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Refuge: Stories of the Selfhelp Home

Posted by on Friday, October 25, 2013 in Archives, News.

The Office of the University Chaplain and Religious Life in conjunction with the Jewish Federation & Jewish Foundation of Nashville and Middle Tennessee and the Holocaust Lecture Series at Vanderbilt University invite you to this week’s event,  Refuge: Stories of the Selfhelp Home, with director Ethan Bensinger, on Tuesday, October 29, at 7pm in the Commons Center Multipurpose Room.

In the late 1930s–with the violence and destruction of Kristallnacht foreshadowing the devastation of European Jewry–a determined group of German Jewish refugees left behind well-established lives and most of their possessions and immigrated to Chicago. Here, these newcomers set out to create a supportive community for themselves and others fleeing Nazi persecution, eventually establishing the Selfhelp Home. Over time, Selfhelp has brought together over 1,000 elderly refugees and Holocaust survivors under one roof. This one-hour documentary reaches back more than 70 years to tell the stories of this last generation.  Refuge: Stories of the Selfhelp Home is at 2012 film directed by Ethan Bensinger. Immediately after the screening, Mr. Bensinger will answer questions from the audience about the film.