Please join us for a sneak preview of the not-yet-released film Truus’ Children about the life-saving action of the Dutch rescuer Gertruuda (“Truus”) Wijsmuller (photo shown here). Her chutzpah brought her face to face with Adolf Eichmann, from whom she obtained permission in December of 1938 to save 600 Jewish children from Vienna.  This was the first Kindertransport, in what eventually became a major operation that sent approximately 10,000 Jewish children to the United Kingdom from Germany, Austria, Poland, and Czechoslovakia. She was named Righteous Among the Nations in 1967, and yet her story is still barely known.  This event is not to be missed!

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This prize-winning film documents the life of Ruth Gruber (1911-2016), an American photojournalist and writer who defied tradition in a career that spanned more than seven decades. The New York Times called her “a fearless chronicler of the Jewish struggle.” She escorted Holocaust refugees to America in 1944, covered the Nuremberg trials in 1946 and documented the Haganah ship Exodus in 1947. Her relationships with world leaders including Eleanor Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and David Ben Gurion gave her a front-row seat to history. The film captures the drama of her long and extraordinary life as she lent her camera lens – and her heart – to refugees of war.  An inspiring story of a life well-lived!

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Psychologist Dr. Eva Fogelman will be in dialogue with Columbia University Film Professor Dr. Annette Insdorf about this moving documentary directed by Matej Minac. Nicholas Winton organized the rescue of 669 children just before the outbreak of WWII as part of the Kindertransport project. Winton kept silent about his exploits until his wife uncovered a suitcase in the attic full of documents and transport plans fifty years later. The psychological effects on the child survivors and the parents who let them go were profound. (more…)

EVENT START TIME:

11 a.m. Los Angeles, 2 p.m. New York, 7 p.m. London, 9 p.m. Tel Aviv

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In the early 1930s, Hitler began firing Jewish musicians across Europe. Overcoming extraordinary obstacles, virtuoso violinist Bronislaw Huberman moved these great musicians to Palestine and formed a symphony that would become the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Orchestra of Exiles tells the gripping true story of how Huberman, with courage, resourcefulness and an entourage of allies, saved nearly 1000 Jews and guaranteed the survival of Europe’s musical heritage.

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The Starfish is the touching true story of a German-Jewish boy whose life was forever altered at the age of 10, when his parents sent him and his two older sisters to Sweden to escape Nazi persecution, with the aid of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS). Meet Mark Hetfield, CEO of HIAS, who will be in dialogue with the filmmaker Tyler Gildin.

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EVENT START TIME:

11 AM Los Angeles, 2 PM New York, 7 PM Lisbon, 8 PM Geneva

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This program is a birthday tribute to Aristides de Sousa Mendes, born on this date in 1885. It also celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Sousa Mendes Foundation and the 80th anniversary of Sousa Mendes’s action. Join renowned Holocaust scholars Michael Berenbaum and Mordecai Paldiel for inspiring stories of four diplomat rescuers: Hiram Bingham of the United States, Georg Duckwitz of Germany, Carl Lutz of Switzerland, and Sousa Mendes of Portugal. Participants are invited to add their own tributes, that will be shared!

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