Events

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.

Caught within the ever-approaching steel jaws of Nazi exterminators, a nineteen-year-old German Jewish girl Leah Steppel keeps a diary as she and her family desperately flee Europe for their lives.  Across European countries, they endured to preserve their lives one hour, one day at a time — always one step ahead.  In June of 2017, Leah’s daughter Rebecca Steppel Barber and her husband Sandy Barber journeyed with other descendants saved by the Righteous Gentile, Aristides de Sousa Mendes, as they recreated the flight for life beginning in Bordeaux and concluding in Lisbon, Portugal.  Led by the Sousa Mendes Foundation, many of the travelers were able to find exact locations their parents and grandparents walked, hid or lived while waiting for passports and safe passage.  An amazing insight into little-known World War II history!

Doors open 9:30 a.m. for light refreshments.  Presentation begins at 10 a.m.

The realities of World War II catapult the Krakowiak family out of their charmed life and into an exodus across half the world.  Joan Arnay Halperin’s book My Sister’s Eyes tells the dramatic true story of her family’s rescue by Aristides de Sousa Mendes and subsequent semi-internment in a British evacuee camp on the island of Jamaica, amounting to a Holocaust tale quite unlike any other.

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Miami, in collaboration with Temple Beth Am, presents “Leah’s Journey” — a presentation by Rebecca Barber telling the dramatic true story of a 19-year old German teen who keeps a diary while she and her family desperately flee across Europe.  Rebecca will recount the rescue by Aristides de Sousa Mendes of her mother, Leah Steppel, along with thousands of others.

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Philadelphia presents a program on the Holocaust rescuers Aristides de Sousa Mendes and Chiune Sugihara.  Monique Rubens Krohn, Board Member of the Sousa Mendes Foundation, will speak about Sousa Mendes.  Open to the public.  $5 for non-members.

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.

 

The Sousa Mendes Foundation presents “To Life!  The Living Legacy of Aristides de Sousa Mendes” — an exhibition of original artifacts in the Municipal Museum of Carregal do Sal, Portugal.  This exhibition will include original photographs, passports, visas, documents, and letters, as well as toys carried by child refugees on their escape from Nazi-occupied Europe in 1940.  It gives a rich flavor for the time, and highlights the crucial role of Aristides de Sousa Mendes in the survival of thousands of innocent victims.  The exhibition highlights the friendships that developed between the arriving refugees and the Portuguese people who welcomed them with open arms.

Photo:  Refugees in Curia, 1940. L-R: Frederic SEGALL, William PICK (later PETERS), unknown, Eva STADLER, Edith STADLER, unknown, Jana HAHN, Charlotte BENBASSAT, Marco BENBASSAT, Milada PICK (later PETERS), all rescued by Aristides de Sousa Mendes.

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.

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.

 

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