In partnership with Hashomer Hatzair Canada, Oraynu is hosting a speaker for our annual Holocaust Education Week (HEW) program. This year, Yaakov Guterman will join us from his home, via Zoom, on Kibbutz Haogen in Israel, to share his story and inspirational words, followed by a Q&A.

Guterman, born 1935 in Plotsk, Poland, is known for illustrating more than 150 books for children and adults, including one that is based on his father’s extraordinary efforts to document the atrocities happening around them in Poland. Guterman, who lost a son in the 1982 Lebanon War, is also a long-time, active member of the Israeli-Palestinian Bereaved Families for Peace.

As Holocaust survivors become fewer in number, this is a unique opportunity to hear from someone who has experienced devastating loss and tragedy and continues to fight against hate and racism in his home in Israel. He has been quoted as saying, “I learned from the Holocaust to despise nationalism and racism… I should say that I simply despise hatred.”

For more info on Mr. Guterman, go to : https://www.jewishtelegraph.com/prof_330.html OR https://www.theparentscircle.org/en/stories/yaakov-guterman_eng/

Holocuast Education Week, an initiative led by the UJA across the GTA, is focused on “thoughtful and pedagogically sound programming that remembers the past while helping build a strong, civil society that respects diversity while dispelling antisemitic and racist myths.”

No charge to attend, but please register in advance to receive your Zoom link. https://www.oraynu.org/event/holocaust-education-week-program-yaakov-guterman-artist-illustrator-and-holocaust-survivor/?instance_id=166434