Second Annual Youth Writing Contest

For the second year in a row, JPEF‘s Youth Writing Contest will challenge middle and high school students (8th-12th grade) throughout the country to creatively express how the life lessons of the Jewish partisans relate to their own lives. This year’s entrants are asked to describe how the famous quotation- “The only way for evil to prosper is for good people to do nothing.”- remains relevant today, using examples from the life story of at least one Jewish partisan. Each essay must also address what the writer can do personally to ensure that evil – in whatever form – never prospers in her or his own community.

The most inspiring essays in the 8th to 9th grade level and the 10th-12th grade level will win the writer (and his/her teacher!) an iPod Touch, preloaded with all of JPEF’s short films. Essays must be submitted via the JPEF website by May 17, 2011.

Winners will be announced June 1. Go to www.jewishpartisans.org/contest to enter or download a printable classroom poster with contest guidelines. The JPEF writing contest will be judged by a prestigious panel that includes Jewish partisans. Please email us at writingcontest@jewishpartisans.org if you have any questions.

Innovative Class Links Native American and Jewish Resistance

At the Fort Washakie School, on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming, Librarian and Film-maker Robin Levin teaches “Responses to Genocide”, a high-school class which ties the cultural history of her mostly Native American students to the life lessons of the Jewish partisans.

Robin uses Teaching with Defiance in concert with her documentary, Taken From My Home: Indian Boarding Schools in Perspective, Told by Teenagers Who Lived Through the Unthinkable, and many other resources, including interviews from both boarding school survivors and former Jewish partisans. She plans to show excerpts from these interviews for "Defying Genocide", a community-wide Days of Remembrance ceremony on May 3, 2011 at the Lander Public Library in Fremont County, WY.

Robin says that common threads can be drawn in understanding the ways that dominant societies set out to victimize groups in their midst and that, for her students, the parallels to the Jewish experience in the Holocaust are obvious: “Every native student alive today is a survivor. The connection is intuitive, it’s there. They know that the cavalry mowed down their forebears; they know that their relations suffered forced marches and starvation and relocation and dehumanization. Yet here they are today, victorious: they’re still here and still identifying themselves as a member of a tribe, a family, and clan.” She notes that studying the Jewish partisans also gives her students a sense of hope, "Every story of survival is an actual miracle.”

Robin starts her course with a discussion of the U.N. definition of genocide. The students then study Ishmael Beah's book A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier and the related film The Storytelling Class, and discuss whether or not the book’s circumstances can “technically” be considered genocide. The class then moves on to the Holocaust and Jewish resistance, focusing on the film Defiance and JPEF's accompanying curriculum. She concludes the course with the history of the Indian Boarding Schools, and the actions that helped end them. This gives the students an opportunity to “bring their own family stories into the loop” using curricula she developed to accompany Taken From My Home. Robin notes that the Indian Boarding School movement clearly falls within the U.N. definition of genocide: destroying the cultural identity of a group, taking them from their home, refusing them their language, clothing expression, games, and song and, under extreme duress, forcibly imposing Euro-American values.

Robin shared several tips for using the Jewish partisans in the classroom, starting with the film Defiance which, she says, leaves her students "breathless; at the end of the film, their reaction is, 'oh that was awesome.'" She stresses the importance of watching the entire film, Defiance, breaking when needed but taking as long as it takes over several class sessions to see the entire movie and hone in on issues of greatest interest to the students. She also suggests using testimonials from surviving partisans to present an active voice in reinforcing messages of the film.

Robin laminated several copies of JPEF's Faye Schulman “Pictures of Resistance” poster (available from JPEF), which she passes out to her students, asking them to describe what they see: who the people pictured in the poster are, how they seem to function together and what their responsibilities were, during both peaceful moments as well as during warfare.

She concludes her segment on the partisans by assigning the students a creative project -- a poem, drawing, home design -- that the student develops as a “gift” for a partisan, designed to meet a need of theirs in either his or her past, present, or future. Levin explains, “Don’t dictate what to expect. If the students says, 'I can’t do anything', then ask what could this person could do for you, if you were in need.”

For more information about the Taken From My Home DVD and curriculum, click on the "store" link at www.fascinatinglearningfactory.org or email robinlevin@gmail.com.

