Moderator: Rebecca Erbelding (Historian, educator, curator, and archivist at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)
Charlie Scheidt was born in New York City to parents who had escaped Nazi-occupied Europe. Growing up in a close-knit, German-Jewish refugee community, Charlie witnessed firsthand the traumatic effects of persecution and exile.
Kat Rohrer was born in Vienna, Austria and is an award-winning filmmaker, who has produced, written, and directed numerous narrative films and documentaries.
After his mother’s death, Charlie Scheidt discovered a trove of historic documents that set him on a decade-long journey to uncover his family’s hidden past during the Holocaust. Joined by Kat Rohrer, the granddaughter of a Nazi officer, Charlie and Kat embarked on a quest to trace Charlie’s family’s harrowing efforts to escape from Nazi-occupied Europe. As they investigated, they uncovered stories of survival and loss. Their journey takes them across generations and continents, revealing a legacy of love, loss, and resilience. Grappling with questions about the long-lasting effects of inherited trauma, the book asks whether it is possible to break free of a familial cycle. Inheritance: Love, Loss, and the Legacy of the Holocaust, rooted in his family’s escape and the lasting trauma that followed, is a powerful reflection on history’s enduring scars, the importance of remembrance, and healing across generations.
Reception and book signing will follow lecture.
Sponsored by the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Clark University Hillel, Temple Emanuel Sinai, and Congregation Beth Israel
