On Wednesday night, Nov. 26, Ill be participating in an annual memorial event for the Jews of Bergen who lost their lives in the Holocaust. As one of the very few active Jews in the Bergen area, Ill have two roles in the event - one will be the public chanting of the Hebrew memorial prayer El Malay Rachamim (together with my wife Liv) at menneskerettighetenes plass [Human Rights Square], following a torchlight procession rally through the prewar Jewish neighborhood of Møhlenpris; the second will be the presentation of one of my piano works, The Dark Path, to conclude the indoor program at Raftohuset. This is a very touching annual ceremony that has been drawing hundreds of Bergen residents for 20 years. (Quite remarkably it is organized entirely by non-Jews, and nearly all its participants are non-Jewish.) The event takes place each November 26, the anniversary of the 1942 roundup of Bergens Jews by the occupying Nazis. Everyone is welcome to attend. The event begins at 6 P.M. outside Møhlenpris Skole, with the beginning of the torchlight procession; this will wind its way through the streets of the old Jewish neighborhood, stopping outside each building where Jews lived in 1942. At each such location the names and ages of the victims of the residence will be read, together with information about their fate (if known). At about 6:45 the procession will reach menneskerettighetenes plass, where there will be speeches for the occasion, along with our davening. At 7 P.M. the crowd will re-assemble indoors at the nearby Raftohuset. The program will include a presentation of the annual Human Rights award of the Rafto Foundation, speeches, and artistic/musical performances, concluding with my piece around 8 P.M. For any readers living in or visiting the Bergen area: We would love to see you this Wednesday evening! PLEASE COME!! Here is further information about the event, in Norwegian. (My name appears near the end of the page.) laksovprisen.no/artikkel/laksovprisen-2014-gar-til-robin-hood-huset-i-bergen [The Rafto Human Rights award is from a fund established by Amalie Laksov (1911-2008) in memory of her family members who perished in Auschwitz. This years recipient is the Robin Hood Huset, which has helped foreign immigrants from E.U. countries find professional employment in Norway.]
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 06:15:27 +0000
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