Date & Time
7:00pm EDT - 9:00pm EDT
About This Event
A Ukrainian Symphony of Survival: From Holocaust to Putin's War
Greg and Candy Dawson shed light on the little-known dawn of the Holocaust, the slaughter of a million Jews in Ukraine who were shot in open pits even before Auschwitz and other death camps began gassing Jews. They tell this through the story of Greg's mother and her younger sister, both piano prodigies, who miraculously escaped a Nazi death march and survived the war by assuming non-Jewish identities and performing for the Nazis. They fast-forward to the war in Ukraine and an equally miraculous full-circle sequel to his mother’s story. Amazingly 80 years after a Christian family in Ukraine sheltered his mother and aunt, his family facilitated refuge in America for the descendants
of that family fleeing Putin’s war.
Greg's books, "Hiding in the Spotlight: A Musical Prodigy’s Story of Survival 1941-1946" and "Alias Anna: A True Story of Outwitting the Nazis," and Candy's 17-minute film, which previews his mother's story, inform the presentation.
Each ticket includes a free meal (vegetarian and gluten-free options available).
Meal service begins at 6:00 p.m.
Speaker presentation begins at 7:00 p.m.
About This Event
A Ukrainian Symphony of Survival: From Holocaust to Putin's War
Greg and Candy Dawson shed light on the little-known dawn of the Holocaust, the slaughter of a million Jews in Ukraine who were shot in open pits even before Auschwitz and other death camps began gassing Jews. They tell this through the story of Greg's mother and her younger sister, both piano prodigies, who miraculously escaped a Nazi death march and survived the war by assuming non-Jewish identities and performing for the Nazis. They fast-forward to the war in Ukraine and an equally miraculous full-circle sequel to his mother’s story. Amazingly 80 years after a Christian family in Ukraine sheltered his mother and aunt, his family facilitated refuge in America for the descendants
of that family fleeing Putin’s war.
Greg's books, "Hiding in the Spotlight: A Musical Prodigy’s Story of Survival 1941-1946" and "Alias Anna: A True Story of Outwitting the Nazis," and Candy's 17-minute film, which previews his mother's story, inform the presentation.
Each ticket includes a free meal (vegetarian and gluten-free options available).
Meal service begins at 6:00 p.m.
Speaker presentation begins at 7:00 p.m.
About the Speakers
Greg Dawson stumbled into journalism in high school when the sports editor at the newspaper in Bloomington, Indiana, offered him a part-time job on the strength of a letter-to-the-editor on which Dawson unaccountably forged the name of a classmate. He was hired anyway and, like Satchel Paige, never looked back. Over the next 49 years, Dawson worked as a reporter, TV critic, metro columnist, and consumer columnist at newspapers in Bloomington (IN), Boca Raton (FL), Grand Forks (ND), Wichita (KS), Boston and Orlando and as a humor columnist at Orlando Magazine. He has written two books based on his mother’s experience as a Ukrainian Holocaust survivor, a collective memoir of the Sixties and co-authored a children’s book based on his mother’s story. www.gregdawsonbooks.com
Candy Dawson grew up in a newspaper family and began writing for the Fernandina Beach (Florida) News Leader at age 13. After graduating from Florida Atlantic University, she had a lengthy career as an elementary teacher and reading specialist in Florida, Indiana, and Massachusetts. Candy has written two plays and a screenplay and produced a documentary film, all based on husband Greg’s books about the Holocaust. She and Greg collaborated on a book about the 1960s after interviewing over 100 people across the country. She has worked with special needs children and adults on reading, acting and bringing out their creativity. Candy is currently enjoying acting in a small community troupe for those 55+. The couple have two grown children and a granddaughter.
Date & Time
7:00pm EDT - 9:00pm EDT