ATLANTIC CITY - The Stockton University Sara and Sam Schoffer Holocaust Resource Center will present a screening of the award-winning documentary “J’Accuse! A Cry from the Killing Pits of Lithuania” that details a new form of Holocaust denial in Lithuania.
The film, which has won awards at the Berlin Indie Film Festival and the Australian Jewish Film Festival among others, examines the Lithuanian government’s role in protecting individuals who perpetrated crimes against Jews during the Holocaust.
The free and open to the public screening will take place at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27, at the Fannie Lou Hamer Event Room at Stockton Atlantic City, 3711 Atlantic Ave.
After the film, there will be a panel discussion featuring Holocaust survivor Daniel Kochavi and Leo Schoffer, a member of the center’s Executive Committee and the son of Sara and Sam Schoffer, who are Holocaust survivors from what is now Lithuania. Kochavi was a hidden child in Paris and his mother, Judith, grew up in the Lithuanian village of Vilkija. The discussion will be moderated by Michael Hayse, a Stockton associate professor of History and the director of the center’s Holocaust Survivors of South Jersey Project.
Michael Kretzmer’s film focuses on Jonas Noreika, a Lithuanian military officer and Nazi collaborator, who was complicit in the murder of an estimated 14,500 Jews. Today, Noreika is celebrated as a national hero by the Lithuanian government. The film further examines the government’s role in downplaying the mass murder of about 220,000 Lithuanian Jews during the Holocaust — 96% of the country’s total Jewish population.
For New Jersey educators, 2.0 professional development hours are offered. Refreshments will be provided. While the event is free, RSVP is required by calling 609-652-4699 or emailing [email protected].
The screening and panel discussion are co-sponsored by the Board of Jewish Education of Atlantic and Cape May Counties, the Jewish Federation of Atlantic and Cape May Counties and the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education.
