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Larry Tye was surprised by a common trait he found among Holocaust survivors the award-winning journalist interviewed for his forthcoming book – optimism.
Tye will discuss “The Forger of Paris: Adolfo Kaminsky and the Jewish Resistance to the Holocaust,” from 5:30 to 7 p.m., on Wed., Nov. 12, at the Plymouth Public Library. The program will be moderated by Boston Globe editor at large Walter Robinson, who headed the Spotlight team that reported on widespread child abuse by Catholic priests, winning the Globe a Pulitzer Prize in 2002. (Robinson, a Plymouth resident, is also a member of the Plymouth Independent’s board.)
The program, “Resistance & Resilience: The Resistance to the Holocaust and Lessons Those Amazing Survivors Offer Re: Resistance in Today’s Fraught World,” is hosted by Plymouth for All (formerly No Place for Hate).
Tye interviewed more than 100 Holocaust survivors all over Europe and Israel. Most were already in their late 80s. Although he focused on the heroism of Adolfo Kaminsky, a teenager who saved the lives of 10,000 Jews, Tye heard stories of other feats of courage and resistance from the people he interviewed.
“Just about every one of the 100 I interviewed has a story that is amazing,” he said. Any one of them could have been the subject of his book.”
The research caused to him to repeatedly wonder whether he would have had such courage in a similar situation. The answer, he said, was almost always “no.”
“Every time I get distressed about what’s going on in the world around me, I interview another Holocaust survivor and they are, shockingly, the most extraordinary optimists, and they give me a reason for hope and for getting beyond whatever today’s crises seem to be,” Tye said.
Tye said the program will have three focus points:
First, he will talk about Kaminsky and his heroism, and relate some of the resistance stories he heard from Holocaust survivors.
Second, because many people aspire to writing a book, Tye said he’s happy to entertain questions about that process.
Describing the third focus, he said, “At a moment that is fraught in this country and in the world today, what lessons of resilience and resistance can we take from the experience of the darkest chapter of world history in recent memory, and maybe in the entire history?”
The program, to be held in the library’s Fehlow Meeting Room, is free and open to all.
Monday, November 3
“Deliver Me from Nowhere,” the Bruce Springsteen bio-pic starring Jeremy Allen White, continues at Plimoth Cinema in Plimoth Patuxet Museums, 137 Warren Ave. The film focuses on a tense period when Springsteen was creating his album “Nebraska.” “The Mastermind,” written and directed by the brilliant Kelly Reichardt, is also screening. The film was inspired by the real-life 1972 theft of art from the Worcester Art Museum, and follows a suburban family man, played by Josh O’Connor, who leads a double life as an art thief stealing paintings by Arthur Dove. Both films are showing at 4:30 and 7 p.m., through Thursday, Nov. 6. Tickets are $12.50, $11 with a club card, $10 for seniors or members, and $8.50 for seniors with a club card.
Sustainable Plymouth’s Water Quality Working Group invites the public to a free event at Center Hill Preserve, 158 Center Hill Road, at 5:30 p.m. to learn how to form networks to address water quality in local ponds. (Center Hill Preserve is the Southeastern Massachusetts Pine Barrens Alliance Community Conservation Center.) This event, “Water Quality: Organizing Pond Groups in Plymouth & Building Pond Networks,” will feature Andrew Gottlieb, executive director of the Association to Preserve Cape Cod.
Tuesday, November 4
Join State Representative Michelle Badger for her community hours at the Plymouth Public Library, 132 South St., from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Craft Room. Share what’s on your mind and find out what’s going on in state government.
Wednesday, November 5
Michael Shea, guitarist and singer-songwriter, will perform “The Rise of the Singer-Songwriter in American Music: From Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell to Billy Joel” at 2 p.m. at the Plymouth Public Library, 132 South St.Shea will trace the evolution of the American singer-songwriter from 1952 to the present. His set will feature songs by Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, along with lesser-known voices. Shea will also perform original compositions. Registration is required, and you can do that here.
Thursday, November 6
Whether you’re experienced or a beginner, come make button books at the Plymouth Public Library, 132 South St., from 12 to 1:30 p.m. These tiny books have two buttons for the front and back covers, with accordion-style illustrated pages in between. Registration is required, and you can do so here.
If you want to try your hand at the therapeutic craft of knitting, Untold Brewing, 2 Loring Ave., will be hosting a Chunky Knit Blanket Party from 6 to 8 p.m. Knitters will receive instructions from South Shore Blanket Parties. Tickets include the lesson and one drink. There are different options for the size of blanket you want to knit, which means a different number of skeins of yarn and different ticket prices. Tickets for one skein of yarn are $75, four skeins are $95, and five skeins are $105. Tickets and more information are available here.
Friday, November 7
“Train Dreams” will begin screening at Plimoth Cinema in Plimoth Patuxet Museums, 137 Warren Ave. Based on the novella of the same name by Denis Johnson, the film stars Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones, and follows a logger who must go work on the developing railroad, taking him away from his wife and daughter. Film times are 4:30 and 7 p.m. Tickets are $12.50, $11 with a club card, $10 for seniors or members, and $8.50 for seniors with a club card.
The Matt Nakoa Band will perform at the Spire at 8 p.m., with doors opening at 7 p.m. Nakoa grew up on a rural farm in New York state and discovered music as a means of teenage escape. He trained to be a concert pianist and attended Berklee College of Music, studying alongside St. Vincent and Esperanza Spalding among others. Tickets are $31 and $34, and you can buy them here.
