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Film screening in Pinecrest, Florida
The Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Miami presents a two-part program in honor of Aristides de Sousa Mendes, beginning with this March 11 screening of the film Disobedience: The Sousa Mendes Story. Post-screening Q&A led by Robert Jacobvitz, Chair of the Advisory Council, Sousa Mendes Foundation. Later in April, on the occasion of Yom Hashoah, the Genealogical Society will present Rebecca Barber, who will tell the gripping true story of how her mother and other family members were rescued by Sousa Mendes.
Event WebsiteFilm screening and presentation in Chicago, IL
Anshe Emet Synagogue presents excerpts from the film Disobedience: The Sousa Mendes Story. Paulette Freed, whose family was saved by Aristides de Sousa Mendes, will present the story of her family’s escape from Nazi-occupied Europe and her own pilgrimage to retrace her family’s footsteps to freedom. To register for the event, and purchase optional memorial candles, please go here: http://tinyurl.com/yomhashoah5778.
Event WebsiteFilm screening in Millersville, PA
Millersville University presents a screening of the film Disobedience: The Sousa Mendes Story as part of the 35th Conference on the Holocaust and Genocide — “Holocaust and Genocide Trials.” For the full conference program, please see http://www.millersville.edu/holocon/files/2018_mu_holocaust_conference_program.pdf.
Event WebsiteFilm screening in New Rochelle, NY
Temple Israel of New Rochelle presents a screening of the film Disobedience: The Sousa Mendes Story. Post-screening Q&A led by Leah Rozenfeld Sills, Vice-President, Sousa Mendes Foundation. For the event flyer with more information, please click here: http://tinr.org/images/Holidays_pdfs_and_images/The_Sousa_Mendes_Story_Movie_2018.pdf.
Event WebsiteFilm screening in Aventura, FL
The Miami-Dade Public Library System presents Disobedience: The Sousa Mendes Story. Screening will be followed by Q&A led by Robert Jacobvitz, Chair of the Advisory Council, Sousa Mendes Foundation.. This program is co-sponsored by the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Miami and the Sousa Mendes Foundation.
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Free film screening and reception in Washington, DC
The Portuguese Embassy in Washington, DC is hosting a free film screening at the historic Avalon Theatre of Disobedience: The Sousa Mendes Story. Reception begins at 6:30, with the screening at 7:30. After the film, stay for discussion and Q&A with Olivia Mattis, President of the Sousa Mendes Foundation. The event is free, but pre-registration is required.
Exhibition in New Bedford, MA
The New Bedford Whaling Museum, in partnership with the Portuguese Consulate of New Bedford, MA, presents the exhibition, “These are my people!” — The Story of Aristides de Sousa Mendes. This 20-panel exhibition tells the gripping true story of Aristides de Sousa Mendes and the refugees he saved.
Also on view will be original artifacts such as passports with Sousa Mendes visas, toys carried by child refugees, and other items on loan from the Sousa Mendes Foundation and individual visa recipient families.
The exhibition opening will include a screening of the short documentary film With God Against Man directed by Semyon Pinkhasov. The event is free, but pre-registration is required.
Following the free June 13th opening, the exhibition will remain on view until mid-July. Regular museum admission rates apply.
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Film screening in Coral Gables, Florida
The University of Miami presents a screening of Disobedience: The Sousa Mendes Story on the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day. A post-screening discussion will be led by Robert Jacobvitz, Chair of the Sousa Mendes Foundation’s Advisory Council. Refreshments will be served.
Event WebsiteFilm screening in Durham, New Hampshire
The Community Church of Durham, NH presents the award-winning film, Disobedience: The Sousa Mendes Story. Post-screening Q&A will be led by Dr. Douglas Wheeler, historian and expert on Portugal during World War II. The event is free and open to the public.
Event WebsiteEleanor Roosevelt and the Jewish Refugees She Saved: The Story of the S. S. Quanza
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Passengers on board the Quanza, unable to disembark, 1940
The Sousa Mendes Foundation and the American Sephardi Federation present the New York premiere of the documentary film, Nobody Wants Us (2019, dir. Laura Seltzer-Duny) on Sunday, August 11, 2019, 2-4:30 p.m. at the Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York City.
Synopsis:
In 1940, a ship called the S.S. Quanza left the port of Lisbon carrying several hundred Jewish refugees — most of whom held Sousa Mendes visas — to freedom. But events went terribly wrong, and the passengers became trapped on the ship because no country would take them in. Nobody Wants Us tells the gripping true story of how Eleanor Roosevelt herself stepped in to save the passengers on board because of her moral conviction that they were not “undesirables” (as the US State Department labeled them) but rather were “future patriotic Americans.” This is an episode in American history that everyone needs to know.
Program:
The film, which is 35 minutes in length, will be introduced by the filmmaker Laura Seltzer-Duny and followed by a panel discussion moderated by Michael Dobbs of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, author of The Unwanted. Other participants will include:
Blanche Wiesen Cook, the leading world expert on Eleanor Roosevelt and the author of her three-volume biography.
Annette Lachmann, who was a passenger on the Quanza in 1940.
Kathleen Rand, whose father Wolf Rand was the passenger who successfully filed suit against the shipping company, forcing the vessel to remain in port until the conflict was resolved.
Stephen Morewitz, the leading world expert on the Quanza story, whose grandparents’ Newport News, Virginia law firm of Morewitz & Morewitz was hired by Wolf Rand and successfully litigated the case.
Significance of the story:
According to Michael Dobbs, “The Quanza incident is a timely reminder that individuals make a difference. Without visas supplied by the Portuguese diplomat Aristides de Sousa Mendes, many of the Jewish passengers on board the Quanza might well have been stranded in Nazi-occupied Europe. Without the legal brilliance of a maritime lawyer named Jacob Morewitz, the ship would have been obliged to sail back to Europe. Without the intervention of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, the passengers would not have been permitted to land. It took three people, from entirely different backgrounds, to save dozens of lives that might otherwise have been lost.”
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