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Film + Discussion: “A Man from Druya”
May 2 • 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
Join us for a Jewish American Heritage Month film screening. We’ll watch and discuss the Holocaust documentary “A Man from Druya,” made by SJCC member Rabbi Gloria Milner, who will be in attendance. Bagels and coffee will be provided.
Milner made this hour-long documentary about her husband, Al, a Holocaust survivor who died in 2010. The film is a portrayal of his life in Druya, Belarus, before, during, and after the war. It is also a love story told by his wife of 30 years. The final portion deals with a project Al and other survivors accomplished: restoring the 400-year-old cemetery in the town and creating a monument to the 750 Jews who died in the liquidation of the ghetto in June 1942.
The film is a researched portrayal of the Northern Belarus town of Druya, with information gathered from word-of-mouth accounts from survivors as well as a Yizkor book from the town. The film includes both vintage family photos and modern footage. Milner created this film for her grandchildren to understand their grandfather’s life before the war; they never met him, as he died before they were born. She wanted to portray Al’s quest to face his demons and begin to heal. Interspersed are glimpses of his life with his wife and child Nathaniel (who is now 41 and lives in Seattle with his family). The film reveals much about prewar Belarus and Al’s childhood (he was 12 when the ghetto was liquidated). It also draws the audience in to identify with him as a man.
About the Guest
Gloria Milner is an eclectic woman of 77. She taught high school English in the ‘60s and ‘70s in Washington, D.C. She moved to NYC in 1980 and embarked on 20-year advertising career in the “Mad Men” world. She and her husband leased a small hotel in Times Square in the ‘80s and created a 41-room bed-and-breakfast, which Milner ran after 1997. She retired from the hotel world in 2008 and became an independent rabbi, bringing people of different faiths together through her officiations. She moved to Mercer Island in September 2022 to be near her son and grandchildren.