Saturday, November 8
The Plymouth Ancient Order of the Hibernians is sponsoring “The Hibernian Hunger Project,” from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Market Basket, 1 Commerce Way. The food drive comes at a time when many families desperately need the support. AOH Division President Michael Schilling said the drive last year delivered more than 10 boxes of food to five food pantries.
The 250th Birthday Marine Corps Ball will be held at Hotel 1620 Plymouth Harbor, 180 Water St., from 6 to 11 p.m. The event honors the origins of the Marine Corps and highlights Plymouth’s historical ties to its founding. That history will be showcased through a reenactor interpreting the town’s first marine – Lieutenant James Warren, Jr. The celebration will include the traditional cake-cutting ceremony, a tribute to Plymouth Marines across the generations, dinner, a cash bar, music, and dancing. The guest of honor will be Lieutenant Colonel Robert H. Barrow, Jr., and there will also be a tribute to Lance Corporal Nicholas Eufrazio of Plymouth, a Purple Heart recipient who was wounded in Afghanistan. All veterans, families, and community members are welcome. Tickets are $75 and available here.
The Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Steven Karidoyanes, invites audiences to “Come to the Party,” for a performance starting at 7:30 p.m. at the Plymouth South High School Performing Arts Center, 490 Long Pond Road. Patrons also may attend the free pre-concert talk by Karidoyanes at 6:30 p.m. to learn more about the featured music and composers. The program opens with Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances, a rhythmically charged suite, followed by Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 2. The Philharmonic’s own Anne Howarth, principal horn, will step into the solo spotlight for the concerto. Contemporary composer Gina Gillie’s “Reverie” offers an introspective interlude, and the concert will conclude with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8, a “compact masterpiece bursting with wit and vitality.” Tickets are $35 and $70, and you can get them here or by calling the orchestra’s office at 508-746-8008.
Plimoth Patuxet Museums will hold its outdoor Grain Fest from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Come learn about grain, and how the Plimoth Grist Mill works with local and regional partners to reinvigorate the production of grains like corn and wheat.
The Art Association of the Pinehills will hold its 9th Annual Fall Show and Sale from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Stonebridge Club and Cabana, 55 Stonebridge Road, in the Pinehills. Get creative inspiration from viewing the art and maybe get ahead of holiday gift buying.
Sunday, November 9
Join Just Around the Corner Dog Walking & Pet Sitting at the Moose Lodge, 601 State Road, from 1 to 3 p.m., for a celebration honoring the life and legacy of Flynn, the 2025 America’s Hometown Hound. This event will celebrate Flynn’s impact on the Plymouth community and officially pass the America’s Hometown Hound torch to Samson, the first runner-up. The contest for America’s Hometown Hound has been a Plymouth tradition since 2020, created and hosted each year by Just Around the Corner Dog Walking & Pet Sitting. Residents vote for the pup they feel best represents the community’s heart and spirit. The finalists are judged by community leaders, and one is crowned at the annual Plymouth Chamber of Commerce’s Bark in the Park event each spring.
Merz Trio will perform at 3 p.m. at the Spire as part of the Sunday Serenades series. The trio consists of pianist Amy Yang, violinist Brigid Coleridge, and cellist Julia Yang. The trio is known for a narrative style that “seamlessly weaves together classical standards, new music, and original arrangements of both familiar and forgotten works, often enhanced by spoken narration from the performers.” Tickets are $35.50 and $39, and you can buy them here.
Monday, November 10
State Senator Dylan Fernandes will host the third in a series of community forums focused on the Cape bridges project from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Plymouth South Middle School’s lecture hall. The Cape Bridges Community Forum series offers residents a chance to hear directly from – and ask questions of – the head of the project, as well as other Massachusetts Department of Transportation officials. Fernandes will be joined by project leaders, including Luisa Paiewonsky, director of the Office of Mega Projects, to discuss updated plans for the replacement of the Sagamore and Bourne bridges.”
Wednesday, November 12
Join award-winning journalists Larry Tye and Walter Robinson for a discussion of Tye’s research for his upcoming book, “The Forger of Paris: Adolfo Kaminsky and the Jewish Resistance to the Holocaust,” at the Plymouth Public Library, 132 South St., from5:30 to 7 p.m. See the lead item in this column for more information.
The Plymouth Garden Club’s monthly meeting will be held at 1 p.m. at the Chiltonville Church, 6 River St. Joan Marie Driscoll will give a presentation on floral design. Attendees will learn how to create artistically designed floral arrangements from a professional. Driscoll is a graduate of the American Institute of Floral Design and is president and principal designer at Floral Scents in Canton, where she creates fresh and artistically arranged baskets and gifts. A traditional English tea will be served. Guests are welcome to attend for a $5 fee.
Barnaby Bright, an alt-Americana trio, will perform at the Spire at 7:30 p.m., in the relaxed setting of the Spire’s Lobby Series. The band, consisting of Nathan and Becky Bliss and Carmen Dieker, received the grand prize at New York City’s prestigious Songwriter’s Circle, and were elected to Amazon’s Top 100 Albums of the Year. They’ve also opened for acts such as Norah Jones and The Lumineers. Tickets are $22, and you can buy them here.
Thursday, November 13
The Southeastern Massachusetts Pine Barrens Alliance will present a program titled “Where We Live: Coastal Pine Barrens,” at the Manomet Branch of the Plymouth Public Library, 12 Strand Ave., from 6 to 7 p.m. The program will explain how rare the South Shore pine barrens ecosystem is, and feature a discussion about endangered species that live in the ecosystem. Registration is required, and you can do so here.