January 3, 2007 Israeli Film Series Continues with "Treasures of Auschwitz," To Be Screened on Feb. 28

“Treasures of Auschwitz,” another film in the continuing Israeli Film Series, will be screened at noon on Wednesday, Feb. 28, in the Mary Pickford Theater on the third floor of the Library’s James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C. The event is free and open to the public; no tickets are required.

Directed by Yahaly Gat, “Treasures of Auschwitz” documents the effort to uncover buried Jewish treasure in the Polish town of Oswiecim, located in close proximity to the infamous Auschwitz extermination camp. The film tells the story of a young Israeli student who organizes a unique archaeological excavation to unearth lost religious artifacts said to be buried at the site of the destroyed Great Synagogue. Those artifacts embody his own perished family and guide his attempt for closure.

Yariv Nornberg, the organizer of the archaeological dig, whose story is portrayed in the film, will participate in a discussion following the 55-minute film.

The Israeli Film Series, which began in February 2006, is sponsored by the Library’s Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division and the Hebrew Language Table in cooperation with the Embassy of Israel.

Since 1997, the Embassy of Israel has been presenting the Library with moving-image material to complement more than 100 items in the Library’s Embassy of Israel collection. First presented to the Library in 1997 by Ambassador Eliahu Ben-Elissar, the collection is made possible under the terms of a Feb. 19, 1950, agreement between the United States and Israel

(Treaties and Other International Acts Series 2169), under which the official publications of Israeli government agencies are made available through the Library of Congress.