On November1, 2005, the United Nations General Assembly decided to designate January27 as the annual International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust.
This year’s commemoration was particularly moving, thanks to fresh and highly creative expressions of empathy and courage, despite the challenges posed by the global spread of COVID-19 and the resulting restrictions in much of the world. Below we present two models used by Dr. David Serrano Blanquer in Barcelona this year.
Charlotte of Grünberg
General Director of the
Universidad ORT Uruguay
Department of Jewish Studies - About International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Text by David Serrano Blanquer, Visiting Professor at Universidad ORT Uruguay Director of the documentary film “Giza, the Girl with the Suitcase”.
How can we commemorate a date like this in these times? What is the best way to remember, denounce, and prevent the evils of totalitarianism?
The truth is that these are questions with no easy answers. However, the only thing that is clear is that you must take the initiative, get down to business, and do whatever it takes to pull through.
The first venue I found was an impressive Modernist theater, the Ateneu de Igualada (a town near Barcelona known since the Middle Ages for its exquisite leatherwork and dyeing), where we screened the documentary produced by the Universidad ORT Uruguay the Ramón Llull University of Barcelona, “Giza, the Girl with the Suitcase” (Best Documentary Award at the Punta del Este Jewish Film Festival, 2014).
The theater is a majestic building dating from 1878, featuring an auditorium and two floors of beautiful boxes, where Margarita Xirgu premiered García Lorca’s *Yerma* in 1935. With an enthusiastic limited capacity of over 300 full seats (more was impossible due to COVID-19 restrictions, despite the waiting list), an overwhelming silence filled the room during the 49 minutes of the compelling story of Giza and Danusia, two beautiful women who demonstrate their courage when facing the most extreme situations anyone can imagine.
Two women who symbolize resistance and the fight against barbarism, against oblivion, and against the repetition of horror. The subsequent open discussion with an engaged audience was intense and profound, until Giza finally appeared on screen to speak with them. There was an initial shock followed by a fervent standing ovation. Emotion, more applause, tears—a flood of emotions that continued with up to three more rounds of applause.
And I am convinced that these women’s legacy is undeniable. They clearly show us the way forward with their unwavering commitment to justice. I still remember Danusia’s last hug in Warsaw two months before she left us—her strength, her humility, and her sharp, mischievous gaze. I left in tears; I knew she would be gone soon, but I had had the honor of meeting one of the bravest women I have ever met. Giza continues to guide me, and she will continue to guide me always; she starts the countdown until we can hug again, even though COVID-19 keeps us apart.
The second event, also on the 27th and held at the Theatre Principal de Sabadell (one of the oldest theaters in Catalonia, dating back to 1839, featuring an auditorium and three luxurious tiers of boxes), where I organized a tribute to the victims and survivors through art and literature, with an adaptation of “Whereabouts Unknown,” a prescient, courageous, and exemplary novel by another great woman, Katherine Kressmann Taylor.
In 1938, Kressmann Taylor dared to show what would happen in Europe and around the world if the movement that was beginning to emerge in Germany succeeded. She had to do so under a male pseudonym in order to be heard. It was a warning, a warning that American society had to heed. I had held the text close to my heart for many years, and it was precisely when my heart failed, just three years ago, that I decided I had to bring this text by this third great woman to the stage.
And not only that, I had to do it in the shoes of Max Eisenstein, a German who watches as his country and his people subtly but relentlessly succumb to the destructive force of a brutal movement. He witnesses this from San Francisco, in the United States, where he has built an art import business alongside his German childhood friend, Martin Schulz (Josep M. Roviralta), who in 1932 decides to return to Germany with his family.
From that point on, everything changes. What a talent Kressmann Taylor has, to make us see that change in the world through simple words reflected in the letters exchanged over the course of a single year between Max and Martin, Martin and Max! Friendship, love, solidarity, trust—everything, absolutely everything, comes to a head even before the outbreak of a war that is not yet in sight.
A fast-paced story, brimming with mounting intrigue that draws the viewer into a whirlwind of emotions, captivated by the spoken words and by a magical violin—that of Canòlich Prats, violinist with the Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès—which conveys the evolution of the two characters and the emotions the audience is experiencing. As a spectator, the silence is filled with moving words; as an actor, the spoken words come from the depths of the heart.
We formed the Som-2 theater group to bring this play to the stage, and for that reason alone, the trip was already worth it. We will continue to take it to theaters and schools as long as the music and the story allow us to.
Watch the documentary “Giza, the Girl with the Suitcase”.
