The Jewish Defense Committee of Belgium and the Rescue of 3000 Children

11 AM LOS ANGELES • 2 PM NEW YORK

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The Comité de Défense des Juifs was established in Brussels, Belgium in 1942 in order to protect the Jewish population from Nazi persecution. They assisted and hid approximately 10,000 adults and 3000 children, from 1942-44. Eighteen members of this group were honored in 2018 by B’nai B’rith International with the Jewish Rescuer Citation.  See a touching film about this heroic group and their legacy.

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THE SCHEDULE

⇒ April 12-15, watch the film Just a Link on your home device. A link will be provided to all who register.

⇒ Sunday, April 14 at 2:00 p.m. US Eastern Time, tune into the program with our distinguished panel of speakers. A link will be provided to all who register.

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WATCH THE TRAILER

Just a Link – Teaser from Les Films de la Mémoire on Vimeo.

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MEET THE PANEL

Belgian filmmaker Willy Perelsztejn (left) is the producer of over forty films on the themes of history, memory and identities through his production company, Les Films de la Mémoire. The films cover a wide range of subjects on the memory of the Shoah, the struggles of Judaism in the second half of the 20th century including Israel, the liberation of Jews from the USSR, the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians, the restitution of property stolen during the Second World War, the presence of the Carmelites at Auschwitz, Yiddish song,  and more. Aside from Just a Link, some titles include: The Paper Brigade, Modus Operandi, Heim ins Reich, Yiddish Soul and David Susskind: Story of a Mensch.

Dr. Mordecai Paldiel (right) headed the Righteous Among the Nations Department at Yad Vashem from 1982-2007. Some of his books on rescue during the Holocaust include The Path of the Righteous, Sheltering the Jews, Saving the Jews, Diplomat Heroes of the Holocaust, and Saving One’s Own. He taught at Yeshiva University and Touro College and serves on the Board of the Sousa Mendes Foundation. Thanks to his efforts, there is now a square named for Aristides de Sousa Mendes in Jerusalem. One of the chapters in his book Saving One’s Own is devoted to the Perelman couple, Jewish rescuers in Belgium.

Dr. Noémi Perelman Mattis is a retired psychologist in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was a hidden child in Brussels during the Holocaust, while her parents Chaim and Fela Perelman founded and led the Jewish Resistance there. She earned a JD from the University of Brussels and a Ph.D. in Psychology from Columbia University. She specializes in the treatment of adult survivors of childhood trauma. She has been a member of the Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women and a Co-Chair of the Utah State Task Force on Ritual Abuse. Dr. Mattis lectures widely and gave an invited address at the international gathering in Jerusalem in 2007 of the hidden children of Belgium.

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Registration for this program is closed.