1:00 pm Lecture: Dr. Benjamin Lesin, who recently returned from a trip to Lithuania, will recount the story of his parents, Israel Meyer and Mollie (Glatt) Lesin. Ben has an incredible collection of documents that represent the journey his family took from the shtetl of Nyshtot-Sugint, through Central Europe, and on to America. He is not a genealogist, but with vital records, passports, maps, letters, telegrams and photos he chronicles the survival of his ancestors through turbulent times, showing how a collection of artifacts .can visually portray a family’s history.

SPEAKER: Dr. Benjamin E. Lesin is the founder of the Institute for Righteous Gentiles that assists financially, and provides recognition to, those Lithuanians who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. He is also the president of Visas for Life Foundation, which perpetuates the legacy of Chiune Sugihara, Japanese General Consul in Lithuania, who saved thousands of Jews during WWII. The son and grandson of Lithuanian rabbis, he has had a close link to the pre-World War II Lithuanian Jewish community. An orthopedic hand surgeon practicing in the San Fernando Valley for more than 30 years, he is an Associate Clinical Professor at USC.

2:00 pm: Roundtables & Networking - We will offer two 45 minute sessions of regional group discussions. This will allow those with interest in more than one region to spend time with one group and then move to join a second, with socializing breaks in between. Each group will have a facilitator and materials on hand from our traveling library specific to that region. Those planning to attend are encouraged to bring books, archival reports, maps and resources used in their own research that may be of interest to others. (Internet service is not available at this venue, but feel free to bring your laptops if your family trees and document scans are on them.) The regions represented will include: Germany, Gesher Galicia/Austria, Hungary/Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.