{"id":67065,"date":"2026-04-30T15:44:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T19:44:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/events\/?post_type=tribe_events&p=67065"},"modified":"2026-04-30T15:44:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T19:44:24","slug":"half-jew-full-life-book-talk","status":"publish","type":"tribe_events","link":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/events\/calendar\/half-jew-full-life-book-talk\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cHalf-Jew, Full Life\u201d Book Talk"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘HALF-JEW, FULL LIFE’ BOOK TALK: <\/strong>The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is promoting this virtual event.<\/p>\n

From Berlin to the Bronx, from Holocaust survivor to American success story, Georgette Bennett\u2019s new book, “Half-Jew, Full Life,” traces the extraordinary life of Gary \u201cPips\u201d Phillips who defied the odds at every turn. With an Aryan mother and Jewish father, Pips could have escaped much of the Holocaust\u2019s horrors. Instead, he made a fateful decision at age 13 to become a Bar Mitzvah just as the Nuremberg Laws were enacted, effectively choosing to be labeled a Jew under Nazi rule. Pips\u2019 wartime experience is marked by daring escapes, improbable rescues, and survival while hiding deep within Nazi Berlin. Captured four times, he escaped thrice, choosing to remain in Nazi custody the fourth time as there was nowhere to run in bombed-out Berlin. At his place of confinement, he met his future wife, Olga Horvath, who had been imprisoned after surviving Auschwitz and the Death March to Bergen Belsen. After their marriage in chaotic post-war Berlin, they emigrated to the U.S. to start a new life.<\/p>\n

Arriving in New York with nothing, Pips rose from waiter to co-owner of the world\u2019s largest photo agency \u2014 despite never owning a camera. Unlike Pips, Olga was unable to escape the shadow of her Holocaust experiences, and in a horrifying twist, she threw herself off the roof of their gleaming luxury high-rise after more than 50 years of marriage, leaving Pips grief-stricken, but also able to reinvent himself one more time. This dramatic story brims with chance, love, loss, resilience, and reinvention, culminating in a poignant exploration of Jewish identity, memory, and legacy.<\/p>\n

Bennet will be in conversation with best-selling author Richard Walter.<\/p>\n

This virtual event is from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Register<\/span><\/span> at https:\/\/mjhnyc.org\/events\/halfjewfulllife\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘HALF-JEW, FULL LIFE’ BOOK TALK: The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is promoting this virtual event. From Berlin to the Bronx, from Holocaust survivor to American success story, Georgette Bennett\u2019s new book, “Half-Jew, Full Life,” traces the extraordinary life …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":54617,"template":"","meta":{"_tribe_events_status":"","_tribe_events_status_reason":"","_tribe_events_is_hybrid":"","_tribe_events_is_virtual":"","_tribe_events_virtual_video_source":"","_tribe_events_virtual_embed_video":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button_text":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_at":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_to":[],"_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_event":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_views":"","_tribe_events_virtual_url":"","wds_primary_tribe_events_cat":0,"footnotes":""},"tags":[10,550],"tribe_events_cat":[326,122,19,6,25],"class_list":["post-67065","tribe_events","type-tribe_events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-diversity","tag-jewish-american-heritage-month","tribe_events_cat-affiliated-event","tribe_events_cat-diversity","tribe_events_cat-lectures","tribe_events_cat-virtual-event","tribe_events_cat-webinar","cat_affiliated-event","cat_diversity","cat_lectures","cat_virtual-event","cat_webinar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/67065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/tribe_events"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/67065\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67065"},{"taxonomy":"tribe_events_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events_cat?post=67065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}