Holocaust diary is basis of exhibition at YSU

Holocaust diary is basis of exhibition at YSU

YOUNGSTOWN — There will be a preview of the exhibition “In Her Father’s Eyes: A Slovak Childhood in the Shadow of the Holocaust,” at 7 p.m. Monday in the Chestnut Room in Kilcawley Center on the Youngstown State University campus. The exhibition tells the story of Kitty Weicherz, a Jewish girl born the same year as Anne Frank whose short life was captured by her father’s prewar and wartime diary. The preview will feature a lecture by Dr. Daniel Magilow of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, who translated the diary and published it as “In Her Father’s Eyes: A Childhood Extinguished by the Holocaust.” After Monday’s preview, the exhibition will move to the Museum of Labor and Industry (the steel museum) on Wood Street.

The exhibition text was researched and written by YSU students and created in conjunction with the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and Kennesaw State University. The exhibition opened at the Embassy of Slovakia in Washington, D.C., in June 2008 and has been traveling around the country. It is based on the diary of B la Weichherz, who began a diary when his wife, Esti, gave birth to the couple’s only daughter, Kitty, in December 1929 in Slovakia. After the Nazis annexed Slovakia in 1938, Jews there were harshly persecuted. The Weichherzes were put to death at Auschwitz.

The exhibition is free and open to the public. For more information, call the Center for Judaic and Holocaust Studies at (330) 941-1604.

Joki in lunch program at community center

YOUNGSTOWN — Local theater veteran Robert Dennick Joki will perform selections from his one-man show and talk about upcoming events at the Oakland Center for the Arts in a noon luncheon program Wednesday at the Jewish Community Center on Gypsy Lane. Guest chef will be Naomi Fine, who was the caterer for Temple El Emeth for more than 25 years. Tickets are $9 ($7 for JCC members); $10 day of event. Call Darlene at (330) 746-3251, ext. 106.

Toys for Tots benefit will feature 6 bands

LAKE MILTON — A Toys for Tots benefit show with six local bands will be from 1 to 9 p.m. Sunday at the American Legion hall, 16465 Milton Road. Bands will include Southern Justice, Sara Warner and Friends, John Ruman, Rough Edges, Head to Toe and Nite Life. Admission is $5 or an unwrapped toy with a value of at least $5. For more information or to make a donation, call (330) 469-2056.