A Question of Survival (55 minutes, English, subtitles available) is an eye-opening portrait of three Bulgarian Jews—Chaim Zemach, a cellist; Robert Bakish, an engineer; and Misha Avramoff, a social worker on Manhattan’s Lower East Side—as they struggle to place their unusual experiences during World War II into the more common narrative of the Holocaust.
Chaim, Robert, and Misha were children and young adults when Bulgaria’s pro-Nazi regime planned, and then cancelled, the deportation of the country’s 48,000 Jews. The film explores the complex legacy of the Holocaust in the Balkans through their eyes and through their questions about the term “survivor.”
Join the Museum for a special screening of A Question of Survival followed by a live discussion with the film’s director Elka Nikolova.
The screening and discussion will occur both virtually and in person in the Museum’s Edmond J. Safra Hall. To attend the program in person, register here. To attend the program from home by watching the livestream, register here.
Live closed captions will not be available during this program, but closed captions will be available afterwards on the program recording that will be found on the Museum’s YouTube channel.
A $10 suggested donation enables us to present programs like this one. We thank you for your support.
Hosted in partnership with Senior Programming Consultant Nancy Collet, founder of Cinema Collet.
We would like to express our appreciation to the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) for supporting this public program. Through recovering the assets of the victims of the Holocaust, the Claims Conference enables organizations around the world to provide education about the Shoah and to preserve the memory of those who perished.
Public programming at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust is made possible, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; a Humanities New York CARES Grant with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the federal CARES Act; and other generous donors.
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