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Film screening in Kentucky
Dr. Michael Rie and the Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass present a screening of Disobedience: The Sousa Mendes Story. Co-sponsored by the Moosnick Lectureship of the Lexington Theological Seminary and Transylvania University, and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky.
Film screening in Maine
The Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine pays tribute to Aristides de Sousa Mendes with a screen of the award-winning docudrama, Disobedience: The Sousa Mendes Story on the occasion of Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. The screening will take place at the Michael Klahr Center. Refreshments will be served.
Event WebsiteConcert: Requiem in memory of Aristides de Sousa Mendes
Conductor Sharon Xavier de Sousa and the Mission Chamber Orchestra of San José, California, present a performance of the Requiem in memory of Aristides de Sousa Mendes by the Portuguese composer Luis Cipriano.
Tickets: $25 general, $20 senior, $15 student and $10 child.
To order tickets online go to www.missionchamber.org. For more information call (408) 236-3350.
Event WebsiteExhibition in Maine: Heroism in Unjust Times: Rescuers During the Holocaust
The Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine presents an exhibition about Sousa Mendes, Schindler, Wallenberg and other rescuers. On view are original passports with Sousa Mendes visas and other important artifacts.
Event WebsiteFilm screening in Florida
The International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies presents a screening of Disobedience: The Sousa Mendes Story. Introducing the film and leading a Q&A is Robert Jacobvitz, Chair of the Sousa Mendes Foundation’s Advisory Council.
Walt Disney World Swan Resort
Room: Swan 7
1500 Epcot Resorts Boulevard
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
Conference registration required. See www.IAJGS2017.org for details.
Event WebsiteEuropean Parliament Pays Tribute to Aristides de Sousa Mendes
The European Parliament pays tribute to Aristides de Sousa Mendes at their headquarters in Brussels, Belgium on Wednesday, September 27, 2017. The President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani will participate. Other speakers will include Sousa Mendes visa recipient Françoise Wybauw, Sousa Mendes’s grandson Gerald Mendes, and SMF President Olivia Mattis. On view will be the exhibition “These are my people!” The Story of Aristides de Sousa Mendes.
Event WebsiteConference: Refugees, Statelessness, Migration, and the Work of the Joint”
Joan Halperin and Diana Cooper-Clark will speak about Polish refugees who escaped Nazi-occupied Europe via Portugal, many with visas from Aristides de Sousa Mendes, and found refuge on the island of Jamaica. The talk is part of a two-day conference organized by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.
Event WebsiteGala event: “A Toast to Freedom!”
Come join us at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in a beautiful setting next to the Statue of Liberty for a gala luncheon — “A Toast to Freedom!” — to benefit the Sousa Mendes Foundation.
Master of Ceremonies:
Actor Michel Gill (“House of Cards”), the son and grandson of Sousa Mendes visa recipients.
Honoring:
Congressman Jerry Nadler of New York’s 10th Congressional District, recognized by Time magazine for his political courage;
Dr. Eva Fogelman, psychologist and advocate for Holocaust survivors; author of the seminal book on Holocaust rescue, Conscience & Courage;
Maggie Favretti, teacher at Scarsdale High School; founder and advisor of the group Students for Refugees in Westchester County.
Live musical performance:
Highlights from “Circular 14: The Apotheosis of Aristides” with tenor Benjamin Sloman as Aristides de Sousa Mendes, Michel Gill narrating as his twin brother César, soprano Marina Harris as Angelina de Sousa Mendes, tenor Gilad Paz as Salazar, Pedro da Silva on Portuguese guitar, and the composer Neely Bruce at the piano.
Flowers provided by Amy’s Greenhouse.
Event WebsiteFilm screening in Stamford, CT
The film Disobedience: The Sousa Mendes Story returns to the historic State Cinema in Stamford, CT in a joint program of the Jewish Arts & Film Festival of Fairfield County and the Jewish Historical Society of Fairfield County. Discussion following the film will be led by Joan Arnay Halperin, author of My Sister’s Eyes: A Family Chronicle of Rescue and Loss During World War II.
Event WebsitePerformance in the Mormon Tabernacle for International Holocaust Remembrance Day
The Sousa Mendes Foundation and the Utah Youth Orchestras and Ensembles present a performance in the Mormon Tabernacle of the oratorio Circular 14: The Apotheosis of Aristides by Neely Bruce. This free concert, conducted by the world-renowned choral conductor Barlow Bradford, will be held on the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day of 2018. The event is part of the Temple Square Concert Series.
The piece tells the dramatic true story of the Holocaust hero Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the Portuguese Consul General in Bordeaux, who saved thousands of lives in the spring of 1940 by issuing Portuguese visas to refugees desperate to escape Nazi-occupied France. From Portugal these refugees boarded ships to freedom in the United States and other final destinations.
Soloists include David Sauer, tenor (Aristides), Michelle Pedersen, soprano (Angelina), Andrew Neumayer, baritone (Rabbi Kruger), Adam Griffiths, tenor (Salazar), and Elizabeth Peters, soprano (Andrée Cibial). The narrator is the actor Michel Gill (César). An accompanying video is by Carole Kim.
Featuring the University of Utah Chamber Choir, the University of Utah A Cappella Choir, and seven high school choirs from across the state: Syracuse High School (Syracuse, UT), Pineview High School (St. George, UT), American Heritage School (American Fork, UT), Alta High School (Sandy, UT), Westlake High School (Saratoga Springs, UT), Woods Cross High School (Woods Cross, UT), and Hillcrest High School (Midvale, UT).
The Mayor of Salt Lake County, Ben McAdams, will deliver opening remarks. In attendance will be Dr. Daniel Mattis, a Sousa Mendes visa recipient living in Utah, and two of Sousa Mendes’s grandsons: Gerald Mendes and Aristides Mendes, one of whom also lives in Utah.
The piece has been performed with a reduced ensemble in Los Angeles in 2016, but this will be the first performance of the definitive version with full orchestra.
Sponsors include: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Foundation, the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, the Lawrence T. and Janet T. Dee Foundation, the John and Marcia Price Family Foundation, Zions Bank, the United Jewish Federation of Utah and numerous individual donors.
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