US Holocaust Memorial Museum - Washington D.C. (Feburary 1995)
The speech, which took place on the top floor of the research institute, took about an hour. I was told at the time that there is a speech during the lunch hour every week.
In regard to this speech I have to thank 2 groups of people.
First of all Felix and Shoshanna, who got the idea that I might speak there. (I had never before spoken in public and my English was - looking back - rather broken when speaking freely, considering that I was just 19 years back then). You can read about my stay with them in the Bathesda Gazette (go to „Articles about us).
I must also give thanks to the audience, which came partly from the institute itself, but also from the people getting their newsletter. They gave much appreciation and a very good ear to a still 19-year-old girl then. Their amazing friendliness encouraged me to give further speeches and that is something to be valued.
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Austrian Embassy - Washington D.C. (Friday, March 8, 1995 - 3 PM)
During my stay I also had the chance to give a speech at the Austrian Embassy. One Sunday afternoon a very interested group of people with mainly German or Austrian background came to listen to me.
Here you can see the invitation from the Embassy:
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Speaking at Oberlin College (Thursday, February 15, 1996 - 4:30 PM - Max Kade House)
One year after my first speech in Washington D.C. I was invited by Professor Sidney Rosenfeld Ð a dear friend - to give a speech at Oberlin College in Oberlin - Ohio.
To say the truth: speaking in Oberlin was absolute horror. That means that I got a cold during the speech and lost my voice soon afterwards. Probably also because of nervousness (the speech was taped) I got a blackout That means I cannot remember the second third of the speech. When having only less than a third to go I was kind of "waking up" and did not know if I should be crying and stopping or keep on talking. I was feeling horrible. But I guess some kind of an autopilot had been taking over because it turned out that nobody had noticed what was going on. I had done my speech in a coherent way and luckily I decided to finish as if nothing had happenend.
After time went by I still was not able to remember that time span - it just never came back. (I also never experienced anything similar) But I guess my performance was not that bad, condsidering that nobody seemed to have noticed and the students were quite welcoming and interested.
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Beachwood High School - Cleveland (February 1996)
While I stayed at Oberlin College, I also had the chance to talk in front of students at Beachwood High School in Cleveland. I thank the school for inviting me and Prof. Rosenfeld for tying the connection. You can learn more about my speech in the Article from the newspaper „NEXT“.
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Bet Am Shalom Synagogue, NY (Wednesday, Feburary 10, 1999, 8 PM)
This speech was one of the nicest I gave. Friend had made it possible that an evening was reserved for my speech in the synagogue to which he belongs.
The Bet Am Shalom Synagogue is located in a beautiful house that rather seems like a big private home.
My speech took place in the big gathering-room of the synagogue. There was a little table for the overhead projector, opposite of the wooden closet with the Thora and the place where the rabbi usually takes from. The chairs were just turned around. There were about 45 - 50 people in the audience. The discussion after the speech was very interesting.
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The Unitarian Society of Ridgewood, NJ ( February 1999)
The second speech I gave during this trip to the USA took place in the Unitarian Universalist church of Ridgewood. The mother of an Oberlin student I knew had arranged that. There was an audience of about 45 people. Many of the people there were not members of the Unitarian Universalist church, but had come because they had heard about the speech and were interested.
Invitation:
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Wilhelm Loehe High School, Nuremberg, Germany (Spring 2005)
During a stay in Nuremberg, Germany, I found a very interested audience in a „special interest group: history“ at the Wilhelm Loehe High School. It showed that Laa hold a story that stands for so many places in Austria and even Europe in WW 2.
by Mag. Magdalena Müllner