Jüdisches Museum Frankfurt am Main

Fritz Bauer Institut in Kooperation mit dem LBI London, den Freunden und Förderern des Leo Baeck Instituts e.V. und dem Jüdischen Museum

Der Vortrag geht den Einflüssen auf das bildnerische Schaffen Else Lasker-Schülers nach und zeigt u. a., welche Rolle Franz Marc bei der Entwicklung der Künstlerin vom Zeichen zum Bildhaften hatte. Er würdigt ihr Werk im Hinblick auf die neuen Impulse, die von ihm ausgehen. Ricarda Dick beschäftigt sich seit vielen Jahren intensiv mit Leben und Werk von Else Lasker-Schüler. Sie ist Autorin und Herausgeberin des Werkverzeichnisses „Else Lasker-Schüler. Die Bilder”, das im Auftrag des Jüdischen Museums im Jüdischen Verlag des Suhrkamp-Verlags als Katalog erscheint.

Lilo Günzler und ihre Familie haben den nationalsozialistischen Terror überlebt. Es hat Jahrzehnte gedauert, bis die Tochter einer jüdischen Mutter und eines „arischen“ Vaters“ über ihre bedrückenden Erlebnisse „Endlich reden“ konnte. Ihre Erinnerungen erschienen Ende 2009 im Frankfurter Henrich Verlag. Lilo Günzler lebte bis zur Zerstörung im März 1944 im Rothschildhaus im Wollgraben, der ehemaligen Judengasse. Hier möchte Lilo Günzler mit einer Lesung ihrer jüdischen Mutter und Vorfahren gedenken.

Lev Raphael
My Germany: A Jewish Writer Returns to the World His Parents Escaped

Welcome remarks by
Fritz Backhaus, Director Museum Judengasse
Edward M. Alford, Consul General of the United States of America

The reading and discussion will be conducted in English.

"As the New York-born son of eastern European Jews who barely survived the Holocaust, Lev Raphael grew up in a world haunted by secrets and ghosts. Having spent years fleeing from his parents’ past, he decided to confront that past and, in the process, to come to grips with Germany, the country he blamed for the horrors visited on his parents and, indirectly, on himself. My Germany is part travelogue and part detective story, as Raphael sets out to trace what happened to his parents and their families during the war. Above all, it is a wholly enthralling, beautifully written story of healing and forgiveness, in which Raphael not only sheds his hatred and fear of Germany but comes to a deeper, richer understanding of his parents and Jewish heritage—and, above all, of himself."  — Lynne Olson, Author of Troublesome Young Men

"Stunning and powerful ... Lev Raphael’s memoir is a superb work combining intellectual rigor with emotional honesty." — Alan L. Berger, Raddock Family Eminent Scholar Chair of Holocaust Studies, Florida Atlantic University

“Lev Raphael writes with the precision of a neurosurgeon, the warmth of an ancient storyteller, and the soul of a people that has known the extremes of joy and sorrow, hope and despair, love and hate more than almost any other.” — The Jewish Bulletin, San Francisco

My Germany is a moving, beautifully written account of a personal quest that is remarkable not just for its take on a rarely discussed subject, but for the writer's own (never mentioned) bravery as he attempts to retrace his parents' steps. In reconstructing this part of their lives, he constructs his own. It is impossible to read Raphael's story without feeling a sense of awe at what he was able to accomplish. And without feeling the inspiration to confront our own travails, using them to strengthen our own lives with the same kind of determination." — Nicki Leone, Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance

Raphael is the author of nineteen books in genres from mystery to memoir.  He has spoken about his work on three continents and is best known for his prize-winning fiction and creative non-fiction about the children of Holocaust survivors, which he's been publishing since 1978.  Lev has written hundreds of reviews and essays for The Detroit Free Press, Jerusalem Report, Forward, The Washington Post, The Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Boston Review and Lambda Book Report. A former radio talk show host, he currently reviews for WKAR 90.5 FM in East Lansing, MI and writes the Book Brunch column for Bibliobuffet.com. Lev lives in Okemos, Michigan. (More: http://www.levraphael.com)