Greetings from Dayton!

Mitch Braff, Executive Director, just led a fantastic workshop last night where the feedback was some of the best we have ever had. Firstly, 100% of the educators will use the material and 100% would recommend the class and materials. Here are two quotes from educators that sought me out after the class to share their enthusiasm:

"I thought it was the best workshop I have ever been to."

"Our table did not want to leave. We said, "No, the four hours can't possibly be up already!"

We have four new trainers for our 'Teaching with Defiance" trainings, and will be teaching later this month in Portland, Maine with one of our new trainers. This will make five TWD workshops in a thirty day period -- a record for us.

Another great quote from a student essay...

What matters is that I am standing up for something that counts. I am doing the right thing whether other people are doing it or not. I will be a partisan like Simon Trakinski and stand up and help whoever I can.

Find out more about JPEF's youth writing contest here.
Deadline for entries is May 10.
Find out more about Simon Trakinski here.

Liev Schreiber Speaks at JPEF Event

Tony Award winning actor Liev Schreiber was the guest of honor at a JPEF event this week in New York. Schreiber played Jewish partisan Zus Bielski in "Defiance" with Daniel Craig, and most recently stared in the Broadway revival of "A View From the Bridge" with Scarlet Johansson.

Schreiber shared his experiences about making "Defiance" and other insights about playing the famous partisan leader, his work, and growing up in New York to the capacity crowd with JPEF board member, Jonathan Kushner (pictured with Schreiber) as moderator. Before Schreiber spoke, Steven Holm and Charlie Blaichman, both sons of Jewish partisans spoke about growing up with father's and mother's who were both in partisan groups in Poland during World War II. JPEF Board co-chair Elliott Felson, whose father was also a Jewish partisan, spoke about JPEF programs and introduced a new video by JPEF.

JPEF will be honoring the Blaichman and Holm families October 4, at the JPEF 2010 Annual Dinner in New York. For more information, email David Kaplan, davidk@jewishpartisans.org.

"Pictures of Resistance" Yom Ha'Shoah event at Brandeis University

Brandeis community members gather to view "Pictures of Resistance"

On April 14th, 2010 "Pictures of Resistance" opened to a full house at Brandeis University for its Boston debut. This rare collection of images by the only known Jewish partisan photographer gave attendees a rare look into the world of the Jewish partisan resistance fighters who resisted the Germans and their collaborators during WWII. The photos were presented alongside the stories behind each of the images – stories of heroism, bravery, camaraderie and loss – as recounted by the partisan photographer herself.

Brandeis also brought in Zvi Bielski, son of the Zus Bielski, who showed a multimedia presentation about his family. Bielski recalled his childhood growing up in the famous, and sometimes infamous family of resistance fighters that were immortalized in the recent Hollywood film Defiance. "Growing up I had no idea the Jews actually lost the war. Sure, I knew relatives had died in the war, but I figured they all died fighting the Nazis like my dad and uncles had." The Bielski brigade saved over 1,200 individuals whose offspring today number in the tens of thousands. Bielski regaled the audience with these stories of his family's heroism, of rescue and survival against the toughest odds, eliciting audible reactions from the audience throughout the evening. Some were even moved to tears.

"Often we hear of Jews as victims, but the stories portrayed in the exhibit spoke of Jews as heroes," said Brandeis graduate student Jessica Levine. "It gave me a new, different Holocaust story to tell, one of resistance and resilience. It made me feel proud to be a Jew."

- prepared for JPEF by V. Judah Khaykin former JPEF Staff and
Brandeis-Genesis Institute Fellow