Featured Jewish Partisan: Eugenio Gentili-Tedeschi (z''l)

Soldier's Sketches Only Known Drawings of Jewish Partisan Experience

Eugenio Gentili-Tedeschi was a young man in Turin, Italy during the time of Mussolini and fascism. When Italy’s racial laws – based on the Nuremberg laws – were put into effect, he was able to continue his university education by relocating to Milan, where the bureaucracy was too inefficient to notice him. Eugenio stayed in Milan for several years, working as an architect’s apprentice. His first act of resistance began when he and his friends tore down antisemitic propaganda posted throughout the city.

Following the German invasion, Eugenio connected with the Arturo Verraz partisans, surviving in the mountains and sketching scenes of his life in the resistance. His partisan unit kept mountain trails open for the Allies and prevented reinforcements from reaching the Germans. Eugenio was personally responsible for hiding the dynamite used to blow up roads and tunnels and obtaining critical supplies for partisan survival such as shoes and food. In the fall of 1944, he fought alongside British and American soldiers, following the front lines into France.

Eugenio’s sketches are the only known drawings made during the war by a Jewish partisan, and are of critical historical importance. You and your students can view these artistic documents (with annotations) by clicking the "IMAGES" tab on his profile at www.jewishpartisans.org/eugeniogbio. There is also a video of him explaining the sketches with an English translation.

After the war, Eugenio remained in Milan, marrying and continuing his studies. He eventually became a master architect, as well as a professor at Milan’s Polytechnic. Eugenio died in Milan in 2005. May his memory be for a blessing.

2011 Youth Writing Contest Currently Underway

Reflections from the 2010 contest winner Talia Weisberg:

Last year, a friend of mine told me about the Jewish Partisans Educational Foundation’s Youth Writing Contest. Since I only had a basic knowledge of the partisans’ accomplishments, I really looked forward to doing research on them. I was amazed by the courage and strength of the partisans. The fact that these young men and women were brave enough to take a stance and to fight back really made me think about how I live my own life.

Am I continuing their legacy, and the legacy of their ancestors? Am I fighting against what I think is wrong, speaking up when I hear something I oppose? Or am I letting injustice slide past me without protest?

The lessons that the partisans have taught me are invaluable. Even if I hadn’t won the contest last year, just learning more about the partisans and writing an essay about them would have been rewarding enough. The partisans have really changed my opinions towards past history, current society, and how I want the future to be.

One year after her Youth Writing Contest essay, this young woman continues to think about the Jewish Partisans and their experiences. Studying the partisans and writing an essay have had a significant impact on her.

Educators and Administrators: help your students have a similar experience! Encourage and support their entry in our 2011 Youth Writing Contest.

Students: your voices can be heard, your words can be powerful. Enter our 2011 Youth Writing Contest - you may win an iPod and you will help shape your vision of the past, the present and the future.

Submissions to the 2011 Youth Writing Contest are due May 17th. For more information, including entry rules and guidelines, please visit our contest page at www.jewishpartisans.org/contest.

Eugenio Gentili-Tedeschi - Buon Compleanno (Happy Birthday)!

Today we mark the birthday of Eugenio Gentili-Tedeschi (z"l). Eugenio was born in Italy in 1916. While Eugenio came of age under Mussolini, he was exposed to antifascism at a young age, as his hometown of Turin was a hotbed of opposition. The war began to directly affect Eugenio in 1938, when Italy’s racial laws, based on the Nuremberg laws, were put into effect. His father lost his job, and while Eugenio’s family went into hiding, Eugenio traveled to Milan, where the bureaucracy was inefficient enough that he could sit for his university tests without harassment. After scoring top marks, Eugenio went to work as an architect’s apprentice in Milan, where he would stay for several years.

In Milan, Eugenio and his friends tore down the anti-Semitic propoganda posted in the city, their first act of resistance in that city. Eugenio also began to act as a courier, carrying underground pamphlets from a communist print shop in Turin and carrying them to Milan

Eugenio left Milan to escape the bombardment that followed the German invasion and took to the Valle d’Aosta countryside. He eventually connected with the partisans, living in the mountains and sketching scenes of his in the resistance.

