Lessons from the Holocaust - Remembering the Past and Looking to the Future

Wayland, MA – May 12, 2014 – Join the Walden Forum for a discussion with Dr. Anna Ornstein, Holocaust survivor and child psychiatrist. The Forum will be held at 7:30 p.m. on May 28 at the Wayland Middle School Auditorium, 201 Main St., Wayland, MA 01778.

“Every survivor of a disaster, whether natural or man-made, feels lucky,” said Dr. Ornstein. “Those of us who survived the Holocaust are only too aware that luck played a crucial role in our survival. It may have helped to be smart, resourceful or courageous, but more than any other factor, it is to luck that we owe our lives.”

To Holocaust survivors, telling one’s story – telling the world what happened – is a moral imperative. This, however, is never done without ambivalence; the wish to leave a legacy for future generations and the responsibility to preserve the memory often collide with the desire to forget or to let the painful past remain in its encapsulated internal space.

Anna Ornstein published her childhood memories and Holocaust experiences in short stories that were published in a book, “My Mother’s Eyes.” Anna was seventeen years old in 1944 when she and her family were deported to Auschwitz; only she and her mother survived. Her two brothers perished in forced labor camps and her father died in Auschwitz.

The question is frequently asked: “What can we do to prevent another Holocaust and to put an end to mass murder and genocides around the world, events that have become more numerous since WWII?” Limited as our efforts are to influence political events and religious extremism, we are trying to do what we can. Foremost is education and the teaching of tolerance in our multi-racial, multi-faith society. We emphasize the dangers of prejudice and discrimination and we discuss the relativity of morality and the importance to maintain political systems that ensure human rights.

Anna Ornstein - Dr. Ornstein received her medical degree in Heidelberg, Germany. She had her psychiatric and child psychiatric training at the University of Cincinnati. Currently, she is Professor Emerita of Child Psychiatry at that University and Lecturer in Psychiatry at Harvard University. Dr. Ornstein is a graduate of the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis. She is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Cincinnati Psychoanalytic Institute and a Supervising Analyst at the Boston Psychoanalytic Institute. Dr. Ornstein has published over 100 articles on the interpretive process in psychoanalysis, on psychoanalytic psychotherapy (many of these jointly written with Dr. Paul Ornstein), child psychopathology, the treatment of children and families, and the process of recovery following the survival of extreme conditions. In 1989, Dr. Ornstein was honored with the Distinguished Psychiatrist Lecturer Award by the American Psychiatric Association. In 1991, she received the Rosenberry Award for Dedication to the care of children. In 1996 she received the University of Cincinnati Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarship. And in 2000 she was given a Special Presidential Commendation by the American Psychiatric Association. Both alone and with her husband, she has conducted over four hundred seminars and workshops.

About the Walden Forum – The Walden Forum is a free public series that brings people together to talk, listen and learn from one another in a civil environment. It fosters discussion about important ethical, religious, political, scientific, social and other topics in a live-forum setting. Dynamic speakers challenge and expand our views about the world around us and offer the opportunity for an open discussion of these issues in a convenient, local setting. Featuring world-class speakers on great topics throughout the year, the Walden Forum is a non-religious community program supported by First Parish in Wayland and others. For more information go to www.waldenforum.org or write to info@waldenforum.org.

Walden Forum is a non-profit community program supported by: Waylandbusiness.org, Staples, UPS, Baldwin Insurance, Stop and Shop – Wayland and the Cultural Councils of Wayland, Weston, Natick and Westborough.