Film screening: Letters from Brno
2025-11-04 18:00 - 19:30 (Africa/Johannesburg) | Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre, 88 Hatfield Street, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001
Join us on Tuesday 4 November at 6PM for a powerful screening of “Letters from BRNO”. This moving film tells the story of Jeffery L. Gary’s grandfather, a Holocaust survivor who fled Czechoslovakia, and his poignant connection to a young girl in Brno through letters and shared history. Exploring themes of identity, heritage, and human connection, ‘Letters from Brno’ is a testament to the enduring power of stories and memory.
To attend the event at the Centre, RSVP to admin@holocaust.org.za

Film screening: I Never Said Goodbye
2025-11-12 18:00 - 19:30
We invite you to join us for the premiere of the documentary, “I Never Said Goodbye“, a poignant tribute to the extraordinary life of Holocaust survivor, Hélène Joffe.
The film documents Hélène’s remarkable journey and is testimony to the endurance of the human spirit.
To attend the event at the Centre, RSVP to admin@holocaust.org.za

Film screening: The Diary of Anne Frank
2025-11-16 17:00 - 18:30
We invite you to join us on Sunday 16 November at 5PM for an evening of remembrance as we mark the 87th anniversary of the November Pogrom (Kristallnacht).
We are screening the award-winning film ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’, followed by a discussion with filmmaker Hans Steinbichler. This poignant film tells the story of Anne Frank’s experience hiding with her family in Amsterdam during WWII.
To attend the event at the Centre, RSVP to admin@holocaust.org.za

Film screening: Treasure
2025-11-25 18:00 - 19:30 | Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre, 88 Hatfield Street, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001
Treasure follows a father-daugther road trip through post-socialist Poland, exploring family, identity, and the past. Ruth (Lena Dunham) accompanies her father, Holocaust survivor Edek ( Stephen Fry), as he returns to the places tied to his most painful memories, including Auschwitz-Birkenau. Blending humour, emotion, and historical reflection, the film, based on Lili Brett’s autobiographical novel, celebrates the power of reconnecting with one’s roots.
To attend the event at the Centre, RSVP to admin@holocaust.org.za
Treasure is presented as part of Footprints, a curated selection of films exploring the Holocaust, with special attention to the history and experiences of Polish Jews. This programme accompanies the exhibition Sweet Home Sweet: A Story of Survival, Memory and Returns presented at the Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre, with Footprints screenings taking place on 25, 26 and 27 November 2025. The programme will be led by our special guest Ada Kopec-Pawliowska from the Galicia Jewish Museum in Krakow, Poland.

Film screening: Where are you are going
2025-11-26 18:00 - 19:30 | Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre, 88 Hatfield Street, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001
Halina Birenbaun, a Holocaust survivor and acclaimed author, embarks on her annual journey to Poland, this time accompanied by her son, Yakov Gilad, Through this journey, Yakov comes to understand the lifelong trauma haunting his mother and discovers new insights into Jewish-Polish relations and the treatment of survivors. Halina’s vivid recollections span her experiences in the Warsaw Ghetto, Majdanek, Auschwitz, and Ravensbrück, and reflect a life of resilience and enduring love for Poland.
To attend the event at the Centre, RSVP to admin@holocaust.org.za
Where are you going is presented as part of Footprints, a curated selection of films exploring the Holocaust, with special attention to the history and experiences of Polish Jews. This programme accompanies the exhibition Sweet Home Sweet: A Story of Survival, Memory and Returns presented at the Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre, with Footprints screenings taking place on 25, 26 and 27 November 2025. The programme will be led by our special guest Ada Kopec-Pawliowska from the Galicia Jewish Museum in Krakow, Poland.

Film screening: RENIA SPIEGEL'S DIARY
2025-11-26 19:30 - 21:00 | Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre, 88 Hatfield Street, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001
The diary of Renia Spiegel (1924-1942), written in Przemysl from January 1939 to July 1942, offers an extraordinary testimony of the last years of this young, talented woman. Preserved and later published through the efforts of her family, Renia’s diary has inspired a series of short films that combine animation and live-action to present her story to a wider audience. Each episode highlights historical context alongside universal themes such as empathy, human rights, and tolerance.
To attend the event at the Centre, RSVP to admin@holocaust.org.za
RENIA SPIEGEL’S DIARY is presented as part of Footprints, a curated selection of films exploring the Holocaust, with special attention to the history and experiences of Polish Jews. This programme accompanies the exhibition Sweet Home Sweet: A Story of Survival, Memory and Returns presented at the Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre, with Footprints screenings taking place on 25, 26 and 27 November 2025. The programme will be led by our special guest Ada Kopec-Pawliowska from the Galicia Jewish Museum in Krakow, Poland.

Film screening: Bedrock
2025-11-27 18:00 - 19:30
Bedrock is a psychological journey across today’s Poland that weaves together stories of Poles living on Holocaust sites. Through a series of intimate encounters, this poetic film looks at the unsettling contradictions people learn to live with.
To attend the event at the Centre, RSVP to admin@holocaust.org.za
Bedrock is presented as part of Footprints, a curated selection of films exploring the Holocaust, with special attention to the history and experiences of Polish Jews. This programme accompanies the exhibition Sweet Home Sweet: A Story of Survival, Memory and Returns presented at the Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre, with Footprints screenings taking place on 25, 26 and 27 November 2025. The programme will be led by our special guest Ada Kopec-Pawliowska from the Galicia Jewish Museum in Krakow, Poland.