Eugenio and his partisan unit kept the mountain trails open for the Allies and kept the Germans pinned down in Italy, preventing reinforcements from reaching the front lines in France. He was personally responsible for hiding the dynamite used to blow up roads and tunnels underneath his bed as well as obtaining supplies needed for daily survival, such as shoes and food. In the fall of 1944, he fought alongside British and American soldiers and then followed the front lines into France before heading back to Rome, where he learned of the liberation of Turin and Milan.

After the war Eugenio settled down to make a life for himself, marrying and continuing his studies. He would eventually become a master architect, as well as a professor at the Polytechnic University of Milan. He died in Milan in 2005.

Hear first-hand from Eugenio during his interview with JPEF and view more of his unique sketches on the JPEF website.

Picture drawn by Eugenio that shows the role of women. Women provided an important service to the partisans by hiking for 12 hours in the high mountains to deliver messages. (Source: JPEF Archive, Italy 1942-1943)

Drawn by Eugenio during the war this picture shows two partisans on an exploration mission of the northern slope of the mountain in the valley. (Source: JPEF Archive, Italy 1942-1943)

Our executive director, Mitch Braff, wrote an article for the NSSSA Leader, the house publication of the National Social Studies Supervisors Association. The entire article can be downloaded in PDF format at this link.

Video from Polish TV about JPEF Program

Brush up on your Polish to understand this, and make sure you have latest Sliverlight Player (will install automatically from Microsoft if needed) and click here.

Forward player to 7:38.

This is regarding our traveling exhibit, Pictures of Resistance: The Wartime Photographs of Jewish Partisan Faye Schulman,  which is now traveling extensively throughout Poland.

For more information about the exhibit, please go here.

Two minute video from South Africa trip

Read blogs below about trip for more details:

Part 1
Part 2

Student Inspired by the Legacy of Women Who Came Before Her

Nine grader, Talia Weisberg, Winner of our 2010 Youth Writing Contest

Last year, ninth grade student Talia Weisberg was inspired by the strength and courage of Jewish partisan Sara Fortis and many other Jewish women who came before her. Read her moving essay below.

JPEF will be announcing its 2011 Writing Contest soon! E-mail writingcontest@jewishpartisans.org for more information.

“We are of the Line,” I hear my mother say, and I am swept into the past, reliving the strong history of the women in our religion:

I am with Sarai as she becomes Sarah. I assist Rebecca as she helps Eliezer water his camels. I stand behind the chuppah with Rachel as Jacob unknowingly marries Leah. I strum a harp with Serakh as she tells Jacob that Joseph is alive. I sing with Miriam as she leads the Jewish women through the Red Sea. I protest with the daughters of Zelophehad as they ask Moses for their inheritance. I sit with Deborah under her date tree as she judges the Jewish people. I hand Jael the tent peg to kill Sisera and save her nation. I pray with Hannah in the Temple as she beseeches God for a child. I fast with Esther as she prepares to approach Ahasuerus and try to save her people.

I go from the plains of the Fertile Crescent, the deserts of Egypt, the lush fields of Israel, and the palaces of Persia to a more recent time. I am witnessing a hell unlike any I have seen before. Women, skeletons, starve in concentration camps I can barely recognize my grandmother and great-grandmother with several other female relatives, shipped from a wealthy home in Hungary, to this cold Polish prison, Auschwitz. I help my cousin pull my great-aunt from the left line, and again from a wagon destined for certain death I shield my great-grandmother as she steals scraps of food from the kitchens and trades them for cigarettes for my grandmother to smoke I deny the non-kosher meat with my great-grandmother and live off of air I feel the starvation, the cold, the pain, with my Jewish sisters.

As soon as I have seen their nightmarish life conditions in the concentration camp, I find myself among a group of Partisans, girls turned into women prematurely, acting as men trained for battle. They are dressed like regular Greek villagers, but it’s obvious they are on a mission. They stop at a house with swastikas on flags outside of it, and start a fire inside.

“Captain Sarika!” one girl calls out. “Sarika Fortis! Have we done it right?” Smoke begins to curl out of the house’s windows. “Yes, Eleni,” the captain replies. “Now we must go! The Partisans must never be caught!” The women hurry from the scene and I run with them, marveling at their strength, their audacity, how such young women could stand up to tyranny and prejudice with no second thoughts.

