LULLABY: September 1939 - Jewish Survival, War, and Memory

September 1939 marked the beginning of World War II in Europe. Nazi Germany invaded Poland on September 1; sixteen days later, the Soviet Union invaded from the east. The war that followed destroyed much of Eastern European Jewish life and profoundly shaped a generation whose experiences were later remembered very differently on either side of the Iron Curtain.

Senate Square Society presents LULLABY (1986), directed by Soviet Jewish writer and émigré Efraim Sevela. Told through three stories of Jewish survival during the Holocaust, the film explores childhood, identity, fear, compassion, and the moral choices imposed by war.

The screening will also introduce Sevela's remarkable story—from Soviet writer and screenwriter to Jewish emigration activist, exile from the USSR, and filmmaker confronting the history his generation had lived through.

At each of our events you can expect a warm atmosphere, an ability to network as well as complimentary refreshments.
RSVP is recommended, and donations welcomed.

Efraim Sevela (1928–2010) was a Soviet-born Jewish writer, screenwriter, filmmaker, and émigré whose life was shaped by war, exile, and the struggle for freedom. A child of World War II, he later became a successful Soviet screenwriter before openly challenging the regime and joining the movement for Jewish emigration. Forced to leave the USSR in 1971, Sevela spent much of his life abroad, carrying with him the memories of a vanished world. His work combines humor, sorrow, and deep compassion for people caught in history’s most brutal circumstances. Lullaby is among his most personal reflections on war, survival, and memory.

Senate Square Society, an organization that is opposed to the current Russian regime and fully supports Ukrainian independence and territorial integrity.