Bella’s estate.
Each year the Bella Mischkinsky Memorial Lecture brings a scholar, journalist, or
advocate to the College - to deepen our understanding about the history of the Holocaust—and
to help students make relevant connections across time, across disciplines and to
their own lives and actions.
The Frank Islam Athenaeum Symposia at Montgomery College
Bella Mischkinsky Memorial Lecture Speakers
Judith Cohen is a graduate of Harvard University in History and Literature and received her MA from Brandeis in Contemporary Jewish Studies. She originally came to the Holocaust Museum in 1995 to work on the exhibition “Hidden History of the Kovno Ghetto” before moving to the Photo Archives where she later served as its director before becoming head of the Curatorial Acquisitions and Reference branch and chief acquisitions curator. She has curated web exhibits and written and co-authored articles on the Museum’s collection entitled “Memento Mori: Photographs from the Grave,” “Three Approaches to Exploring the Höcker Album,” ”Jewish Ghetto Photographers,” “The Mantello Rescue Mission,” “Roman Vishniac: A Different Kind of Holocaust Photographer” and “Virtual Tombstones: The Power of Holocaust Photography.” Following her retirement from the Museum in 2020, she worked as a part-time researcher for the museum’s permanent exhibition revitalization project focusing primarily on Jewish rescuers.
Holocaust survivor Dora Klayman will talk about her life in Croatia during World War II. She will discuss the particulars of the persecution of Jews by the Ustasa, the Croatian allies of Nazi Germany, which cost the lives of thousands, including many of her close family members. Dora will also recount the challenges she experienced after the war, and her path to become an educator.
Theodora Klayman was born Teodora Rahela Basch in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, on January 31, 1938. Her father, Salamon, owned and operated a small brush manufacturing plant. Her mother, Silva, a teacher, grew up in Ludbreg, a small town in northwest Croatia, where her father, Josef Leopold Deutsch, served as the community rabbi for more than 40 years.
In April 1941, while Theodora—whom the family called “Dorica”—was visiting her grandparents and extended family in Ludbreg, Nazi Germany invaded Yugoslavia. Croatia came under the control of the fascist Ustaša regime, which collaborated with the Nazis. By June, Teodora’s parents and infant brother, Zdravko, were arrested. Their housekeeper was able to get Zdravko released from jail and his mother’s family then took him to Ludbreg. Teodora and Zdravko’s father was deported to the Jasenovac concentration camp and their mother to Stara Gradiska, a subcamp of Jasenovac.
The recipient of degrees from the University of Maryland in French and in teaching English as a second language, Theodora taught in the Maryland public school system for 30 years. She has two children and has volunteered at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum since 1999.
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