“We are of the Line,” my mother says, talking about the strong line of women we descend from, and yes, all I can do is nod, all I can do is agree. All these women were strong, defying social norms, protesting prejudices that kept them down, always questioning authority, never taking no as an answer, always fighting, always working, always reaching their goal.

JPEF Short Films, Great Resources in Classrooms

Partisan women have always been an incredible aspect of Jewish partisan history. Besides fighting the Germans, women had to put up with sexism and sexual violence in their own groups. JPEF has important resources on these fascinating women including a printable guide and two short films:

"A Partisan Returns: The Legacy of Two Sisters" chronicles former Bielski partisan Lisa Reibel’s journey back to her home in Belarus for the first time after nearly 65 years. Hear first-hand how her story of escape, struggle, and success continues to influence her family today.

"Everyday the Impossible: Jewish Women in the Partisans" relates how Jewish women partisans overcame the unique dangers they faced both as women and as Jews to become part of the vital infrastructure of partisan movements throughout the World War II. JPEF also developed a study guide “Women in the Partisans” to accompany the film, which is narrated by Tovah Feldshuh.

Earlier this year, the United Nations Outreach Division promoted the JPEF study guide "Women in the Partisans" to coincide with the film, Daring to Resist, at 30 U.N. Information Centers around the world. The film profiles three young Jewish women during the Holocaust--including Faye Schulman, Jewish partisan photographer--who found unexpected ways to fight back against the Germans. JPEF features Schulman's remarkable photographs in our traveling exhibit, "Pictures of Resistance."

Click here to learn more about the 11 Jewish women partisans on the JPEF website, download study guides, and watch short films emphasizing the unique role that women played in partisan groups during the Holocaust.

Quilt Inspires 7th Grade Class to be Upstanders

Michele Tyler, 7^th grade Language Arts teacher at Clark Middle School in Saint John, Indiana, attended an educator institute in Lafayette, Indiana.

Integrating the lessons that she learned into her classroom, Tyler developed a project allowing each student to choose one Jewish partisan to learn about. “They each created a quilt square to represent their partisan, and then we sewed the squares together.” When teaching about the Holocaust to her class the central theme for Tyler is to explore the issue of “am I an upstander or a bystander?” Her class examines this concept by reading Children of Willesden Lane and the stories of the partisans to support her central theme.

Tyler generally begins the unit with a KWL (What You Know, What You Want to Know, and What You’ve Learned) chart about the Holocaust. She has since discovered that many students have studied the Holocaust, but most of them have never heard about the partisans or the Kindertransport. Tyler commented, “I use the KWL as a jumping off point to introduce these two stories. At the end of the unit, students are asked to integrate what they have learned into an action plan for their own lives—how they will live as upstanders.”

South Africa Part II - Durban and Joburg

The second week of my journey in South Africa took me to Durban and Johannesburg. While in Durban, I spoke at the International  UN Holocaust program to a sold out audience at their Holocaust Centre. Part of this program was the local premiere of the play “The Boys from the Ashes.” Written by his granddaughter, Courtneigh Cloud, “The Boys from the Ashes” is a powerful play about Israel Gurwicz, a Holocaust survivor from Vilna who was involved with Abba Kovner and his ghetto resistance.

Mary Kluck, Durban Holocaust Centre Director during opening remarks.

The following day I addressed a group of docents -- preparing them for our Faye Schulman exhibit that will be in Durban in early March. I also conducted a teacher training consisting of educators who teach in both private and state schools. After the workshop, one educator wrote, "The workshop answered some stereotypes one had about the Jewish community." The idea of Jewish passivity during the Holocaust is so pervasive even among educators, and I was glad I could dispel it through the JPEF training.

JPEF Executive Director Mitch Braff goes over the JPEF website with local educators in Durban.

I learned a great deal on the challenges of teaching in South Africa. Primarily, that in many parts of South Africa, at least outside of the big cities, many schools are without electricity. More importantly though, many educators in the townships do not know what the Holocaust was and for that matter how to teach the lessons. I admire the work and staff of the South African Holocaust Foundation, for they are teaching in a challenging environment, to say the least. They are also doing excellent work on talking about the Holocaust in context with the Rwandan genocide. It was a privilege to be part of all three of the Centre’s incredible and meaningful work.

