OUR COMMUNITY

T

he Holocaust 
Memorial Center 
(HMC) is holding a 
virtual event, “Stolen Voices 
with Zlata Filipovic,” at 3 
p.m. Sunday, Oct. 3.
Filipovic is the author of 
the international bestseller 
Zlata’s Diary, co-editor of 
Stolen Voices: Young People’s 
War Diaries from World War 
I to Iraq and a documentary 
filmmaker. She grew up 
under one of the longest 
sieges in modern-day history 
in her native city of Sarajevo, 
Bosnia-Herzegovina. 
She speaks around the 
world about her experiences 
and has worked with 
organizations such as the 
Anne Frank House, the 
United Nations and UNICEF. 
Attendees will hear the 
fascinating story of her 
wartime childhood, the 
publication of her diary, and 
how they led to her current 
engagement with human 
rights and storytelling. 
Sarah Saltzman, HMC 
director of events and public 
relations, says the mission 
of the HMC is to engage, 
educate and empower the 
community by remembering 
the Holocaust, including 
focusing on programming 
for Holocaust-related topics, 
such as recent or current 
genocides. 
“Inviting Zlata Filipovic to 
speak about living through 
wartime as a child in 

Sarajevo reminds us of the 
horror of all wars,” Saltzman 
said. “Her diary shows us the 
importance of having a first-
hand account of the tragedy. 
She was an eyewitness to 
death, but she never lost 
hope. In this sense, she is 
just like teenager Rywka 
Lipszyc, who wrote the diary 
featured in the museum’s 
current special exhibit, “The 

Girl in the Diary: Searching 
for Rywka from the Lodz 
Ghetto.” 
Filipovic will be attending 
the virtual event from 
Dublin, Ireland, where she 
currently lives. 
“I’ll talk about how life 
changes when suddenly a 
very peaceful childhood 
turns into a war childhood, 
the story of the publication 
of my diary, the value of 
writing and the help it 
offered me. I will also bring 
people up to date in terms 
of my other work that I’ve 

done,” Filipovic said. 
“Stolen Voices,” which 
Filipovic edited, is a 
compilation of young 
people’s diaries throughout 
the 20th century, starting 
with a diary of a young 
12-year-old German girl 
during WWI and finishing 
with the diary of a teenager 
in Iraq in 2006.
“Unfortunately, it’s a 

kind of book that could 
continually be updated with 
more diaries as young people 
around the world continue 
experiencing conflicts,” 
Filipovic said. “It works 
with the exhibit the HMC 
has about a teenage girl’s 
diary about her life under 
Nazi rule in a ghetto, so the 
idea is seeing resilience and 
seeing different experiences 
of young people across the 
20th century who decided to 
keep a diary at such a time.” 
Filipovic has done 
many talks in association 

with Holocaust memorial 
organizations and centers 
and says it’s always a pleasure 
to return and talk about the 
similarities and differences 
of experiences. She hopes 
the attendees can learn more 
about those experiences.
“I hope it will deepen 
their understanding of a 
young person’s experience 
of conflict,” Filipovic said. 
“I hope it will kind of put 
a bit of flesh onto history 
and, particularly if there are 
young people attending, I 
hope it’s something where 
they can see the power of a 
personal story.”
After Filipovic shares her 
experiences, attendees can 
submit questions via the 
Q&A button on Zoom. 
Saltzman said, “We hope 
attendees will be encouraged 
to think about ways 
they can make a positive 
difference in the world, 
whether by donating to a 
cause they deem important, 
sharing their voice in their 
community or before elected 
officials, or standing up for 
their neighbors.” 

To register and donate the suggested 

$10 donation, go to holocaustcenter.

org/events/upcoming-events.

HMC event links author-fi
 lmmaker 
with ‘Girl in the Diary’ exhibit.
Through Young Eyes

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

26 | SEPTEMBER 30 • 2021 

Zlata Filipovic

DRAGANA JURISIC

