Gouda Polak Family

① memo 20160415 ~ Gouda Polak Family ~ I stumbled across more stumbling stones (Stolpersteine) May 2014 in the sidewalk before Fluwelensingel 33 in Gouda where in 1942 the dutch family Henri Polak lived – Henri (optician) , his wife Henriëtte, and son Arnold (optician) when they were deported and killed in Auschwitz and Mauthausen that year. Also by chance I spoke the current occupant in front of his house – just returning from shopping in town – who told me they had had a little jewelery shop at the central Market Square (‘Markt’) in Gouda.

Stumbling Stones

① memo 20160413 ~ Stumbling Stones ~ Walking in the Maiselova street in Josefov , the Jewish quarter of Prague ( Praha , Czech Republic ) on March 30 , 2012 , these three brass ‘stumbling stones’ (German : Stolpersteine) in the sidewalk caught my eye.
If you look closely, you will see the three names of Alois Bergmann, born 1899, his wife, Beila Bergmannová, born in 1897, and their 11-year old daughter Růžena Bergmannová, born 1931 – all deported in 1942 via the concentration camp in Theresienstadt (Terezín, Czech Republic) to the Baranoviči extermination camp (Belorussia) where they were murdered.
Stolpersteine (stumbling stones) is a project of the german artist Gunter Demnig to remember the victims of National Socialism by installing commemorative brass ‘stones’ in the pavement in front of their last address …
Today in the dutch city Maastricht another 24 stones were installed.

CELUI QUI M’A RENDU MON ÂME

① memo 20160305 ~ CELUI QUI M’A RENDU MON ÂME ~ Film online

CELUI QUI M’A RENDU MON ÂME
PREMIÈRE FRANCOPHONE • 5 JUIN 2015 • INSTITUT SAINT SÉPULCRE • LIÈGE (BE)

[ English summary below ]

Œuvre de « Théâtre Lu » — Lecture par des élèves de 6e année secondaire général ayant réalisé l’adaptation française de la pièce « Who Returned My Soul » de Kelly Brock avec leur professeur d’anglais, monsieur Philippe Renette.

Les monologues composant le texte de cette pièce ont été dictés par les témoignages de dix survivants de l’Holocauste : Joe Birenbaum – rôle tenu ce soir par Gaurav Prashar • Edith Castoriano – rôle tenu par Stéphanie Ceven • Emery « Pinkas » Deutsch – rôle tenu par Thomas Gilson • Joe Dziubak – rôle tenu par Flamur Meha • Arno Erban – rôle tenu par Rina Imeri • Henry Frydman – rôle tenu par Ilyas Sinouh • Sabina Frydman – rôle tenu par Pauline Renard • Jacob « Jack » Gunz – rôle tenu par Sakshi Prashar • Isaac Kline – rôle tenu par Ilyas Sinouh • Ann Rosenheck – rôle tenu par Melisa Ulusoy. Ces monologues seront mis en contexte par L’Historien – rôle tenu ce soir par Humeyra Yüksel.

Tout au long du processus de traduction, les élèves ont pu compter sur les éclaircissements et les conseils de l’auteur, Madame Kelly Brock, avec laquelle les échanges furent permanents et riches par-delà l’Océan.

Ce projet a été rendu possible par le soutien inconditionnel (à distance) de Monsieur Avi Mizrachi, co-fondateur de la « Foundation For Holocaust Education Projects » à Hollywood (Floride) et de sa collaboratrice Madame Katharine Gorsuch, et le soutien des Parlantes.

Durée du spectacle : 125 minutes (deux actes avec entracte et introduction par Philippe Renette).
Film (5 mars 2016) : Michel van der Burg – michelvanderburg.com

English summary

“Celui Qui M’A Rendu Mon Âme” – Reader’s theatre – Friday evening – June 5 , 2015 – at the Saint-Sépulcre school in Liege (Belgium) the premiere of the first French-spoken adaptation of the play “Who returned my soul… “ originally by Kelly D. Brock – that retells the stories of 10 holocaust survivors – now by 6th year students of the school.

Names of the survivors and the students playing their role that night :
Joe Birenbaum – role by Gaurav Prashar • Edith Castoriano – role by Stéphanie Ceven • Emery « Pinkas » Deutsch – role by Thomas Gilson • Joe Dziubak – role by Flamur Meha • Arno Erban – role by Rina Imeri • Henry Frydman – role by Ilyas Sinouh • Sabina Frydman – role by Pauline Renard • Jacob « Jack » Gunz – role by Sakshi Prashar • Isaac Kline – role by Ilyas Sinouh • Ann Rosenheck – role by Melisa Ulusoy.
These monologues are contextualized by The Historian – role tonight by Humeyra Yüksel.

Students of the Institut Saint Sépulcre together with their ‘English’ teacher Mr. Philippe Renette – performed the French adaptation – in close cooperation .. across the ocean … with the author Ms. Kelly Brock – and supported by Mr. Avi Mizrachi, co-founder of the “Foundation For Holocaust Education Projects” in Hollywood (Florida) and his assistant Mrs. Katharine Gorsuch – and the Liege International Festival ‘les Parlantes’.

Running time: 125 minutes (two acts with intermission and introduction by Philippe Renette).
Film (March 5, 2016) : Michel van der Burg – michelvanderburg.com

Celui Qui …

① memo 20160303 ~ Celui Qui … – Tonight finished the last minute of the pre-final cut “Celui Qui M’A Rendu Mon Âme” – Première francophone (5 juin 2015) des élèves et professeur Philippe Renette de St Sépulcre – Liège , Belgique (BE)

Film Filmer Transport XX

① memo 20160228 #2 ~ Film Filmer Transport XX ~ A second version now of the film posted earlier today.
This #2 version has the image stabilised (using editing software Final Cut X) and to optimise the stabilisation results the video is shortened also.
This video was made while I was filming in one long take one row of the portraits of the TRANSPORT XX installation in Brussels, on February 28, 2009.
The short film I made then, and info on the TRANSPORT XX installation in Brussels , is available via this link on my ‘michelvanderburg’ web site.