JPEF presentation at King David High School in Johannesburg.

The first day in Johannesburg, I was invited to speak at the Great Park Synagogue as part of a community-wide program. I also presented at both the King David and Wendywood schools in the Joburg suburbs. The contrasts between these high schools were significant. Kind David is a private Jewish school on a beautiful campus with amazing facilities, whereas Wendywood is a state school in a nice Joburg suburb, with many students from the neighboring townships attending. This is quite similar to urban public schools in the US vs. private schools in the same city. King David was all white, and Wendywood was nearly all black. Both groups of students enthusiastically embraced the subject matter. In fact, the head teacher from King David promised that his students will learn the partisan song and send us a video when they do.

Students from Wendywood High School in Johannesburg with JPEF Resist stickers of
Eta Wrobel (z"l) and Zus Bielski (z"l). 

Our Resist stickers were big hits with both groups of students--though the Wendywood kids were definitely a bit more enthusiastic.

By the time I left South Africa I had spoken to over 1,000 people, including 80 educators in Cape Town, Joburg, and Durban. Our exhibit will be seen by thousands of people, including schools making special trips to view the compelling photographs and learn about Faye’s experience. The local Jewish paper ran an article on my visit and a Joburg radio station even interviewed me about the trip.  It is our hope that history and life lessons of the Jewish partisans will be taught in classrooms for years in South Africa, but there are still thousands of educators that we still need to reach.

JPEF presented to a full house at the Durban Holocaust Centre.

I know that we have made a significant impact in South Africa.  In the coming months and years, JPEF looks forward to continuing to build its relationship with the South African Holocaust Foundation and to bring our materials and programs to communities throughout South Africa.

Here is an article that features Mitch Braff during the U.N.'s Holocaust Remembrance Day from their website.

Mitch Braff (center) with Janine Cohen (left) and Tali Nates (right) from the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre. Tali is the Executive Director and an international leader in Holocaust education.

Tweet
Share

Live Webcast of the International Day of Commemoration to honor the victims of the Holocaust

Watch a live webcast as the United Nations honors the courage of women during the Holocaust, which continues to inspire and empower women today.

The theme of the Memorial Ceremony: “Women and the Holocaust: Courage and Compassion” on the occasion of the International Day of Commemoration to honour the victims of the Holocaust. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will deliver opening remarks. Statements will also be made by H.E. Mr. Joseph Deiss, President of the 65th Session of the General Assembly, H.E. Mr. Ehud Barak, Minister of Defence of the State of Israel, and H.E. Ambassador Rosemary A. DiCarlo, U.S. Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations. The keynote speech will be delivered by Professor Lenore Weitzman, Professor Emeritus, George Mason University and Mrs. Nesse Godin, Holocaust Survivor (Lithuania) will share her testimony.

JPEF worked closely with the UN to promote its materials including the study guide, Jewish Women in the Partisans. The UN sent the study guide to over thirty United Nations Information Centers (UNICs) around the globe to be used for local programming in conjunction with the documentary film Daring to Resist, which profiles three young Jewish women during the Holocaust--including Faye Schulman Jewish partisan photographer.

When: 10:00AM EST (7:00AM PST)
Channel: 3
http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/webcast/>

Explore all of the resources of JPEF to learn more about Jewish women partisans.

Click here to download the study guide Women and the Holocaust - Courage and Compassion

Memoirs of a Hungarian resister

February 2, 2011

Memoirs of a Hungarian resister


BY JONATHAN KIRSCH


Every self-published author thinks he or she has something important to say. It’s rare that the reader agrees, I’m afraid, and rarer still when history or literature is enriched by the author’s effort.

I am happy to report that none of these cautions apply to “Rebel With a Cause: The Amazing True Stories of an Urban Partisan in WWII” by Andrew E. Stevens in collaboration with Meir Doron. (See below for ordering information.)

Like other survivors of the Holocaust, Andrew Stevens managed to find a safe refuge in America after the war. The Beverly Hills businessman, whose name back in Hungary was Steinberger Endre — the family name was given first in Hungarian usage — has been active in Jewish philanthropies, including the sponsorship of monuments to the victims of Nazi genocide, but he has remained mostly silent about his own exploits until now.

