Star Crossed: A True Romeo and Juliet Story in Hitler's Paris

Star Crossed: A True Romeo and Juliet Story in Hitler's Paris

Thursday at 12:00pm PDT

Join author Heather Dune Macadam and AJU’s Michael Berenbaum for a discussion on Macadam’s latest non-fiction book, “Star Crossed” that offers a gripping account of love and resistance in Nazi-occupied Paris during WWII. Annette Zelman, a Jewish student at the Beaux-Arts, and Jean Jausion, a Catholic poet, find forbidden love at the Café de Flore. Despite their parents' opposition, the couple feels invincible until the Nazis start arresting and deporting Jews. This epic true story draws from never-before-published family letters and other archival sources, providing precious insight into the Holocaust and the lives of French people under the Hitler regime. “Star Crossed” showcases a tale of undying devotion and the transformative power of love seen through the prism of history. Buy the book HERE.

Heather Dune Macadam’s first book, co-authored with Rena Kornreich Gelissen, was Rena’s Promise: A Story of Sisters in Auschwitz. Director of the Rena’s Promise Foundation, Macadam also sits on the advisory board of the Cities of Peace Auschwitz and is the producer/director of the documentary film 999: The Extraordinary Young Women of the First Official Jewish Transport to Auschwitz. Her work has been recognized by Yad Vashem in the U.K., the USC Shoah Foundation, the National Museum of Jewish History in Bratislava, Slovakia, and the Memorial Museum of Auschwitz in Oswiecim, Poland. Her writing has been featured in National Geographic, The New York Times, The Guardian, on NPR, and in other major media outlets. She divides her time between New York and Herefordshire, England.

Michael Berenbaum is a Professor of Jewish Studies and Director of the Sigi Ziering Institute at the American Jewish University. He is a writer, a scholar and a creator of Museums. His work has been recognized by the Emmys and Academy Awards.