Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre

Concert: Sound of Freedom
2026-04-23 18:00 - 19:30 (Africa/Johannesburg)
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

The hour of revenge
2026-06-17 19:00 - 21:30 | Online
Register for this.
Join us for a lecture by Katarzyna Person, one of Poland’s leading Holocaust historians and recipient of the 2024 Dan David Prize. Drawing on her acclaimed new book, The Hour of Revenge, Person explores the complex and often overlooked experiences of Holocaust survivors in the aftermath of the Second World War. Moving beyond narratives of victimhood, she examines how Polish Jews grappled with questions of revenge, justice, belonging, and reconstruction as they sought to rebuild their lives across a shattered Europe. This compelling talk offers fresh insights into the emotional and social aftermath of genocide and the challenges of rebuilding communities after catastrophe.
This version is written in a style suitable for a newspaper events section or community calendar.

Guided tour of the Eva's Story exhibition
2026-06-24 14:00 - 14:30, 2026-06-30 11:00 - 11:30 | Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre, 88 Hatfield Street, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001
To join this free guided tour RSVP to admin@holocaust.org.za

Guided tour of the Ann Frank exhibition
2026-07-09 11:00 - 11:30, 2026-07-15 14:00 - 14:30 | Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre, 88 Hatfield Street, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001

Guided tour of the More Important than Life exhibition
2026-07-13 14:00 - 14:30, 2026-07-17 11:00 - 11:30 | Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre, 88 Hatfield Street, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001

Online Film Screening: Among neighbours
2026-08-11 19:00 - 20:30 | Online
Register for this film using this link.
Join us for the Online Screening of the film Among Neighbours.
About the film
Combining magical realism with traditional documentary techniques, Among Neighbors examines the mystery of a small, rural town where people of two different faiths lived side by side for centuries — until the killing began. The film reveals both love and betrayal as it zeroes in on a crime committed among neighbors: the murder of Holocaust survivors in Poland, six months after the end of World War II. The chilling facts revealed in this documentary have led the office of Poland’s nationalist president to call for a ban on the film. Produced and directed by award-winning filmmaker Yoav Potash (Crime After Crime, Sundance Film Festival). Executive Produced by Anita Friedman.

Unearthing the Past
2026-08-13 06:00 - 19:30
Unearthing the Past: Archaeological Research, Discovery, and Commemoration at the Sobibor Extermination Camp
To attend this in-person event RSVP to admin@holocaust.org.za.
Following the prisoner revolt in October 1943, the Sobibor extermination camp a key site of Operation Reinhard was systematically dismantled and erased by the Nazis in an attempt to conceal their crimes. For decades, the physical layout of the camp remained a historical and spatial enigma, its soil concealing the remnants of the murder machinery.
This lecture traces the evolution of historical and archaeological research at Sobibor, focusing on the systematic excavations conducted at the site in recent years. Key findings yielded by the excavations will be presented, most notably the foundations of the gas chambers, the path known as “The Road to Heaven” (Himmelfahrtstraße), and thousands of personal belongings of the victims that give an intimate, human face to the tragedy.mThe final section examines the establishment of the new visitor center and museum at the site: analyzing how an archaeological excavation is transformed into a modern commemorative space, and asking whether this approach effectively preserves the unique narrative of the Sobibor camp and the memory of its victims.
Dr. Yoram Haimi is an archaeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority, where he has worked for approximately 25 years, including 20 years as archaeologist for the Southern Negev Region. Between 2007 and 2020, he co-directed the archaeological excavation project at the Sobibór extermination camp in Poland, uncovering the camp’s structural layout, the foundations of the gas chambers, and numerous personal artifacts that contributed to reconstructing its physical design and historical narrative. He holds a Ph.D. in Archaeology from Tel Aviv University and Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

Among Neighbors – A Conversation with Director Yoav Potash
2026-08-18 19:00 - 20:30 | Online
Register for this online talk using this link.
Following our screening of Among Neighbors on 11 August, we invite you to join an exclusive online conversation with the film’s award-winning writer, director, and producer Yoav Potash, in discussion with Jakub Nowakowski.
Among Neighbors is a powerful and deeply moving documentary that explores the hidden history of a small Polish town where Jews and Catholics lived side by side for centuries—until violence shattered their community. Through the testimony of Holocaust survivor Yaacov Goldstein and Pelagia Radecka, who breaks more than seventy years of silence to recount witnessing the murder of five Jewish survivors by their Polish neighbours after the end of the Second World War, the film confronts difficult questions about memory, truth, and historical responsibility. Blending eyewitness testimony, archival material, and beautifully crafted hand-drawn animation, the documentary offers a compelling reflection on the importance of confronting uncomfortable histories rather than silencing them.
Yoav Potash is an award-winning writer, director, and producer whose previous documentary, Crime After Crime, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and received numerous international honours, including the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award and the National Board of Review Freedom of Expression Award. His work is widely recognised for its commitment to social justice, historical truth, and human rights.
Joining him in conversation is Jakub Nowakowski, who will lead a discussion exploring the making of the film, the ethical challenges of documenting contested histories, and the continuing relevance of Among Neighbors in a world where historical denial, antisemitism, and nationalism remain pressing concerns.
This promises to be a thoughtful and engaging conversation about the enduring importance of testimony, remembrance, and the courage to face difficult pasts in pursuit of a more honest future.

Sybir exhibition opening
2026-08-19 18:00 - 19:30 | Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre, 88 Hatfield Street, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001
To attend this in-person event, RSVP to admin@holocaust.org.za.

Creative Project Awards Evening
2026-08-30 17:00 - 18:30 | Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre, 88 Hatfield Street, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001
To attend in person RSVP to admin@holocaust.org.za

From Victims to Heroes
2026-09-02 18:00 - 19:30 | Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre, 88 Hatfield Street, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001
Register for this event using this link.

The grandson of Holocaust survivors who immigrated to Israel from the USSR, Dr. Pilnik is the founding Director of the Emil A. and Jenny Fish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and previously served as Executive Director of the Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center (HERC) in Milwaukee (2014–2020). He holds a BA from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, an MA from McGill University, and a PhD in Modern Jewish Studies from the Jewish Theological Seminary. He is the author of The Ravine of Memory: Babyn Yar between the Holocaust and the Great Patriotic War (Purdue University Press, 2025).
