BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//The Birmingham Jewish Federation - ECPv6.15.20//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:The Birmingham Jewish Federation X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://bjf.org X-WR-CALDESC:Events for The Birmingham Jewish Federation REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Chicago BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0600 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:CDT DTSTART:20240310T080000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0600 TZNAME:CST DTSTART:20241103T070000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0600 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:CDT DTSTART:20250309T080000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0600 TZNAME:CST DTSTART:20251102T070000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0600 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:CDT DTSTART:20260308T080000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0600 TZNAME:CST DTSTART:20261101T070000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0600 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:CDT DTSTART:20270314T080000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0600 TZNAME:CST DTSTART:20271107T070000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260423T183000 DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260423T200000 DTSTAMP:20260426T172256 CREATED:20251203T160729Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251203T160729Z UID:10010385-1776969000-1776974400@bjf.org SUMMARY:Alabama Holocaust Education Center Yom HaShoah Commemoration DESCRIPTION:Yom HaShoah\, also known as Holocaust Remembrance Day\, is a solemn day of reflection observed each spring to honor the memory of the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust\, as well as the millions of other victims of Nazi persecution. The date follows the Hebrew calendar and marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and symbolizing Jewish resistance in the face of annihilation.\nEach year\, the Alabama Holocaust Education Center commemorates Yom HaShoah with a powerful public program that centers on personal testimony. The event always includes descendants of Alabama Holocaust Survivors who share deeply moving stories that preserve memory and inspire future generations. These first-person narratives offer a rare and intimate window into the lived experiences of courage\, survival\, and loss. Stories of liberation\, resistance and rescue are also featured. \nThrough music\, historical reflection\, and storytelling\, AHEC’s Yom HaShoah Commemoration brings our community together to remember\, to educate\, and to affirm our shared responsibility to stand against antisemitism\, hatred\, and indifference in all its forms. URL:https://bjf.org/event/alabama-holocaust-education-center-yom-hashoah-commemoration/ LOCATION:Virginia Samford Theatre\, 1116 26th Street South\, Birmingham\, 35205 CATEGORIES:Events and Meetings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260331T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260331T210000 DTSTAMP:20260426T172256 CREATED:20251215T144458Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251215T144458Z UID:10010427-1774980000-1774990800@bjf.org SUMMARY:AHEC Holocaust in Film Series: Everything is Illuminated DESCRIPTION:The AHEC invites you to join us for the final screening of our 13th annual Holocaust in Film Series: Rescue\, Escape\, and Liberation\, sponsored by the Perlman Donor Advised Fund. On March 31 at Sidewalk Film Center & Cinema\, we will screen the emotional and thought-provoking film “Everything is Illuminated.” The film follows Jonathan\, whose grandfather was a Holocaust survivor\, as he struggles to uncover his family’s history and learn the lessons this history has to teach him.  \nAs Jonathan’s journey unfolds\, the story asks what escape or liberation truly means to those who survived the Holocaust yet remain haunted by memories of their trauma and immense losses. Following the screening\, Michele Forman—a second-generation Survivor\, award-winning documentarian\, and UAB media studies professor—will lead a discussion about the film to deepen audience understanding of the struggles survivors and the descendants of survivors continue to face\, as well as how we can work together to build a better and brighter future.  \nTickets are $10 per person. Purchase your tickets today!  