Renowned public presenter Pinchas Gutter, survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto the Nazi camps of Majdanek (where his father, mother and twin sister were murdered), Buchenwald, and the death march to Therenstadt, can be seen in many forms. Looking for a way to extend the impact of Holocaust survivors after they are no longer with us, Pinchas has worked with USC professor Stephen Smith to create what will finally be a fully 3-dimensional hologram, in which form he has ‘spoken’ to many schoolchildren and adults on both sides of the Atlantic, including to President Obama who has quoted Pinchas in one of his speeches. In Toronto, this holographic image can be seen – and talk to you – at the Neuberger Centre.
Pinchas can also be seen in a United Nations virtual reality video, walking through Majdanek, talking about and reliving some of the experiences he had there. Steven Spielberg once admitted how blown away he was by this video and how moved he was by Pinchas singing the prayer for the dead at the mound of ashes in Majdanek and by his stories. Pinchas has also been filmed for two ‘conventional documentaries that were shown in Toronto and around the world, one on his first return to Poland after 57 years and another recounting his entire journey through the war as a child.
Today Pinchas divides his time between speaking out against the Holocaust, volunteering as a chaplain, and serving as an honourary full time Cantor in the Kiever Shul.
Only the real Pinchas Gutter will present at the Narayeveh on January 29th.