Searching for Hope & Survival in Sarajevo
Location
Fontbonne University, Lewis Room
Description
A public presentation by filmmaker Edward Serotta with screenings of his Nightline documentary, Searching for which was based on his book, Survival in Sarajevo: How a Jewish Community Came to the Aid of Its City.
Event Type
Film
Start Date
11-2009 7:00 PM
COinS
Nov 1st, 7:00 PM
Searching for Hope & Survival in Sarajevo
Fontbonne University, Lewis Room
A public presentation by filmmaker Edward Serotta with screenings of his Nightline documentary, Searching for which was based on his book, Survival in Sarajevo: How a Jewish Community Came to the Aid of Its City.
Additional Notes
Searching for Hope: The Sarajevo Haggadah (1986)
ABC News Nightline, 22 minutes
Somewhere in the war torn city of Sarajevo lies a manuscript worth a million dollars called the "Sarajevo Haggadah." There are many copies of this book, but the whereabouts of the original are shrouded in a whirl of rumors. It's been stolen, destroyed, lost or sold. It is, after all, priceless. A Haggadah is the book that Jewish families use every Passover, or Pesach, to tell the story of the exodus from Egypt. It was in the year 1350 or thereabouts in medieval Spain, Barcelona, that a wealthy Jewish family commissioned an artist, a Jewish artist, to make this particular Haggadah for them. It is known to be the first Jewish book of the Middle Ages with pictorial decorations. The family was able to enjoy it for 40 years until anti-Jewish riots swept the streets of Barcelona. Jews were murdered in the streets, and everyone who could ran for their lives. One family grabbed this book - But what happened to it after that? ABC news sets out to search for the whereabouts of the "Sarajevo Haggadah."
Survival in Sarajevo: Friendship in a Time of War (1994)
Centropa, 12 minutes
The story of how an old synagogue in the Bosnian war zone became a beacon of hope for everyone. During the Bosnian war (1992-1995), the Jewish community of Sarajevo refused to take sides, opened their own humanitarian aid agency inside the city's synagogue, and were soon joined by their Muslim, Croat and Serbian friends. While outside of the besieged Bosnian capital, nationalist politicians swore these ethnic groups could not get along, here's a group of people who never got the memo. In this European war, Jews were not the victims. In this war, Jews were saving Muslims and Christians. An inspiring story of friendship and commitment.