HERE THERE ARE BLUEBERRIES

Holocaust Museum LA is the first survivor-founded and oldest Holocaust museum in the United States. Its genesis dates to the 1960s, when a group of survivors met and discovered that each of them had a photograph, document, or personal item from before the war. They decided that these artifacts needed a permanent home where they could be displayed safely and in perpetuity. They also wanted a place to memorialize their loved ones who perished and help to educate the public so that no one would ever forget.

Founded in 1961, Holocaust Museum LA is the only cultural institution in Los Angeles with a sole focus on the horrific impact and the enormity of the Holocaust that is free for students. Through customized tours, artifact-rich exhibitions, creative educational programs, and intergenerational conversations with survivors, the Museum teaches students and visitors to think critically about the lessons of the Holocaust and its social relevance today. Museum admission is always free for students from anywhere across the globe.

Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE) provides a unique historical lens to study contemporary ethics. Each year, FASPE awards 80-90 fellowships to graduate students in business, clergy, journalism, law, medicine, and design & technology. Fellows spend 2 weeks in Germany and Poland, visiting Auschwitz and key sites, where they examine the roles their counterparts played in Nazi Germany and explore the ethical issues in their fields today. FASPE was piloted in 2009 and has over 900 Alumni across the globe. FASPE has been a content and conversation partner to the Tectonic artistic team throughout the development of Here There Are Blueberries providing historical context and curating engagement events for audiences. More: www.faspe-ethics.org 

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is a global Jewish human rights activist organization that confronts antisemitism, hate, defends the safety of Israel and Jews worldwide, and teaches the lessons of the Holocaust for future generations through its advocacy and education programs, investigations, research, reporting, media, films, and museums. Headquartered in Los Angeles the SWC has an international footprint with offices in New York, Chicago, Miami, Toronto, Paris, Berlin, Jerusalem, and Buenos Aires, is an accredited Non-Governmental Organization at the United Nations, UNESCO, the Organization of American States, the Latin American Parliament, and the Council of Europe, and maintains relationships with the highest levels of governments throughout the world.

Join us for a post-performance reception in the Jim and Eleanor Randall Grand Hall sponsored by LAArtsOnline.com. Enjoy light bites and specialty beverages as we gather for an unforgettable evening of art, history, and storytelling. Mingle with fellow theatergoers and immerse yourself in the powerful themes of this critically acclaimed production. Raise a glass to an extraordinary night of thought-provoking performance and conversation!

How do you make a play from an album of photographs? Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich discuss the 8 year journey of HERE THERE ARE BLUEBERRIES.

The lawyers, doctors, business executives, clergy, engineers, journalists, and other professionals designed, enabled, and executed the policies of National Socialism. What can we learn today from the actions and motivations of those professionals?

Panelist: Gabriel Kahn, Professor of Professional Practice of Journalism, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism; FASPE Journalism Faculty. David Goldman, Chair, FASPE

How can seemingly normal people commit horrific acts during weekdays and enjoy family and professional relaxation on weekends? Can evil be compartmentalized? Could the Kommandant of Auschwitz have been a good father to his children—who lived in a comfortable villa a short distance from their father’s office at Auschwitz? 

Panelists: David Goldman, Chair, FASPE, and Father Steven Bell, CSP, Paulist Mission Priest, FASPE Clergy Faculty

Auschwitz was liberated 80 years ago; we have seen genocides since 1945. Why do we continue to study the Holocaust; why does the Holocaust remain so much a part of contemporary pedagogy, literature, ethics and more? What is the role of Holocaust study in a post-survivor world?

Panelists: David Goldman, Chairman, FASPE, Helen I. Bendix, Associate Justice, Division One, Second District Court of Appeal, and Danijel Skrelja, Deputy Consul General, Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany, Los Angeles

The play opens a window into the norms of Nazi perpetrators and complicit professionals. In the 1930s and 1940s, German society experienced a gradual, comprehensive, ever-accelerating transformation of its system of ethical and moral values among doctors, lawyers, accountants, and more. Their role is central to the play, and raises pressing questions about contemporary professional ethics.

Panelist: Nina Bondre, Senior LDPR Specialist, Medtronic; 2024 FASPE Business Fellow. Thorsten Wagner, Executive Director for Academics, FASPE.

The play opens a window into the norms of Nazi perpetrators and complicit professionals. In the 1930s and 1940s, German society experienced a gradual, comprehensive, ever-accelerating transformation of its system of ethical and moral values among doctors, lawyers, accountants, and more. Their role is central to the play, and raises pressing questions about contemporary professional ethics.

Panelist: Thorsten Wagner, Executive Director for Academics, FASPE