Stars of the stage and screen observe International Holocaust Remembrance Day with the Museum of Jewish Heritage

It must never be forgotten that more than one million Jewish children were killed during the Holocaust and countless others survived the horror. Some, like the well-known and widely read Anne Frank, kept diaries in which they confided their hopes, fears, and experiences. In observance of this year’s International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 76th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust will present 18 Voices: A Liberation Day Reading of Young Writers’ Diaries from The Holocaust on Wednesday, January 27, at 8 pm.

Narrated by Tony Award winner Liev Schreiber (Glengarry Glen Ross), the virtual presentation will feature young actors and a roster of stars from the stage and screen reading extant diary excerpts by the children. “By giving voice to the written words of some of the Nazis’ youngest victims, the Museum honors their courage and suffering. We hope their resilient spirits will inspire our audiences,” said the Museum’s President and CEO Jack Kliger.

Readers include Skylar Astin (Pitch Perfect); Andréa Burns (On Your Feet!, In the Heights, Beauty and the Beast); Mandy Gonzalez (Hamilton, Wicked, In the Heights); Adam Kantor (Rent, Fiddler on the Roof); Telly Leung (Aladdin, Rent); Stephanie Lynne Mason (Fiddler on the Roof, Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish); Amit Rahav (Unorthodox); Eleanor Reissa (Indecent); Alexandra Silber (Fiddler on the Roof, Carousel); Danny Strong (Buffy the Vampire Slayer); Yelena Shmulenson (Orange Is the New Black); and Michael Zegen (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel); klezmer musician Daniel Kahn; author and rabbi Abby Stein; and Zalmen Mlotek, Artistic Director of the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene.

The special event, curated by Alexandra Zapruder and based on her stirring book Salvaged Pages: Young Writers’ Diaries of The Holocaust, will be streamed on JTube – a global Jewish content network created by the Museum – by the NYC institution and its distribution partners around the world. International Holocaust Remembrance Day is also being commemorated by the Museum’s award-winning exhibition Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away., which is currently on display through May 2, 2021.

In addition to its special programming, The Museum of Jewish Heritage maintains a collection of almost 40,000 artifacts, photographs, documentary films, and survivor testimonies. The building contains classrooms, a 375-seat theater (Edmond J. Safra Hall), special exhibition galleries, a resource center for educators, and a memorial art installation, Garden of Stones, designed by internationally acclaimed sculptor Andy Goldsworthy. It also houses the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene.

The Museum of Jewish Heritage.

18 Voices: A Liberation Day Reading of Young Writers’ Diaries from The Holocaust by the Museum of Jewish Heritage streams on JTube on Wednesday, January 27, at 8 pm. Tickets are free with a suggested donation. To learn more and to register, go online.

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