HONORING HOLOCAUST RESCUERS IN MINEOLA AND NEWARK
The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation together with the Sousa Mendes Foundation is presenting a series of events on April 2-3, 2011, in honor of Holocaust Rescuers.
On Saturday, April 2, Aristides de Sousa Mendes, a Diplomat from Portugal who rescued 30,000 lives will be honored in the village of Mineola, NY. The event will be held at the Mineola Memorial Library located at 195 Marcellus Road and will include a storytelling, a film presentation, an exhibition, refreshments and more.
On Sunday, April 3, a mass and a film presentation in honor of two diplomat rescuers Sousa Mendes from Portugal and Martins de Souza Dantas, from Brazil will be held in Newark, NJ.
To read more click here.
THE UNFORGETTABLE SHIFRA
Shifra Lerer, a masterful actress, friend, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Wallenberg Foundation, has died in New York City on March 11, 2011, at age 95.
Born in La Pampa, Argentina, on August 30, 1915, she developed an important career as an actress in the Yiddish theater in Buenos Aires. In 1943 she settled in New York where she continuously excelled in both theater and film. In 1998 Woody Allen showcased her in a leading role in his film “Deconstructing Harry”.
To read more click here.
CALL FOR SPANISH-LANGUAGE WRITERS
The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation invites writers to submit works of nonfiction in Spanish language with the topics related to the Holocaust or the rescuers of people persecuted by the Nazi regime from 1933 to 1945.
The works, in the categories of History and Essay, will be judged ??by a panel of experts from the Wallenberg Foundation and the best works will be edited as E-Books. Published works will be displayed on the website of the foundation and will not be marketed in any way.
For more information click here. (in Spanish)
THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF CARL LUTZ
March 30 is the anniversary of the birth of Carl Lutz (1895-1975), a member of a devout Christian family and the first neutral diplomat in Budapest to rescue Jews condemned to death by the Nazis. He was vice consul of the Swiss diplomatic mission from 1942 to 1945 and the creator of the “Schutzbrief” or “Letter of Protection” for Jewish refugees. The same strategy was later used by Raoul Wallenberg between July 1944 and January 1945.
In tough negotiations with the Nazis, Lutz got permission to issue protective letters to 8,000 Hungarian Jews allowing them to immigrate to Palestine. Using deception, he and his staff issued thousands of additional protective letters.
To read more click here.
