Irene Levin Berman, a child Holocaust survivor, was born and raised in Norway. As a small Jewish child in 1942 she escaped with her parents to Sweden, a neutral country during World War II, to avoid annihilation.
Nazi Germany had invaded Norway and the deportation of the Norwegian Jews has begun. Seven members of her father's immediate family were among the 771 victims who were unable to escape and were murdered in Auschwitz.
In 2007 Irene was forced to examine the label of being a Holocaust survivor. Her strong dual identity as a Norwegian and a Jew led her to share her story to help answer the many questions from her American contemporaries and to bear witness to a largely untold chapter in the tragic history of the Holocaust. It also includes descriptions of how her family functioned during the first two years of the war and how they planned and carried out their escape to neutral Sweden, in addition to vivid collections of their three years in exile in Sweden.
Irene Levin Berman has lived in the United States most of her adult life.
The events will take place 6pm, Monday November 5th at The Larson Room, American Swedish Institute, 2600 Park Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55407
and
6pm, Friday November 9th at the Temple Israel, 2324 Emerson Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55405
A book signing will take place after the lectures.
For the event at the ASI, please RSVP to hcg.minneapolis@mfa.no or call 612-332-3338 by November 1st.
For the event at the Temple Israel, please RSVP to Wendy Schwartz at 612-374-0344 or wendy@templeisrael.com