With the publication of “Rebel With a Cause,” Stevens is finally telling his own remarkable tale of resistance against Nazi Germany and its Hungarian collaborators.

“I haven’t put my story into writing for 66 years because I did not want to deal with the question that has been troubling my mind ever since: ‘Why did they go to their deaths like sheep to the slaughter?’ ” he explains to the reader. “Why wasn’t the Shoah more of a battle?” Now in his late 80s, “at peace with the knowledge that I will soon leave this world,” Stevens feels “called upon to put everything into writing so that future generations will truly ‘never forget.’ ”

The ordeal of Hungarian Jewry is especially heartbreaking because it came at a time when reports of what was happening in the death camps and the killing fields had already reached the West. “During the first years of World War II, we lived in a fool’s paradise in Budapest,” he recalls. “We were buying time and ignored the time bomb ticking in our ears.” Only in 1944 did the Nazis finally turn their deadly attentions to Hungary.

Stevens tells his tale in a parallel narrative consisting of recollections of his return visit to Hungary long after the war and flashbacks to the terrible times when he was “a fugitive in [his] own city,” struggling to avoid the fate that befell so many of his fellow Jews and surviving on physical courage and sheer chutzpah. He managed to escape from the labor battalion in which he was forced to serve, tore off the yellow stripe that identified him as a Jew and searched out the Zionist underground that was finding a way out of Hungary for a precious remnant of the Jewish community.

“This was the moment that defined my own purpose in this terrible war,” Stevens writes. “In the middle of the ongoing catastrophe, I experienced a moment of joy, and finally felt that I had power over my own life.”

Stevens adopted a new identity as a Christian — he donned an eye patch and a bloodstained bandage in order to feign battle injuries as a “wounded war hero” — and undertook a new job as a forger and smuggler of documents. “Each of these documents can save the life of yet another Jew!” he was told by his comrades. Some of these forgeries are reproduced in the book along with photographs of the handsome young man who created them — an archive of documentary evidence and, at the same time, a thrilling war story, full of intrigue and suspense, including a daring escape under fire from the Hungarian fascists who aided the German army of occupation in finding and killing Jews.

Stevens’ testimony includes firsthand glimpses of some famous historical figures, including Hannah Senesh and Raoul Wallenberg. When Stevens asked why he had been chosen to carry documents from the forgery workshops to Wallenberg, he was told: “You and him, both of you are fearless.” Yet Stevens confesses that he is still haunted by memories of the atrocities that he witnessed while making his way through the streets of occupied Budapest, and he has not yet found an answer to his agonized question about the apparent passivity of so many victims of the Holocaust.

“They sneak up on me without warning,” he writes of those memories and those questions, “most of all at night and in my dreams, but also during daylight hours, when I sit down with my family for dinner or spend time with my children, in the middle of a Rotary meeting, or at the height of business negotiations.”

The book that Andrew Stevens has written and published can be approached as an intimate family memoir, as the eyewitness testimony of a Jewish partisan, and as the courageous act of a man who has chosen to confront his own demons. For all of these reasons, “Rebel With a Cause” is one self-published book whose author has earned the right to put his own words into print.

Copies of “Rebel With a Cause” by Andrew E. Stevens in an e-book edition can be ordered from Amazon.com at $9.99 per copy. Hardcover copies can be ordered directly from the author through the following e-mail address: rebelwithacause.as@gmail.com.

Jonathan Kirsch, author and publishing attorney, is the book editor of The Jewish Journal. He blogs on books at www.jewishjournal.com/twelvetwelve and can be reached at books@jewishjournal.com.

© Copyright 2011 Tribe Media Corp.
All rights reserved. JewishJournal.com is hosted by Nexcess.net. Homepage design by Koret Communications.
Widgets by Mijits. Site construction by Hop Studios. http://www.jewishjournal.com/ twelve_twelve/article/memoirs_of_a_hungarian_resister_20110202/
Tweet
Share

JPEF Brings Programs to South Africa - First Stop, Cape Town

The trip so far has been very exciting -- both for JPEF and me personally. South Africa is a beautiful country and I feel lucky to be here. I arrived in Durban, after a very productive week in Cape Town. There I met with Richard Freedman, the director of the South African Holocaust and Genocide Foundation, and his amazing staff who were so grateful that JPEF was in town with our exhibit. It has up at their Centre for a week already, and I was in town to teach their docents on how to present tours of the exhibit, show local teachers on how to teach with our materials, and give a couple lectures to groups of students.

