In the context of the International Remembrance Day of the Holocaust, Astrid Sy will give a memorial lecture in Synagogue Groningen. Astrid Sy is a historian, writer and presenter of Andere Tijden. In her lecture, Astrid takes the audience through the writing process and reflects on the challenges of writing a novel about a fraught history. The lecture will take place on Thursday 26 January at 4 p.m. Admission is free, registration is required.
On January 27, 1945, the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp was liberated. Since 2006, this date has been set as an international day of remembrance. Memorial lectures were previously given in Synagogue Groningen by Ron van Hasselt (2020) and Bert Jan Flim (2022). When Astrid Sy at the age of 22, was doing an internship at the Holocaust institute Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, she read an article from 1986 about a Crèche in Amsterdam. Six hundred Jewish children were rescued from the building from certain death during the occupation of the Netherlands in World War II. This story never left her. In 2021, her book Noem geen namen was published, about three young women who rescued Jewish children from the Nazis during World War II. For the book, Astrid was inspired by the courageous women and men who were involved in the rescue work from the Crèche.
Complexity and sensitivities
Writing this book was a personal quest for the experiences of these young resistance fighters. What research preceded the writing? How did Astrid translate factual history into a fictional novel? What themes does the book expose? As a writer, how do you deal with the complexity and sensitivities of the Shoah? And to what extent is that your responsibility? In her lecture, Astrid takes the audience through the writing process and reflects on the challenges of writing a novel about a fraught history.
Holocaust memorial lecture with Astrid Sy in Synagogue Groningen
Start: Thursday, January 26, 4 p.m. (Synagogue opens at 3:30 p.m.)
Location: Synagogue Groningen, Folkingestraat 60 in Groningen
Participation in the lecture is free. Registration is necessary, this can be done by sending an email to reserveren@synagogegroningen.nl.