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The new B’nai Israel Part 1 “The Past” World War II letters inspire new play Page 3

Kitty Williams: A true woman of valor SCOTT LITTKY Institute for Holocaust Education Executive Director “It’s with you. It haunts you forever. You try not to, but somehow the older I get, the more I think about it.” – Kitty Williams

Recent additions to the Kripke Library collection Page 5

JOANIE JACOBSON There’s a sweet and lovely story Being told across the river, Just a little north of Broadway Where resilience sings her song. A synagogue still standing After years of faithful service Feeling every bit as relevant And every bit as strong.

Finding friends in Budapest Page 12

t was historian/activist Dora Franklin Finley who said, “You can’t know where you’re going until you know where you’ve been.” That’s been the inspiration—the guiding light for what has become a spirited restora-

tion and repurposing of B’nai Israel Synagogue in Council Bluffs. “It is our hope that as a living history and working synagogue, it can add context and understanding to the present while helping us appreciate our culture, ideas and traditions into the future,” said Mary Beth Muskin, co- chair of the project along with Janie Kulakofsky. “Knowing the history of the Jewish migration to the Midwest helps to understand that we as a people have endured, preserved and reinvented our religion and culture over generations in order to survive within a wider world,” Muskin added. “History builds empathy and understanding See The new B’nai Israel page 3

The 20th Annual Omaha Jewish Film Festival: What’s Coming?

REGULARS Spotlight Voices Synagogues Life cycles

SPONSORED BY THE BENJAMIN AND ANNA E. WIESMAN FAMILY ENDOWMENT FUND

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MARK KIRCHHOFF JFO Community Engagement and Education The 20th Annual Omaha Jewish Film Festival opens on Nov. 8 in the Alan J. Levine Performing Arts Theater at the Staenberg Omaha Jewish Community Center. Three additional films follow on Nov. 22, 29 and Dec. 6. All films begin at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 and may be purchased online by going to www.jewishomaha.org and clicking on the sliding banner at

the top and following the link. Tickets may also be purchased at the door. This year’s festival follows the theme “Views of the World Through Israeli Eyes,” and the first film, A Lullaby for the Valley, is exemplary of that

theme and what is to come throughout the festival. Artist Eli Shamir paints the view from his studio balcony - fields stretching to the horizon, ancient oak trees, and a generation of farmers that is disappearing from the vistas of the Jezreel Valley. His large oils are treasured by collectors worldwide. It was director Ben Shani’s encounter with one of Shamir’s works that spawned the idea of documenting the artist at work. Filmed over the course of ten years, A Lullaby for the Valley focuses on the fascinating artist and his paintings. As time passes, like the endless fields of the valley, they are transformed before our eyes. The second film of the festival to be shown on Nov. 29, The Museum, is a film that observes, examines and ponders Israel’s most important cultural institution, the Israel Museum. See Jewish Film Festival page 2

Kitty Williams Credit: Kaplan

Every so often you meet a person who immediately leaves their mark on you. Kitty Williams, a member of our Holocaust survivor speaker’s bureau who died on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022, was just that type of person. A few years ago, Kitty, who was of course still driving well into her 90’s, was in a car accident. No one was hurt but there was damage to both cars. As she and the other driver were exchanging information, Kitty told the other driver part of her survivor story. As a result, Kitty and the other drive became friends. She was just that type of a person. The type who was always looking forward and has a positive outlook on everything. Kitty Williams was born in Sarand, Hungary, in 1924. She spent a short time in a ghetto before being transported to Auschwitz. Kitty was later moved to the Allendorf work camp where she was forced to work with toxic chemicals and to chisel powder out of undetonated bombs. Kitty and two of her sisters survived Auschwitz, one sister survived the Budapest Death March and two of her brothers made it out of forced labor camps. Unlike her siblings, who wouldn’t broach the subject, Kitty was forthcoming about the family’s Holocaust ordeal. Still, she remained cautious. The Council Bluffs resident kept a low profile, making a new start in the States. She married, she bore children, she worked. Other things crowded out the Holocaust. But in 1982 she went back with two sisters and her daughter, Pam. In 1991, Kitty and her son Mark went for a reunion of the See Kitty Williams page 2