Date: Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Time: 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. ET

Target Grade Levels: Colleges, Universities, Faculty, Students and Communities

Ways to Participate:

• H.323 Videoconferencing via Internet2 Commons
  Sites must have H.323 Videoconferencing Equipment and connections to the MAGPI or Internet2 networks. Advanced registration is required.
  
• Live Webstream Participation
  Sites may watch the Live Webstream via Real Player or the Live MPEG2 Multicast via Videolan Media Player. No registration is required for webstream participation.

Description:

In the winter of 1945, on the day of her liberation from six years of Nazi rule, Gerda Weissmann clung to life at the end of a 350-mile death march. She weighed 68 pounds, her hair had turned white, and she had not had a bath in three years. She survived with courage, grace and dignity.

Gerda Weissmann Klein, renowned motivational speaker and Holocaust survivor, teaches each one of us about tolerance, understanding and making a difference. Gerda Klein’s spirit helped her survive six years under Nazi rule; through her story, and her unique perspective, she continues to help each one of us to understand the dangers of hate and extremism.

In light of increasing intolerance, anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism on college campuses, both nationally and internationally, it is imperative that our students hear the message of Gerda Weissmann Klein.

Join us for an evening of conversation and inspiration.

A select number of sites will be able to join this event as interactive videoconference sites. IVC sites will be able to ask Mrs. Klein questions during the event via videoconference. All other sites may connect via one of two streaming options. Webstream sites will be able to submit questions for Mrs. Klein to answer during the event. More information will be available soon!

This event is brought to you by MAGPI and The Gerda and Kurt Klein Foundation, with support from the Penn Video Network.

Watch the LIVE Webstream via Real Player or the Live MPEG2 Stream via Videolan
Please note that the live webstream and multicast MPEG2 stream will be available beginning at 6:45 p.m. on November 13, 2007, with content beginning at 7:00 p.m. EDT. For technical assistance during the streaming video event, send email to webcast-feedback@isc.upenn.edu, or call 215-573-4006.

Accessing the Live Webstream via Real Player
Webstream URL: http://beansidhe.isc-net.upenn.edu:8080/ramgen/encoder/gwk.rm

To view the live webstream via Real Player, simply click on the link above. To test your ability to connect to the stream, see the testing instructions below.

Technical Requirements for getting the RealPlayer stream:

To view the Internet webcast, your computer must have RealPlayer (version 8 or higher). RealPlayer is available for free from http://www.real.com/.  Visit this site and follow the instructions to download and install the "RealPlayer - Free" option.

To test RealPlayer on your computer prior to the November 13th event, click on the link below (or copy and paste it into your web browser) to watch an archived video of commencement exercises from the University of Pennsylvania:

http://beansidhe.isc-net.upenn.edu:8080/ramgen/president/commencement07.rm

Accessing the MPEG2 Stream via Videolan Media Player on MAC OS X and Window's Systems:

About Videolan Media Player (MPEG-2 player)

To view a DVD quality video stream on multicast high bandwidth networks such as those found at universities and institutions on Internet 2, your computer must have Videolan Media Player and your internet connection must be 4.0 mbps or higher on a multicast enabled network.

VideoLan Media Player Setup

Download and install the free VLC media player from www.videolan.org/vlc

Launch the client and then:

• Choose File > Open Network Stream
• Select UDP/RTP Multicast
• For "Address" enter IP number: 233.0.55.9
• For "Port" enter 1234
• Select "OK"

About Gerda Weissmann Klein

For years author, historian, and speaker, Gerda Weissmann Klein has captivated audiences worldwide with her powerful messages of hope, inspiration, love and humanity. In her speeches and books, Klein draws from her wealth of life experiences: from surviving the holocaust, meeting her future husband on the day of her liberation, to her journey to the United States , accepting an Oscar for a documentary based on her life, and her constant fight to promote tolerance and fight hunger.

In 1939, 15 year-old Gerda Weissmann Klein’s life would change forever as German troops invaded her home in Beilsko, Poland. This day would be forever ingrained in Gerda’s memory, as it was the last time she would ever see her family. Never losing hope, Klein would spend the next three years in a succession of slave-labor camps, until she was forced to walk in a 350-mile death march in which 2,000 women were subjected to exposure, starvation, and arbitrary execution. Despite such atrocities, Klein never lost the will to survive. Klein’s account of living through the Holocaust is documented in her classic autobiography, All But My Life, in print for 46 years in 57 editions. It was the foundation for the Oscar Winning HBO Documentary One Survivor Remembers.

