| RENOVATION AT BEIT TEREZIN |
| According to tradition the world was created in 6 days, alas, the renovation of Beit Terezin took much longer. For 2 months now we are back in the building, but not everything is ready yet. The exhibition hall "Mishkan Yaakov" was redone to conform to the quite rigid specifications of the Museum's Department, that was the condition to receive the official recognition as a museum. The existing space is not large and we did our utmost to keep the exhibition areas as large as possible. As a result there are now fewer and smaller windows. The entrance is defined by a construction serving also the display of artifacts, explanations etc. This created also a somewhat separate corner for researchers and students using computers, CD's etc. The room was equipped with special modern lighting fixtures. The internal furnishings are not yet ready.
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| We plan to open the first exhibition in May 2000. A designer in cooperation with our curator Alisa Scheck, our committee for exhibitions and the team of Beit Terezin are charged with this task.
We would like to stress here the cooperation and support we got during the renovation from Kibbutz Givat Hayim-Ihud and its members. An apartment was put at our disposal, where we could continue functioning. Our special thanks to Uri Dayag, who continuously visited the building site and supervised the work. Thanks also to Gilead Carmi and his team, who helped us with the moving. And finally, we appreciate the input by Nir Drori, whose professional advice helped very much.
The renovation was financed through contributions by our members, subventions by the Claims Conference and by the Department for Museums of the Isr. Ministry of Education and also by sums bequeathed to us by members.
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| Bilha Rubin |
| Honoring our Volunteers |
| The by now traditional event was held on December 5, 1999, (second Hanukkah light) at Beit Terezin for the many volunteers, who support us in manifold areas. The director of Beit Terezin Anita Tarsi stressed in her address, that our many activities would not be possible without the tireless cooperation of the volunteers - doing translations, giving testimony at study days and others.
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| Our chairman Dr. Eli Lawental, the head of the events planning commission Shosh Sade and Ms Ulrike von Flatow, the initiator of the Hans Krasa fund addressed the meeting too. Ms. Flatow said, that works by Terezin composers are not performed out of compassion, but because these are creations of high musical value, which should be played the world over. |
| At the concert given on the occasion young musicians from Germany and a vocalist from the Czech Republic performed works created in the ghetto by Hans Krasa, Pavel Haas, Viktor Ullmann and Gideon Klein, who perished in the Holocaust. The musicians: The Gideon Klein Trio, The Viktor Ullmann Quartet, Karla Haltwanger at the piano and Olga Cerna, mezzo-soprano - had won a competition (1999) in Germany, performing works by composers who died in the Holocaust. |
| Willy Groag talked about Gideon Klein's sister Lisa, who died in Prague aged 87. He related, that Lisa was a social worker at the girls home L-410 in ghetto Terezin - at that time there were rehearsals for Verdi's "Requiem" under the baton of Rafael Schaechter in the cellar of the building. Lisa Klein dedicated her life after the liberation to recovering works by her brother and publishing them. |
| At the end of the event each of the volunteers received a copy of the new "Guide for Terezin Visitors". |
