SAN DIEGO — Feivel Wolgelernter, whose father Chaim Yitzchok Wolgelernter wrote the The Unfinished Diary: A Chronicle of Tears, which detailed his experiences hiding in Dzialoszyce, Poland from the German Nazis, will speak at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, June 28, at Congregation Adat Yeshurun, 8625 La Jolla Scenic Drive North.
Feivel’s talk will be followed by a 45-minute theatrical performance, adapted from the book by Leah Salovey and directed by Todd Salovey as part of the Lipinsky Family SD Jewish Arts Festival.
The book, which ends abruptly because R. Chaim Yitzhok was betrayed and murdered in 1944, is an inspirational, day-by-day example of a Talmudic scholar’s piety in the face of genocide. It was so impactful for Lillian Liebman, a recent graduate from Torah High School, that her art piece representing her emotions won a 1st Place Award from the Kleinman Holocaust Center.
Lecturer Feivel Wolgelernter had been a toddler hidden with another family at the time of his father’s murder. Dovid, his father’s brother, had been able to carry to safety the story of Chaim Yitzhok’s struggle–written in pencil in Yiddish. Dovid passed on the handwritten memoir to Feivel, who in turn passed it on to his son Nafti, who ultimately arranged for the memoir’s translation and publication some 70 years after Chaim Ykitzhok was betrayed and murdered.
Admission to the event is $20 at the door or $18 for people who reserve tickets in advance via annette@adatyeshurun.org. There is also a premium ticket option of $100, guaranteeing premium seating as well an autographed copy of the book. Following the presentation, copies of “Unfinished Diary: A Chronicle of Tears” will be sold at the door.
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