Extraordinary moral courage shown by individuals in...

Extraordinary moral courage shown by individuals in two very different settings--European Christians during World War II and black American women since the 18th Century--will be spotlighted in pictures and words at upcoming events in Los Angeles: a photographic exhibit at Occidental College and the Larkin Ethics Lectures at Mount St. Mary’s College.

Southern Californians figure prominently in “Rescuers of the Holocaust: Portraits by Gay Block,” a photographic exhibit opening Monday at Occidental’s Clapp Library.

Block, whose show is touring museums and universities across the country, is a Southland resident, as are three of her subjects: John Weidner of Monterey Park, Margot Lawson of Sherman Oaks and Irene Opdyke of Yorba Linda. Another subject, Bert Bochove, who died last August at age 79, was from Lomita.

These individuals and other Christians, who risked their lives to save Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe, told their stories to Block and Malka Drucker--another Angeleno--whose handwritten interviews with the rescuers are included in the exhibition, along with reproductions of pages from the rescuers’ family scrapbooks and albums.

Though their lives read like chapters in a wartime thriller, these heroes are often modest and matter-of-fact about their feats. “It’s not something you do to be thanked,” said Lawson, 83, who, like the other two rescuers, is Dutch-born. She says she never even told her husband about her rescue of Jews until after an American professor saw her name at a museum in Jerusalem and began publicizing her good deeds.

Bochove started out by hiding a friend of his wife. Eventually, so many others knocked on his door seeking help that he built a false wall in the attic above his pharmacy and created an elaborate scheme for hiding, feeding, and warning them.

“My father really believed in what he did,” said Anna-Marie Robertson of Sherman Oaks, Bochove’s daughter. “When I was about 6, he sent me to show-and-tell at my school in Torrance with a photograph that had been taken by the Dutch underground. It showed Jews starving and on the way to the gas chambers. When I think of it now, it was kind of strange for a 6-year-old to have--but my father really wanted to teach us a lesson in history.”

Said Weidner, 79: “It was a terrible time for so many people. We’ll never forget. I lost my own sister (also a Christian rescuer, who was caught and killed by the Nazis because of her efforts). We have the consolation that what we did was our duty. We are thankful for those who remember those who helped. I hope young people will remember what happens when values disappear.”

Block and Drucker have also written a book recounting the stories of 49 good Samaritans, “Rescuers: Portraits of Moral Courage in the Holocaust.” The authors were inspired by Rabbi Harold Schulweis of Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, who founded the Jewish Foundation of Christian Rescuers, now part of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith.

The exhibit, sponsored by Hillel Council at Occidental, in association with the college and the foundation, is free and open to the public daily through April 29 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. For directions and other information, call (213) 341-4000, extension 3323.

Across town at Mt. St. Mary’s College, the Rev. Katie Cannon, author of “Black Womanist Ethics” and professor of Christian ethics at Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass., will deliver the Larkin Ethics Lectures at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday and at 1:50 p.m. Thursday. Cannon sees black women not solely as victims of racial injustice, but as active moral agents with enduring qualities of grace and courage that have provided for the survival of their families and culture. She recounts stories of black women’s lives to explore the ethical values that enable them to prevail against the odds with integrity.

“Phillis Wheatley was put on trial in the 1700s simply because she wrote a book,” Cannon said. “Sojourner Truth worked in the Abolitionist movement of the 1800s. Fannie Lou Hamer helped black women get the right to vote in the 1900s. I’ll tell their stories to show how black women have been able to live with dignity in the midst of oppression,” Cannon said in a phone interview from Cambridge.

Both talks are free and will be held on the Chalon campus of Mt. St. Mary’s College, 12001 Chalon Road, West Los Angeles. For further information, phone (310) 471-9529.

SPEAKERS

The Rev. Frederick H. Borsch, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, will present the Colwell Lecture at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the School of Theology at Claremont. He will discuss “Teaching the Bible: Between Seminary and Congregation.” Admission is free. The School of Theology at Claremont is at 1325 N. College Ave. For information, phone (714) 626-3521.

PERFORMANCES

Bach’s “St. John’s Passion” will be presented at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Westwood at 4 p.m. Sunday. James Vail conducts the choir, orchestra and soloists. Suggested donations are $3 for seniors and students and $7 for others. The church is at 580 Hilgard Ave., Westwood. (310) 208-6516.

A collection of three short plays from Bertholt Brecht’s “Scenes From the Private Life of the Master Race,” translated by Eric Bentley, will be presented Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Gindi Auditorium at the University of Judaism, 15600 Mulholland Drive, Los Angeles. The $8 admission also includes an exhibit of German Expressionist art and a panel discussion after the plays. For information, call (310) 859-0227.

The 65-voice choir of California Lutheran University will perform at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection, 9812 Hamilton Ave., Huntington Beach. Admission is free. (714) 962-5005.

DATES

The 11th Annual “Bowl for Kids’ Sake” benefit for Big Sisters of Los Angeles and Catholic Big Brothers will be held next Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. Bowlathons will take place at the El Dorado Bowl in Westchester and Cal Bowl in Lakewood. For additional information, phone (213) 251-9800.

Please address notices to: Southern California File, c/o Religion Editor, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles 90053. To receive consideration, an item must be brief and arrive at least three weeks before the event announced.