The Transformation of Memory- Jewish Perspectives, a Trans-Atlantic panel transmitted live on October 28 between personalities in Stockholm and the 92 Y in New York City, took place on October 28 in memory of Raoul Wallenberg.
The panel was organized by the 92Y in cooperation with The Association for Jewish Culture in Sweden. The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation was one of the sponsors of the event.
In his opening words, at the 92Y, UN Deputy Secretary General Mr. Jan Eliasson said that “we are united with Stockholm to make the memory of Raoul Wallenberg alive.” He also pointed out that “we must never give up to find the whole truth” about Wallenberg’s fate.
Members of the panel engaged in a discussion about the theme of memory in their literary and artistic works. The New York panelists were Alex Kershaw and Daniel Mendelsohn. The Stockholm panelists were Etgar Keret, Georg Klein, Hilde Schramm and the moderator Lars Dencik.
Alex Kershaw, a historian, published the book The Envoy, about Raoul Wallenberg. He said: “Most of my work is with people that survived the Second World War. [In a few years] there will be no more witnesses.”
Daniel Mendelsohn published the book The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million about his search for the fate of his relatives during the Holocaust. He said, “There is an ethical distinction between memory and commemoration.”
The Israeli writer Etgar Keret talked about his father and “how he chose to tell the narrative of his memory.”
The Conference continues in Stockholm until October 30.