Here is link to some of the programs from the Holocaust Centre regarding my visit.

My first program was with 350 students from Herzlia High School -- a Jewish school in the hills above the city. I gave a PowerPoint student presentation and showed JPEF's "Introduction to the Partisans" video to a very engaged audience. I then had some excellent questions -- including one 12th grader who asked  why I could be proud of the partisans as they were killing people. This opened the discussion that when people are resisting genocide they do not have many choices -- boycotts, hunger strikes, and work stoppages would not have stopped Hitler. We discussed the concept of "tactics" when resisting, and how the tactic chosen to resist needs to match what people are resisting. For instance, when Dr. King and Gandhi were fighting for civil rights they chose non-violent resistance and were successful.  Violent resistance is only a last resort. This will be a topic for a future JPEF study guide. 

Students at Herzlia High School in Cape Town watch JPEF film, "Introduction to the Partisans"

I also spoke to a group of educators, using our "Living and Surviving in the Partisans" and "Women in the Partisans" curriculum and films as the basis for the workshop. The educators  appreciated the connection between the partisans resisting and those who fought against Apartheid. Our work has special meaning here. One educator said, "Maybe be one could draw a comparison of the partisans and those of guerilla fighters in SA [South Africa] and let learners debate the importance of resistance."

Through our new relationship with the Holocaust and Genocide Foundation JPEF will now have the opportunity to get our materials into the country's official 15 hour curriculum on the Holocaust  taught to all 9th graders. This can ultimately effect millions of young people here. There is still a lot of work to do to make this a reality. We are excited at the opportunity.

JPEF Executive Director Mitch Braff with Jewish partisan Martin Breslin and Richard Freedman, Executive Director of the South African Holocaust and Genocide Foundation at Faye Schulman exhibit at the Cape Town Holocaust Centre

I also spoke to a smaller group of students from the school -- running our "Ethics of War" program where we read JPEF play "Conversation in the Woods" .

Students from Hetzlia read the JPEF short play, "A Conversation in the Woods"

The big presentation I was here to do was for the UN Holocaust Memorial Day commemorations to almost 200 people. I was honored to be the keynote, with UN Information Director from Pretoria giving a message from the Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the UN before I spoke. The theme the UN chose this year was on women in the Holocaust, so I tied everything to our Faye Schulman exhibit and showed clips from our "Women in the Partisans" short film in addition to video clips from Faye. It was a great match for our material.

Richard Freedman conducts UN Holocaust Program at Cape Town Holocaust Centre with local survivors.

The exhibit will attract hundreds of people to the Centre. Already several classes are making special trips to see the exhibit -- both private schools and State schools. They will also use our materials and discuss the partisans as part of future tours of their permanent exhibit which is quite impressive in itself.

Here is panel they had set up with our material outside of where the exhibit is staged.

This is some of the feedback that was written after people saw the exhibit...

Tomorrow night I am the keynote at a Holocaust program in the port city of Durban, then I teach teachers and docents Monday. Tuesday I am off to Johannesburg to do much of the same, but will stop at a State school to speak to 150 kids there as well as a Jewish High School. 

Our exhibit will be touring the country though March and will reach a few thousand people. The programs I am doing with teachers and staff of the Holocaust and Genocide Foundation will ensure  the history and life lessons of the Jewish partisans are taught in South Africa for generations.

I want to give a special thank you to our funders and to curator Jill Vexler who made this all possible. Of course, we would not even be here unless it was for the generosity of Faye Schulman, who has trusted us to take her beautiful photographs to the world. Thank you Faye.

Tweet
Share

Jewish Partisan, Frank Blaichman's book is Published in Poland

Jewish partisan commander, Frank Blaichman, recently had his book, Rather Die Fighting, published in Poland.

United Nations Pays Tribute to Women of the Holocaust

United Nations Pays Tribute to Women of the Holocaust

January 24, 2011 (MMD Newswire) -- On 27 January 2011, the United Nations Department of Public Information will honour women at the sixth annual observance of the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust in a ceremony, to be held in the General Assembly Hall from 10 a.m. to noon.