URL:https://bjf.org/event/ahec-holocaust-in-film-series-everything-is-illuminated/ LOCATION:Sidewalk Film Center & Cinema\, 1821 2nd Avenue North\, Birmingham\, 35203 CATEGORIES:Events and Meetings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260317T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260317T210000 DTSTAMP:20260426T172256 CREATED:20251215T144448Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251215T144448Z UID:10010426-1773770400-1773781200@bjf.org SUMMARY:AHEC Holocaust in Film Series: No Place on Earth DESCRIPTION:The AHEC invites you to join us for the third screening of our 13th annual Holocaust in Film Series: Rescue\, Escape\, and Liberation\, sponsored by the Perlman Donor Advised Fund. On March 17\, at Sidewalk Film Center & Cinema\, we will screen the powerful and deeply moving documentary “No Place on Earth.” Based on the memoir of Holocaust survivor Esther Stermer\, this documentary tells the shocking story of three Jewish families—38 people in total—who escaped the Nazis and survived the Holocaust by hiding in a cave in Ukraine. Following the screening\, Michele Forman—a second-generation Survivor\, award-winning documentarian\, and UAB media studies professor—will lead a discussion about the film to deepen audience understanding of the extreme strength and sacrifices needed to escape the Nazi regime and survive the Holocaust\, as well as the role documentaries must play in preserving Holocaust memory.  \nTickets are $10 per person. Purchase your tickets today!  URL:https://bjf.org/event/ahec-holocaust-in-film-series-no-place-on-earth/ LOCATION:Sidewalk Film Center & Cinema\, 1821 2nd Avenue North\, Birmingham\, 35203 CATEGORIES:Events and Meetings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260303T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260303T210000 DTSTAMP:20260426T172256 CREATED:20251210T200350Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251210T200350Z UID:10010425-1772560800-1772571600@bjf.org SUMMARY:AHEC Holocaust in Film Series: Life is Beautiful DESCRIPTION:The AHEC invites you to join us for the second screening of our 13th annual Holocaust in Film Series: Rescue\, Escape and Liberation\, sponsored by the Perlman Donor Advised Fund. On March 3rd at Sidewalk Film Center & Cinema\, we will screen the award-winning classic film “Life is Beautiful.” This film explores how Jewish parents during the Holocaust struggled to shield their children from Nazi brutality and how all Jewish individuals found ways to mentally and emotionally escape the brutality and deprivations they experienced in concentration camps\, labor camps\, and ghettos. Following the screening\, Michele Forman—a second-generation Survivor\, award-winning documentarian\, and UAB media studies professor—will lead a discussion about the film to deepen audience understanding of the various ways people escaped or found freedom during the Holocaust.  \nTickets are $10 per person. Buy your tickets today!  URL:https://bjf.org/event/ahec-holocaust-in-film-series-life-is-beautiful/ LOCATION:Sidewalk Film Center & Cinema\, 1821 2nd Avenue North\, Birmingham\, 35203 CATEGORIES:Events and Meetings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260219T183000 DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260219T200000 DTSTAMP:20260426T172256 CREATED:20260128T152934Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260128T152934Z UID:10010539-1771525800-1771531200@bjf.org SUMMARY:The Future of Holocaust Remembrance with Dr. Lauren Bairnsfather DESCRIPTION:Twenty-five years ago\, Dr. Lauren Bairnsfather wrote an oral history of the “second generation\,” children of Holocaust Survivors\, in the United States. How did they think of themselves as individuals and as a group? How were they viewed from the outside of the close-knit communities that Holocaust Survivors formed in this country? How did they rise to meet the expectations of their legacy? In the 1970s\, objecting to their being defined by a psychological profile of Survivors that focused on damage and trauma\, the second generation formed organizations of their own. Yet\, due to conflicting identities\, priorities\, and personalities\, these groups often disbanded. What has lasted are nearly 100 museums and education centers across the United States. \nHolocaust remembrance has been institutionalized\, from small towns to the National Mall. But who carries the torch now? In this talk\, Dr. Bairnsfather will revisit the topic of Holocaust remembrance in 2026. To what extent does Holocaust remembrance rest in the hands of the third and fourth generations? How can the work of memorializing the Holocaust\, viewed as sacred by many\, rise to meet the growing need to counter rising antisemitism across the globe? URL:https://bjf.org/event/the-future-of-holocaust-remembrance-with-dr-lauren-bairnsfather/ LOCATION:Homewood Public Library\, 1721 Oxmoor Road\, Birmingham\, 35209 CATEGORIES:Education END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260203T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260203T210000 DTSTAMP:20260426T172256 CREATED:20251210T191126Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260115T170123Z UID:10010424-1770141600-1770152400@bjf.org SUMMARY:AHEC Holocaust in Film Series: My Name is Sara DESCRIPTION:The AHEC invites you to join us for the opening screening of our 13th annual Holocaust in Film Series: Rescue\, Escape\, and Liberation\, sponsored by the Perlman Donor Advised Fund. On February 3rd at Sidewalk Film Center & Cinema\, we will screen “My Name is Sara\,” a stunning drama based on the true-life story of thirteen-year-old  Sara Góralnik. After escaping the Jewish Ghetto in Poland and losing her family\, Sara hides in plain sight by passing as an Orthodox Christian in the Ukrainian countryside. There\, she is taken in by a farmer and his young wife\, but she soon discovers the dark secrets of her employers’ marriage\, compounding the greatest secret she must strive to protect: her true identity. Following the screening\, the filmmaker Steven Oritt will join us via Zoom for an exclusive Q&A.  \nTickets are $10 per person. Buy your tickets today! URL:https://bjf.org/event/ahec-holocaust-in-film-series-the-world-will-tremble/ LOCATION:Sidewalk Film Center & Cinema\, 1821 2nd Avenue North\, Birmingham\, 35203 CATEGORIES:Events and Meetings END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260125T133000 DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260125T150000 DTSTAMP:20260426T172256 CREATED:20250714T151422Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260123T192657Z UID:10010104-1769347800-1769353200@bjf.org SUMMARY:Jewish Birmingham: Joint Annual Meeting & Awards DESCRIPTION:Jewish Birmingham Unites for First-Ever Joint Annual Meeting & Awards\nOn Sunday\, January 25\, from 1:30–3:00 PM\, the Birmingham Jewish community will gather for a milestone event: the first-ever Jewish Birmingham: Joint Annual Meeting & Awards. This historic program brings together six cornerstone institutions: The Birmingham Jewish Federation\, the Birmingham Jewish Foundation\, the Levite Jewish Community Center\, the N.E. Miles Jewish Day School\, Collat Jewish Family Services\, and the Alabama Holocaust Education Center for a shared moment of reflection\, celebration\, and vision. \n \n \n \n \n \n Bag Policy: Only non-clear bags smaller than 5″x7″ will be permitted entry. Any type of non-clear bag exceeding 5″x7″ in size will not be permitted. With the exception of medically necessary bags. URL:https://bjf.org/event/birmingham-jewish-federation-and-foundation-annual-meeting/ ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://bjf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/logo.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260121T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260121T130000 DTSTAMP:20260426T172256 CREATED:20251229T145558Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251229T145558Z UID:10010497-1768996800-1769000400@bjf.org SUMMARY:What History Teaches: Lessons from the Earliest Resistance to Nazism DESCRIPTION:From the moment that he stepped onto Germany’s political stage in the early 1920s\, Adolf Hitler faced resistance. Cartoonists depicted him as a clown\, a butcher\, and a knock-off version of Mussolini. One playwright portrayed him as a crazy barber building a cult following with elaborate\, unfulfillable promises. One writer produced a history of Nazism in which he described Hitler as a “lazy schoolboy\,” among other things. This was all prior to Hitler’s seizure of power in January 1933. Who were these early resisters to Nazism\, and what compelled them to sound the alarm on a fringe political group that for years was seen as little more than a novelty act? And how and why did they fail to stop them? This talk will explore a neglected but intriguing corner of history – and ask what lessons we can draw from it for our own time. URL:https://bjf.org/event/what-history-teaches-lessons-from-the-earliest-resistance-to-nazism/ LOCATION:virtual CATEGORIES:Education ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://bjf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/WHT-1.21.26-scaled.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260113T183000 DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260113T200000 DTSTAMP:20260426T172256 CREATED:20251203T172101Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251203T172101Z UID:10010386-1768329000-1768334400@bjf.org SUMMARY:Alabama Holocaust Education Center International Holocaust Remembrance Day Commemoration DESCRIPTION:The AHEC invites you to join us for our 2026 International Holocaust Remembrance Day Commemoration. \nWe are honored to welcome Holocaust Survivor Maud Dahme\, a hidden child who moved to the United States after the war and became an accomplished Holocaust educator. Maud was only four years old when the Germans invaded her homeland\, the Netherlands. In 1942\, to save them from deportation\, Maud’s parents hid her and her sister with a member of the Dutch underground\, then with a Christian family. From 1942 to 1944\, Maud and her sister pretended to be the nieces of this family. When it became too unsafe for them to hide with this family\, they hid with several other courageous families until the end of the war. After the war ended\, Maud and her sister were reunited with their parents. In 1950\, the family immigrated to the United States. There\, Maud became a passionate Holocaust educator\, even writing a book about her experiences. Today\, she tells her story to encourage people to treat each other with kindness and compassion and to fight tirelessly for a better world. URL:https://bjf.org/event/alabama-holocaust-education-center-international-holocaust-remembrance-day-commemoration/ LOCATION:Birmingham Museum of Art\, 2000 Rev. Abraham Woods\, Jr. Blvd\, Birmingham\, AL\, 35203\, United States CATEGORIES:Events and Meetings GEO:33.5222197;-86.8100693 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Birmingham Museum of Art 2000 Rev. Abraham Woods Jr. Blvd Birmingham