photo by: Lauren Fox

From left, moderator Brad Allen, executive director of the Lawrence Public Library, and panel members Rabbi Zalman Tiechtel, director of the Chabad Center for Jewish Life at the University of Kansas, Peter Luckey, former pastor of Plymouth Congregational Church and Samuel Hayim Brody, assistant professor in KU’s Department of Religious Studies, participate in a March 4, 2020, panel discussion at Theatre Lawrence titled, "Tolerance in a Climate of Fear."

Lawrence musician Rachel Black’s grandmother likely escaped death when she slipped through the vent of a boxcar leading Jews to the Treblinka extermination camp in Nazi-occupied Poland.

“Run, Edyka. Don’t look back,” Black sang Wednesday night at Theatre Lawrence, in the voice of her great-grandmother who aided the escape. “We’re counting on you, Edyka. Don’t look back.”

Black shared the story of her grandparents, both Holocaust survivors, at a special event hosted in conjunction with the theater’s show, “Yours, Anne,” a musical adaptation of Anne Frank’s “Diary of a Young Girl.” Her presentation was followed by a panel discussion of intolerance in today’s world.

“This is a time when not enough people are talking about the Holocaust,” Black told the audience.

Black read two articles that her parents wrote about her grandparents’ stories, then sang her tribute song to her grandmother, Edjya Katz, whose nickname was Edyka.

Edyka, by Rachel Black

After her presentation, attendees said during the event’s intermission that the story was almost too unbelievable to be true.

After escaping from the boxcar, Edjya hid in the nearby woods in Poland. She survived there for a couple of seasons until Polish militia working with the Nazis shot at a barn where Edjya was hiding with other Jews. She was saved when her future husband, Herschel Lipa, later noticed her leg moving among the pile of the dead. The two stayed in the woods together until Poland’s liberation. Later, they moved to America, where they changed their names to Harry and Ethel Black. Harry survives today, and he turns 96 next week, Rachel Black said.

At the conclusion of her presentation, Black asked “everyone here to … talk about (the Holocaust), to write it down. And to please make sure that we never forget.”

photo by: Lauren Fox

Rachel Black, executive director of the Americana Music Academy, shares the story of her grandparents, who were Holocaust survivors, during a March 4 special event at Theatre Lawrence in conjunction with their show, “Yours, Anne.” Black also performed her tribute ballad, “Edyka.”

After Black’s presentation, the theater hosted a panel discussion titled “Tolerance in a Climate of Fear.” Panelists included Peter Luckey, former pastor of Plymouth Congregational Church; Rabbi Zalman Tiechtel, director of the Chabad Center for Jewish Life at the University of Kansas; and Samuel Hayim Brody, assistant professor in KU’s Department of Religious Studies. Brad Allen, executive director of the Lawrence Public Library, moderated the discussion.

Luckey said he believes there has been an increase in intolerance in today’s world because the world is undergoing a time of “unprecedented change.” Change leads to fear of lack of identity, Luckey said, in turn causing people to cling to a tribe and “pushing us to intolerance,” he said.

The panelists all agreed on the importance of highlighting the difference between groups and individuals, noting that individuals within any group can make a decision that might tarnish the group’s name, but that that should not necessarily reflect the group as a whole.

Tiechtel said he and Jewish students at KU have experienced more anti-Semitism in recent years, and he said it is important to teach people to find commonalities.

Brody said that in his KU course, “Jews, Christians, Muslims,” Christian students tend to be surprised when he states that Jesus and Mary are figures in the Quran, the Muslim holy book. It’s a commonality that helps students from different religious backgrounds connect, he said.

“But then you have to go further than that, right, because Muslims believe Jesus was a prophet. That’s not what Christians believe about Jesus,” Brody said. “You have to start with that commonality. That can open a lot of doors. But then at some point you want to make sure that you don’t just rest there. And that’s the task that requires some bravery.”

The Theatre Lawrence special event was the second in conjunction with “Yours, Anne,” which runs through this weekend. The first was a February presentation called “Anne Frank: Beyond the Diary.”

A lobby display on loan from The Midwest Center for Holocaust Education features a collection of Holocaust survivor photos and stories and will remain up through this weekend. The curated exhibit features stories of Holocaust survivors who moved and made their life in Kansas City.

photo by: Lauren Fox

Judy Chadwick reads the story of a Holocaust survivor in the lobby of Theatre Lawrence on March 4. The display is part of a collection from The Midwest Center for Holocaust Education and is at the theater in conjunction with its production of “Yours, Anne.”