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June 2018
free but registration required

Free film screening and reception in Washington, DC

June 21, 2018 @ 6:30 pm - 10:00 pm
The Avalon Theatre,
5612 Connecticut Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20015 United States
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Disobedience-avatar-large

The Portuguese Embassy in Washington, DC is hosting a free film screening at the historic Avalon Theatre of Disobedience: The Sousa Mendes StoryReception 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.

December 2018

Escape to Life: exhibit and artist talk in New Rochelle, NY

December 16, 2018 @ 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Chez Sills,
125 Oxford Road
New Rochelle, NY United States
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Journey Maps 1940

Leah Rozenfeld Sills, Vice-President of the Sousa Mendes Foundation, invites you to

Escape to Life, an exhibit and artist talk with:

Gaia Starr, ceramic artist and author of

Journey Maps 1940, a ceramic novel

and

Joan Arnay Halperin, author of

My Sister’s Eyes:  A Family Chronicle of Rescue and Loss During World War II

A benefit for the Sousa Mendes Foundation

Artist talks at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Coffee and kosher desserts!

Donations (of any amount) can be made at:

www.crowdrise.com/visastofreedom

Or by check or cash in person.

Donations are 100% tax-deductible.

Questions?  Call (877) 797-9759 or email:  olivia@sousamendesfoundation.org

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January 2019
free

Film screening in Coral Gables, Florida

January 28, 2019 @ 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
University of Miami Bill Cosford Cinema,
5030 Brunson Drive
Coral Gables, FL United States
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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.

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March 2019

A celebration of Sugihara and Sousa Mendes

March 17, 2019 @ 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Home of Eric and Leah Sills,
125 Oxford Road
New Rochelle, NY United States
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Sugihara and ASM

Dr. Mordecai Paldiel, the leading world authority on the Righteous Diplomats, will speak in an intimate wine-and-cheese gathering to which you are invited!  Dr. Paldiel is the former director of the Righteous Among the Nations department at Yad Vashem and will speak about Chiune SugiharaAristides de Sousa MendesGeorg Duckwitz and other heroes.  

Also speaking will be Armand Lerner, a Sousa Mendes visa recipient, and Chaim Jaskoll, whose family was saved by Sugihara. On view during this special event will be the ceramic novel “Journey Maps 1940” by Gaia Starr, depicting her family’s exodus from Nazi-occupied Europe with the help of Aristides de Sousa Mendes.

This is a very special event that you won’t want to miss!  If you plan to come, kindly RSVP to info@sousamendesfoundation.org. Or give us a call at (877) 797-9759.

December 2019
free but reservation required

Film screening and discussion at Roosevelt House, New York City

December 10, 2019 @ 5:45 pm - 8:15 pm
Roosevelt House,
47-49 East 65th Street
New York, NY 10065 United States
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Human-Rights-Day-768x468 (1)

Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College, the Sousa Mendes Foundation, and Hunter College Jewish Studies Center present a screening of the documentary film, Nobody Wants Us (2019, dir. Laura Seltzer-Duny) at the Roosevelt House at 47-49 East 65th Street, between Madison and Park Avenues, New York City.  The event will be held on International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2019.  The event will begin with a reception at 5:45 p.m., with the program to follow at 6:30 p.m.

 

Synopsis:  In 1940, a ship called the S.S. Quanza left the port of Lisbon carrying several hundred Jewish refugees to freedom.  Most of them held life-saving visas issued by the Holocaust rescuer Aristides de Sousa Mendes.  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 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, “future patriotic Americans.”  This is an episode in American history that everyone needs to know.  

 

“We are delighted to bring this important film, Nobody Wants Us, to Roosevelt House, and to share it with the rest of the Hunter community,” says Harold Holzer, the Jonathan F. Fanton Director of Roosevelt House.  “The film offers a fresh perspective not just on the issue of immigration, but the action taken by Eleanor Roosevelt to save the lives of immigrants in need of sanctuary,” he adds. 

 

Program:  The film, which is 37 minutes in length, will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by Leah Garrett, Director of the Hunter College Jewish Studies Center.  Other participants will include:

Blanche Wiesen Cook, the leading authority on Eleanor Roosevelt and author of her three-volume biography.

Annette Lachmann, who was a passenger on the Quanza in 1940.

Laura Seltzer-Duny, the filmmaker.

 

Significance of the story:  According to Michael Dobbs of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, “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.”

 

Roosevelt House, an integral part of Hunter College since 1943, re-opened in 2010 as a public policy institute honoring the distinguished legacy of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Its mission is three-fold: to educate students in public policy and human rights, to support faculty research, and to foster creative dialogue. The institute provides opportunities for students to analyze public policy  and experience meaningful civic engagement; for faculty to research, teach, and write about important issues of the day; and for scholarly and public audiences to participate in high-profile lectures, seminars and conferences.

 

The Sousa Mendes Foundation, established in 2010, is a non-profit organization dedicated to honoring the memory of the Holocaust rescuer Aristides de Sousa Mendes and to teaching the importance of moral courage in a civilized world. Named “Organization of the Year” in 2012 by The Portuguese Tribune, the Foundation is engaged in a worldwide search for families who escaped the Holocaust through Portugal. Through concerts, lectures, films and other educational programming it promotes the important lesson, particularly to young people, that one person can make a difference.

 

Ticket information:  The event is free of charge, but seating is limited, and is by advance reservation. For more information and to reserve tickets, please click here.

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February 2020
$15 - $20

Film screening at Cinema Arts Centre, Huntington, NY

February 2, 2020 @ 10:00 am - 12:30 pm
Cinema Arts Centre,
423 Park Avenue
Huntington, NY 11743 United States
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Nobody Wants Us

The Cinema Arts Centre presents a screening of the documentary film, Nobody Wants Us (2019, dir. Laura Seltzer-Duny). 

Synopsis:  In 1940, a ship called the S.S. Quanza left the port of Lisbon carrying several hundred Jewish refugees to freedom.  Most of them held life-saving visas issued by the Holocaust rescuer Aristides de Sousa Mendes.  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 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, “future patriotic Americans.” This is an episode in American history that everyone needs to know.  

Program:  The event is part of the “Sunday Schmooze” film-and-discussion series at the Cinema Arts Centre hosted by Fred Craden.  Schedule:

10 a.m. Bagel brunch.

11 a.m. Screening followed by Q&A with filmmaker Laura Seltzer-Duny and Olivia Mattis, President of the Sousa Mendes Foundation.  Special guest:  Gerald Mendes, grandson of Aristides de Sousa Mendes.

Cost:  $15 for members; $20 for non-members.

Tickets:  For more information and to purchase tickets, please click here.

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