AL 35203 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=2000 Rev. Abraham Woods\, Jr. Blvd:geo:-86.8100693,33.5222197 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251209T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20251209T130000 DTSTAMP:20260426T172256 CREATED:20251028T175802Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251028T175802Z UID:10010341-1765281600-1765285200@bjf.org SUMMARY:What History Teaches: Isolationism\, Immigration\, and the World Watching DESCRIPTION:Join us on Tuesday\, December 9 at 12:00 PM CST for Isolationism\, Immigration\, and the World Watching\, a compelling presentation by Dr. Daniel Greene\, Adjunct Professor of History at Northwestern University and an expert on American responses to the Holocaust. Hosted by the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center\, this program examines the United States’ reaction to Hitler’s rise to power and the persecution of Jews\, focusing specifically on restrictive immigration policy\, isolationist sentiment\, and the consequences of American inaction. URL:https://bjf.org/event/what-history-teaches-isolationism-immigration-and-the-world-watching/ LOCATION:virtual CATEGORIES:Education ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://bjf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/WHT-Program-Flyer-Dec-9-2-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251113T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20251113T150000 DTSTAMP:20260426T172256 CREATED:20251028T181239Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251028T181239Z UID:10010339-1763042400-1763046000@bjf.org SUMMARY:What History Teaches: Between Terror and Resilience- Jewish Life in Nazi Germany DESCRIPTION:Throughout the 1930s\, German Jews were caught in a cycle of relentless terror created by the Gestapo and targeted laws designed to strip away their dignity. As they desperately sought escape and refuge\, most countries made immigration exceedingly difficult. Neighbors who were once friends now ostracized them. Their children were pushed to the back of classrooms\, they were banned from park benches\, and they lost their jobs. Amid constant persecution and prejudice\, Jews fought to carve out small crevices where their humanity and identity could survive. They formed creative support networks\, shared information\, and leaned on community resilience. In these acts\, we see the ingenuity and courage with which Jews created spaces of dignity\, connection\, and hope. URL:https://bjf.org/event/what-history-teaches-between-terror-and-resilience-jewish-life-in-nazi-germany/ LOCATION:virtual CATEGORIES:Education ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://bjf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/What-History-Teaches-11.13.25-1-1.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251104T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20251104T193000 DTSTAMP:20260426T172256 CREATED:20251028T180705Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251028T180705Z UID:10010340-1762279200-1762284600@bjf.org SUMMARY:Kristallnacht Commemorative Lecture: Himmler's Last Days and the Fate of Nazi Leadership DESCRIPTION:Join the Alabama Holocaust Education Center for our annual Kristallnacht Commemorative lecture\, in partnership with the UAB Department of History. In this lecture\, Holocaust historians Wendy Lower and Jonathan Petropoulos will map the infamous SS leader Heinrich Himmler’s journey during his last days\, as he left the Führerbunker and fled to various outposts and hiding spots in the north of Germany. As they trace Himmler’s final movements and discuss how his tentacles of power unraveled\, they will also explore the physical and psychic unraveling of this mass murderer\, who became the most hunted war criminal in history. Finally\, they will recount Himmler’s eventual capture\, his interrogation\, his suicide in British custody\, and extraction of his brain after his death to study evil. URL:https://bjf.org/event/kristallnacht-commemorative-lecture-himmlers-last-days-and-the-fate-of-nazi-leadership/ LOCATION:UAB CATEGORIES:Education ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://bjf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/AHEC_250901_KristallnachtEventFlyer_FINAL-DRAFT-1-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251029T110000 DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20251029T120000 DTSTAMP:20260426T172256 CREATED:20250807T180022Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250807T180022Z UID:10010166-1761735600-1761739200@bjf.org SUMMARY:What History Teaches: Universities\, Education\, & the Role of Intellectuals DESCRIPTION:How educational institutions and intellectuals responded to the rise of Nazism. What lessons can be learned from the role of academia then and what are the implications for today? URL:https://bjf.org/event/what-history-teaches-universities-education-the-role-of-intellectuals/ LOCATION:virtual CATEGORIES:Education ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://bjf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/What-History-Teaches-10.29.25-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR