Jan Brokken
The Righteous
How a Dutch consul saved thousands of Jews
16 October 2019
Library for Foreign Literature
19:00 - 20:30
Presentation of a book in Moscow
About the lecture
Lecture will be delivered in English with simultaneous translation into Russian
At the beginning of the Second World War, Jan Zwartendijk, then the Dutch consul in Lithuania, found a way to save the lives of thousands of Jewish people who had fled Poland, by giving them visas for the Dutch island of Curaçao in the Caribbean. He was helped by the Dutch Ambassador in Riga and the consul for Japan. Visas at hand, the refugees were able to take the Trans-Siberian railway to Japan and then disperse to all four corners of the globe. The vast majority of them survived the war.
The Righteous offers a vivid picture of Eastern Europe during the war and traces the life-stories of the rescued Jews, many of whom Brokken was able to find and speak with. In 1997, Zwartendijk was posthumously bestowed the Yad Vashem honorary title 'Righteous Among Nations' for his large-scale rescue mission.
During his lecture, Jan Brokken will tell about what led him to writing this book, how he collected the material for it, and the Q&A session will follow.
The Righteous offers a vivid picture of Eastern Europe during the war and traces the life-stories of the rescued Jews, many of whom Brokken was able to find and speak with. In 1997, Zwartendijk was posthumously bestowed the Yad Vashem honorary title 'Righteous Among Nations' for his large-scale rescue mission.
During his lecture, Jan Brokken will tell about what led him to writing this book, how he collected the material for it, and the Q&A session will follow.
| Jan Brokken Jan Brokken has, in a literary career spanning thirty years, written books about a number of different places around the globe, including West Africa, the Dutch Caribbean, Indonesia and China, winning acclaim for his adventurous attitude and sensitive style. He gained international fame with The Rainbird, The Blind Passengers, My Little Madness, Baltic Souls, In the House of the Poet, The Reprisal and The Cossack Garden. He is renowned as a masterful storyteller. The New York Times praised his book Jungle Rudy on Rudy Truffino, who mapped the Venezuelan jungle, as 'a masterpiece of narrative non-fiction'. |
Wednesday 16 October 2019, 18:30 (registration begins; the lecture starts at 19:00)
Library for Foreign Literature, Book store, Floor 1
Library for Foreign Literature, Book store, Floor 1
Nikoloyamskaya Street 1, Moscow
Participation is free of charge. Registration is obligatory. You will need to show your passport to enter the building.
Registration is closed
The lecture is organized in cooperation with
the Library for Foreign Literature in Moscow
the Library for Foreign Literature in Moscow
Tilda Publishing