One of the most remarkable chapters in Gerda’s life began when her future husband, Kurt Klein, an American intelligence officer, liberated her. Their story of meeting and life together has been featured on numerous television shows including Oprah, 60 Minutes and CBS Sunday Morning. A book of their letters to one another The Hours After, is a poignant collection of actual correspondence between Gerda and Kurt Klein following the war.

In 2004 Klein released, A Boring Evening at Home (dedicated to her late husband). The book offers glimpses into her life, and into the thoughts that have always vindicated her belief that the most treasured place on earth is home, and that the most beautiful and desirable aim for people is to spend “a boring evening” there with family.

The Kleins’ story is portrayed in the film Testimony, a permanent exhibit at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. In June 1997, President Clinton appointed Klein to the council of the Holocaust Museum. The 1995 HBO documentary, One Survivor Remembers, in which Gerda Klein recounts some of her wartime experiences, won a TV Emmy Award, two Cable Ace Awards, and an Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Gerda Klein’s editorial credits also include The Blue Rose, a story about the mentally retarded that subsequently became a film in India. Her work, Promise of a New Spring, is devoted to teaching young children about the Holocaust, while A Passion for Sharing is a biography of New Orleans philanthropist Edith Rosenwald Stern, which garnered its author the Valley Forge Freedom Award. In 1996, Klein was one of five women to receive the prestigious international Lion of Judah award in Jerusalem. More recently, she was featured on the cover of a McDougall-Littel educational textbook, The Americans, alongside such other notable figures as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr., Ronald Reagan, and Gen. Norman Schwartzkopf. She was recently awarded the Brandeis University Sachar Award as well as the Blue Valley Good Neighbor Award. Gerda Klein served as the keynote speaker at the United Nations on January 27, 2006 at the first International Holocaust Remembrance Day Program.

Klein’s constant striving for the preservation of human rights and dignity has earned her seven Doctorates of Humane Letters, along with countless other awards. In 1998 along with her late husband, Klein founded the Gerda and Kurt Klein Foundation (www.kleinfoundation.org). Dedicated to easing human suffering wherever it maybe, Gerda has worked tirelessly with her foundation to fight hunger and violence, and to promote tolerance, lessen prejudice and encourage community service focused on local hunger relief. As a public non-profit, this small but most important foundation relies upon contributions and grants in order to accomplish its mission.

In October 2003 and again in September 2005, The Klein Foundation partnered with TIME Classroom to create a unique multimedia educational kit sent to almost 2 million high school students across the country entitled: “Stand Up, Speak Out, Lend a Hand.” This special school supplement s hares the Kleins’ experiences as the basis to teach students about the importance of respect, responsibility and acceptance of differences.

About The Gerda and Kurt Klein Foundation

In 1998 along with her late husband, Gerda Weissmann Klein founded the Gerda and Kurt Klein Foundation. Dedicated to easing human suffering wherever it maybe, Gerda has worked tirelessly with her foundation to fight hunger and violence, and to promote tolerance, lessen prejudice and encourage community service focused on local hunger relief. As a public non-profit, this small but most important foundation relies upon contributions and grants in order to accomplish its mission.

In October 2003 and again in September 2005, The Klein Foundation partnered with TIME Classroom to create a unique multimedia educational kit sent to almost 2 million high school students across the country. This special school supplement s hares the Kleins’ experiences as the basis to teach students about the importance of respect, responsibility and acceptance of differences. This Klein Foundation/TIME Classroom program entitled Stand Up, Speak Out, Lend a Hand , was nominated as one of four finalists for outstanding student publications from the prestigious Educational Publishers Association of America in June 2004.

In the Fall 2005 a significant and exciting partnership was created between the Klein Foundation and Southern Poverty Law Center addressing the issues of anti-Semitism and intolerance in its larger context. To date, there have been over 70,000 requests for this kit in just over a year. This project is available FREE to every school in the country upon request.