National Mazkira speaks at Holocaust Event

Recently, YJ National Mazkira Natalie Pittman was a panelist in a screening of the award-winning documentary 999: The Forgotten Girls in NYC. Her mother and YJ alum, Vivian Genn-Pittman, wrote the words below.

I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with author and producer Heather Dune Macadam and team to help organize a powerful event; a film screening of the award-winning documentary 999: The Forgotten Girls, in NYC earlier this week on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. 

The film tells the gripping, little-known stories of 999 young Jewish women, mostly teenagers, deported from Slovakia on the first Jewish transport to Auschwitz in March 1942, after being misled into believing they were reporting for volunteer work. 

We were able to fill close to 999 seats in the theater, one for each girl, and had an estimated four thousand viewers on livestream.

A panel discussion with film producer, teen leaders and descendants of Holocaust survivors, including Natalie as a leader and granddaughter of a hidden child survivor/ my mom Myra Genn, (who was also honored as one of only two Holocaust survivors in the audience) followed the film. 

There was not a dry eye. 

Focus was on bearing witness, resilience, kindness, education, and a promise to carry facts and lessons forward to better humanity. 

I am heartbroken and inspired by the stories, proud beyond words of Natalie, and grateful for my mom’s recognition, resilience and continued light and love. 

A trailer of the film can be viewed here.

The introduction and discussion with Natalie following the film can be viewed here. (See Natalie speak at 18:32)