SCOTLAND
Sunday 26 January
The Lost Café Schindler
Meriel Schindler presents her debut book, which addresses her mixed feelings towards her father Kurt. During his lifetime, he made extravagant claims about their heritage, including being related to Franz Kafka, Oskar Schindler and Hitler’s doctor. Named for the family business, Café Schindler, which was the social hub of Austrian Jews before the Holocaust, The Lost Café Schindler weaves together memoir, family history and little-known stories of the Jews in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
7.30pm. £5. Edinburgh Jewish Literary Society, EH16 5AB. www.scojec.org
Sunday 9 March
The 43 Group and their Fight Against Britain’s Fascists (1946-50)
In the wake of World War II, antisemitism was still rife. Jeffrey Hamm’s British League of Ex-Servicemen were parading the streets and a new fascist party, the Union Movement, was forming under Oswald Mosley. The 43 Group, set up by Jewish veterans who’d just returned from the war, confronted them head on in the streets, often violently. They fought for a decade until finally, in 1950, they deemed the threat over and voluntarily disbanded. Historian Daniel Sonabend discusses the militant Jewish organisation, as detailed in his book We Fight Fascists: The 43 Group and Their Forgotten Battle for Post-War Britain.
7.30pm. £5. Edinburgh Jewish Literary Society, EH16 5AB. www.scojec.org
BOOKS AND POETRY
Monday 10 February
Sarah-Beth Neville: Tu B’Shevat
Tu B’Shevat, the Jewish new year for trees, is a festival celebrating nature and the start of spring in Israel. Trainee Masorti rabbi Sarah-Beth Neville explores some of the customs of Tu B’Shevat and texts about our relationship with agriculture.
7.30pm. FREE. Location provided upon booking. www.jcc.scot
TALKS
Until Saturday 15 February
The Merchant of Venice
Director Arin Arbus presents the Theatre for a New Audience’s rendition of Shakespeare’s classic. Follow Jewish moneylender Shylock (John Douglas Thompson)’s interactions with others in this production exploring prejudice, punishment, race, class and religion. The Merchant of Venice presents a world tainted with antisemitism, racism and homophobia.
7.30pm (Tue-Sat), 2.30pm (Wed & Sat only). £18-£100 (£10-£19 concs). Lyceum Theatre, EH3 9AX. www.lyceum.org.uk
THEATRE
WALKS
Available indefinitely
Garnethill Refugee Trail
A self-guided walking tour that traces the lives of the hundreds of Jewish refugees who arrived in Scotland before World War II. Created by the Scottish Jewish Heritage Centre, this tour includes sites such as Scotland’s oldest synagogue and ‘the house on the hill’, where refugees would meet alongside native Glaswegians to discuss politics and culture. The trail is free and available to download or from the SJHC in person. Read more about the Garnethill Refugee Trail in the Spring issue of JR.
FREE. www.sjhc.org.uk