For Immediate Release

 

Contact:         Maryjane Briant
                        News and Media Relations Director
                        Galloway, N.J. 08205
                        Maryjane.Briant@stockton.edu
                        (609) 652-4593
                        stockton.edu/media

Galloway, N.J. - A play based on the life of a local Holocaust survivor will be presented at Stockton University on Thursday, May 4 at 6:30 p.m. at the university’s Experimental Theatre, located below the Performing Arts Center Box Office, 101 Vera King Farris Drive, Galloway, N.J.

The Sara and Sam Schoffer Holocaust Resource Center of Stockton University and Atlantic Cape Community College are jointly sponsoring the 34^th Annual Holocaust Awareness Program, “The Girl in a Haystack,” which is funded by The Hirsch Family Foundation.

The play is based on the life story of Holocaust survivor Laura Oberlender, who now lives in Atlantic City. Oberlender was born in Tuchin, Poland (now Ukraine) and after the Germans occupied the town, the family was forced into the Tuchin Ghetto. She was about 6 years old at the time. Her family eventually escaped the ghetto and they were hidden on a farm. Brisko, the farmer’s dog, would bark and protect Oberlender’s family when Nazi soldiers were nearby. The family was freed in January 1944. 

In March 1990, Yad Vashem, Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, recognized the farmer, Pavel, and his wife, Lyubov, as Righteous Among the Nations.

The play is written and directed by Stockton adjunct faculty member Lane Jackson. The actors are Stockton University students, some of whom are majoring in Theatre Arts and Minoring in Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

The performance is free and no tickets are needed. The one-hour play is appropriate for 4th – 12th graders as well as adults. After the performance, the audience will be able to meet the actors and Laura Oberlender. There will be time for audience questions.  For more information, call the center at 609-652-4699.