Exhibition opening: Vilnius YIVO Institute and the Interwar Jewish World
2025-12-03 18:00 - 19:30 | Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre, 88 Hatfield Street, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001
The Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre is honoured to invite you to the opening of a new international exhibition. We are delighted that Dr Lara Lempert (Lempertienė), one of the exhibition’s curators and the Head of the Judaica Research Centre at the National Library of Lithuania, will join us in Cape Town for this special occasion.
The exhibition explores the rich and complex legacy of Jewish life in Lithuania before, during, and after the Holocaust. Through photographs, personal testimonies, and archival materials, it invites visitors to reflect on memory, loss, and the enduring resilience of a culture nearly destroyed.
RSVP to admin@holocaust.org.za

International Holocaust Remembrance Day
2026-01-27 18:00 - 19:30

The shadow of the day
2026-02-03 18:00 - 19:30 | Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre, 88 Hatfield Street, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001

Looted! The Nazi Plunder of Jewish Families in France
2026-02-05 19:00 - 20:30 | Online
Join us on Thursday 5 February at 7PM for the book launch of Looted! The Nazi Art Plunder of Jewish Families in France by author Peter Elliott.
Discover the gripping story of four prominent French Jewish families whose art collections were confiscated during the Nazi occupation and learn how their heritage endured through persecution and resilience.
Don’t miss this powerful blend of history, art and personal stories that shine light on the dark years of French Jewish life.
Register using this link.

Film screening: Rescuing Memory
2026-02-19 18:00 - 19:30
Rescuing Memory (USA Documentary 2024 32 min.)
Rescuing Memory chronicles my ancestors, the Sephardic Jews, who were expelled by the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions in the 15th century and found refuge on the Island of Rhodes, when it was controlled by the Ottoman Turks. The Sephardic Jews lived in Rhodes for almost 500 years, until the entire community was deported to Auschwitz in 1944. Rescuing Memory is personal history, Sephardic History, the story of the Jewish Cemetery of Rhodes and the context for my gravestone rubbing project, which began in 2018. These gravestone rubbings are my way of honoring my ancestors. Rescuing Memory was supported by a fellowship grant from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.
RSVP to admin@holocaust.org.za to attend in person at our centre.

Film screening: I Never Said Goodbye
2026-02-24 19:00 - 20:30 | Online
Join us online on Tuesday 24 February at 7PM for a screening of the documentary, “I Never Said Goodbye“, tributing the extraordinary life of Holocaust survivor Héléne Joffe.
The film documents Héléne’s remarkable journey and is testimony to the endurance of the human spirit.
Don’t miss out on this moving story of memory and resilience.
Register using the link: https://bit.ly/4kqFEOs

An Unexpected Find
2026-03-03 18:00 - 19:30

Film screening: The Last One of Auschwitz
2026-03-09 18:00
To attend this event, RSVP to admin@holocaust.org.za.

The Last Ones of Auschwitz
2026-03-09 18:00 - 19:30

Nazi Ideologies
2026-03-16 18:00 - 19:30 | Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre, 88 Hatfield Street, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001

Exhibitions opening: Traces of Violence
2026-03-19 18:00 - 19:30

From Looting to Legacy
2026-03-26 18:00 - 19:00 | Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre, 88 Hatfield Street, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001

Film Screening: Passage To Sweden
2026-04-16 18:00 - 19:30 | Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre, 88 Hatfield Street, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001
Set against the backdrop of WWII, geography and politics shaped different experiences for Jews in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Budapest. The film reveals how ordinary people and entire nations saved thousands of Jewish lives. These remarkable stories of resistance and those who were saved are a powerful reminder that anyone can make a difference.
Screening will be followed by an online conversation with Suzannah Warlick, film producer and director.
RSVP to admin@holocaust.org.za

Concert: Sound of Freedom
2026-04-23 18:00 - 19:30
The Embassy of Poland in Pretoria, in cooperation with the Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre and the South African Jewish Museum invite you on a musical journey, “Sound of Freedom”, with exceptional young Polish artists. The Karolina & Iwo Duo will guide the audience through powerful works by world-acclaimed composers, including Frédéric Chopin, alongside music by prominent Polish Jewish composers such as Aleksander Tansman and Szymon Laks, performed on violin and accordion.
Venue: Old Shul

Free entry, RSVP required: admin@holocaust.org.za

Holocaust in Kharkiv: Memory, War, and the Struggle for Historical Truth
2026-05-26 19:00 - 20:30 | Online
The Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre, together with the EVZ Foundation and Yahad-In Unum, invites you to a screening of the short documentary Holocaust in Kharkiv, followed by a conversation on the challenges of researching, preserving, and teaching the history of the Holocaust in times of war.
Panelists
Lesya Kharchenko – Documentary filmmaker and journalist based in Kyiv whose work explores war, memory, and human dignity.
Michał Chojak – Director of the Research Center at Yahad-In Unum, specialising in the history of mass shootings of Jews and Roma in Eastern Europe.
Lara Alexa Nagel – Political scientist at the EVZ Foundation focusing on Holocaust remembrance and educational initiatives.
Register for the webinar
