FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
VEDEM UNDERGROUND IS FEATURED AT THE HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL RESOURCE AND EDUCATION CENTER OF FLORIDA
MAITLAND, FL, Jan. 14, 2020 – The Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida is honored to feature VEDEM UNDERGROUND: The Secret Magazine of the Terezin Ghetto (1942-1944) from January 13 through April 3, 2020. “Named one of the Smithsonian’s 10 “Don’t Miss…” new exhibits for Winter 2017, VEDEM UNDERGROUND, produced by the VEDEM Foundation, is an art installation that deconstructs and reinterprets the literary work of the teenage Jewish creators of the longest-running underground magazine in a Nazi camp. From 1942 to 1944, Vedem (“In the Lead” in Czech) chronicled life within the walls of Czechoslovakia’s Terezin Ghetto, and was a symbol of protest, rebellion and creative activism by some of the era’s youngest resistance fighters. Inspired by Vedem’s invaluable lessons about the necessity of free speech and the dangers of propaganda and censorship, the exhibit premiered at the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles in 2016, and has since been presented in cities such as Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Houston, Sacramento and Portland, Oregon.
Using a combination of pop-art graphics, archival photographs and cartoons, as well as the prose and poetry created by the magazine’s contributors, VEDEM UNDERGROUND celebrates the artistic and cultural legacy of Vedem by breaking down its 83 weekly issues totaling 800 pages, then reconstructing them in the form of a contemporary magazine.
VEDEM UNDERGROUND was produced and curated by Rina Taraseiskey, whose grandfather led the resistance at Lithuania’s Kovno Ghetto, and who is also co-writing the companion book Vedem Underground: Pages of Resistance and producing the Vedem Underground documentary film with an Oscar- and Emmy-award winning team; Los Angeles-based art director Michael Murphy, who conceptualized the exhibit as a merging of punk subculture-inspired art and the 1940s-era ‘zine aesthetic; and Dallas-based writer and journalist Danny King, who is producing and co-writing the companion book.
“It’s been an honor to showcase the incredibly courageous and creative work by some of the youngest resistance fighters of the World War II era,” said VEDEM UNDERGROUND producer and curator Rina Taraseiskey. “These teenage boys refused to give up their identity, their humanity and their fighting spirit.”
“I was motivated to combine the feel of a 1940s-era ‘zine with something that would be more relatable today, especially to younger people,” said VEDEM UNDERGROUND creative director Michael Murphy. “These boys were rebels, so I took a more contemporary, almost punk-rock approach.”
“These boys were risking their lives in order to do this and they used nicknames to hide their identities,” said VEDEM UNDERGROUND co-producer Danny King. “Vedem reflected the stark reality of life inside Terezin, but it was also an escape for them. They expressed their opinions with humor, cartoons and poetry. They could forget that they were in prison.”
VEDEM UNDERGROUND was the winner of the 2016 WORD Grant: The Bruce Geller Memorial Prize, a project of American Jewish University’s Institute for Jewish Creativity. The exhibit has also been generously supported by the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles. Other support for the project comes from Steven Spielberg’s Righteous Persons Foundation and the Ziering Family Foundation.
CONTACT:
Rina Taraseiskey
Founder and Executive Director, VEDEM Foundation
vedemunderground@gmail.com
323.397.6423
www.vedemunderground.com
ABOUT THE HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL RESOURCE AND EDUCATION CENTER OF FLORIDA: The mission of the Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center of Florida is to use the history and lessons of the Holocaust to build a just and caring community free of antisemitism and all forms of prejudice and bigotry. Through our extensive outreach of educational and cultural programs and exhibits, we use the lessons of the Holocaust as a tool. We teach the principles of good citizenship to thousands of people of all ages, religions, races, sexual orientations, abilities and backgrounds each year.
ABOUT THE VEDEM FOUNDATION: The Vedem Foundation produces, operates and promotes its traveling museum collection about Vedem, the longest underground magazine to be regularly produced in a Nazi camp. The Foundation aims to provide both the catalyst and tools for young adults to become creative activists within their communities through innovative multimedia materials and programming, including books, films and educational programs.