Holocaust survivor Lili Gordon will help Blinn College students understand the horrors of World War II and the Holocaust with a special presentation at the Blinn-Brenham campus on Monday, March 30.
The 7pm presentation will be hosted at the Dr. W.W. O’Donnell Performing Arts Center located at 600 Blinn Boulevard. Admission is free and open to the public.
Gordon is one of the youngest Holocaust survivors in Texas, and is a dynamic speaker who frequently shares her story with organizations and schools across Texas. She has been actively involved in the Houston Holocaust Museum and served as president of the Houston Council of Holocaust Survivors.
“It’s one thing to read about the Holocaust in a textbook, but then to meet somebody that went through it is another experience,” says Debbi Vavra, assistant dean for the Division of Visual & Performing Arts.
Ti “Cindy” Schulz will accompany Gordon’s presentation with classical piano works and Blinn College Board of Trustees member Leon Toubin will speak about the recent move of the B’Nai Abraham Synagogue from Brenham to Austin.
“Music was a big part of helping the Jewish people survive the horrors of the Holocaust,” Vavra says.
The presentation is part of the Division of Visual & Performing Arts interdisciplinary initiative “The Butterfly Project: Remembering Children of the Holocaust.” This initiative was developed with the help of the Blinn College Foundation.
Gordon’s presentation comes days before the Blinn-Brenham Theatre Arts Program debuts its production of “I Never Saw Another Butterfly,” April 9-10 at the O’Donnell Center MRW Studio Theatre in the O’Donnell Center. Celeste Raspanti’s one-act play tells the story of a young girl living in a concentration camp. The play is named after the book, a collection of art and poetry by Jewish children who lived in the concentration camp Theresienstadt.
Tickets to the play are $5 and available at www.blinn.edu/boxoffice, by emailing boxoffice@blinn.edu or by calling (979) 830-4024. Tickets are free to Blinn students, faculty and staff.
In addition to the play, the Blinn College Camerata and Women’s Chorus will perform selected works related to this time period April 23 at 7pm in the Finke Recital Hall in the C.F. Schmidt Building.
