BOOK PRESENTATION | CONVERSATION | ARI RATH & WOLF BLITZER
The Austrian Cultural Forum New York and New York’s Leo Baeck Institute are pleased to present an evening dedicated to Ari Rath’s memoirs Ari heißt Löwe (Ari means lion). CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer will talk to Mr. Rath about his autobiographical book.
Author Ari Rath, who was born as a son of Galician Jews, witnessed a number of significant events in the world of politics and contemporary history. He assembled all his memories and published a very personal book about them. In Ari heißt Löwe, Rath talks about the „Anschluss“ and his flight from Austria to the kibbutz in Israel, where he encountered great difficulties, about his experiences as a member of the Zionistic youth movement in the US, and the founding of the state of Israel. He talks about his newspaper the “Jerusalem Post”, which gave voice to liberal Israel, and his meetings with Adenauer and Ben-Gurion, Brandt, Schmidt, as well as Sadat.
ABOUT THE PARTICIPANTS
As a 13-year-old boy Ari Rath (born in 1925) was forced to flee Austria for Palestine after the “Anschluss” in 1938. He studied contemporary history and economy. Ari became a founding member of the kibbutz Chamadiya and began working as a journalist for the “Jerusalem Post” in 1957. He later became the publisher and editor-in-chief of the newspaper, that was active in calling for reconciliation in the Middle East. The liberal journalist also promoted a dialogue between Israel and Germany as well as Austria. Today, Rath works as a freelance publisher and university lecturer.
Wolf Blitzer is CNN’s lead political anchor and the anchor of The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, a political news program that provides up-to-the minute coverage of the day’s events. Blitzer has been with CNN for more than 20 years. He has moderated political debates and reported from different parts of the world. In addition to politics, Blitzer is also known for his in-depth reports on international news. Throughout his career, Blitzer has interviewed some of history’s most notable figures, including President Barack Obama and former U.S. Presidents, as well as many foreign leaders such as the Dalai Lama or Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari. In 1973, Ari Rath hired Blitzer to serve as a Washington correspondent for the Jerusalem Post.
>> For information on the book, please visit http://www.hanser-literaturverlage.de/buecher/buch.html?isbn=978-3-552-05585-8
VENUE
Leo Baeck Institute, Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street
(Between 5th & 6th Avenues)
New York, NY 10011
Tel: (212) 744-6400 or (212) 294-8340
Tickets: $5 / Members & friends of the AFCNY (Mention ‘ACFNY’ for member rate)
$10 / Non-members
To reserve a seat, please call (212) 744-6400 or email mlegaspi@lbi.cjh.org.
Tickets will be sold at the door.