This year's observance will focus on the theme "Women and the Holocaust: Courage and Compassion", and will pay tribute to the bravery and ingenuity of the women who faced Nazi persecution with strength and dignity during the Second World War. "Jewish women performed truly heroic deeds - in the face of danger and atrocity - they bravely joined the resistance, smuggled food into the ghettos and made wrenching sacrifices to keep their children alive. Their courage and compassion continue to inspire us to this day," said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Hosted by Kiyo Akasaka, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, the ceremony will open with a message from the Secretary-General. Statements will be made by Vice-President of the General Assembly; Francisco Carrión, Permanent Representative of Ecuador to the United Nations; Susan Rice, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations; and Meron Reuben, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations.

The keynote speech will be delivered by Lenore Weitzman, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at George Mason University, who has devoted her career to advocating for women's issues. She co-edited the book Women in the Holocaust (1999), and is now completing a book on the "Kashariyot" - the young women that served as secret underground "couriers" for the Jewish resistance movements in the ghettos.

Also featured in the memorial ceremony will be Nesse Godin, a Holocaust survivor, originally from Lithuania. As a child during the Holocaust, Mrs. Godin survived a ghetto, concentration camp, four labour camps and a death march. Mrs. Godin has dedicated her life to teaching and sharing memories of her horrific experience and serves as a volunteer at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Ádám Banda, a renowned concert violinist from Hungary, will perform, and Cantor Yaakov Lemmer, Chief Cantor of the Congregation Anshe Sholom, will recite the memorial prayers. Three young students from the United Nations International School, Tinglan Cao, Boteng Maluke, and Gabriela Ruiz Pez, will read excerpts from a diary and letters of women who perished in the Holocaust.

In the afternoon, there will be a panel discussion held by B'nai B'rith International, entitled "The Survivors, 1945-2011: Struggle and Perseverance" and a round table organized by the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation, entitled "A World Without Nazism - A Global Goal for Humanity Today and the Sixty-fifth Anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials". This event is co-sponsored by the United Nations Department of Public Information, the International Human Rights Movement "World without Nazism" and the American Forum of Russian Jewry.

The week-long events in New York will include the opening on 24 January of the exhibition "The Memories Live On", which features drawings of Auschwitz made by an unknown prisoner of the concentration camp. This exhibition is sponsored by the International Auschwitz Committee in Germany, the State Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the International Youth Meeting Centre in Oswiecim, Poland, the German Resistance Memorial Centre in Berlin, Germany, the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations and the United States Permanent Mission to the United Nations. The exhibition "Hélène Berr, A Stolen Life", curated by Mémorial de la Shoah in Paris, France, will also be displayed in the United Nations Visitors' Lobby. This exhibition, based on the diary of a young Jewish girl, documents the persecution of Jews in Occupied France during the Second World War (see Note No. 6291).

Other events include a screening on 25 January of the documentary film Daring to Resist, produced and directed by Barbara Attie and Martha Goell Lubell and distributed by Women Make Films. The film recounts the stories of three young Jewish women who found unexpected ways to fight back against the Nazis. The screening will be followed by a discussion with Frank Blaichman, a former partisan, whose presence was made possible with the help of the Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation, and Bonnie Gurewitsch, an archivist and curator at the Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, New York City.

Around the world, United Nations Information Centres (UNICs) will also commemorate the Day with screenings of this film, memorial ceremonies and educational activities with local schools. The United Nations Holocaust Programme and the Mémorial de la Shoah produced a travelling exhibit in English, French, Russian and Spanish, which will be hosted by Information Centres in Bujumbura, Dakar, Manila, Mexico City, Moscow and the United Nations International Service in Vienna. For more information on the Mémorial, please visit www.memorialdelashoah.org.

In line with this year's theme, the United Nations Holocaust Programme also produced an educational study guide and companion DVD for high school students, entitled Women and the Holocaust: Courage and Compassion, to help youth better understand how the Holocaust affected women. The materials were developed in partnership with the International School for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem, The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, and the University of Southern California Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education. The study guide and DVD can be downloaded from the Holocaust programme's website and will be available in all United Nations official languages. For more information on these partners, please visit www.yadvashem.org and www.usc.edu/vhi.

All guests must pre-register to take part in the events at New York Headquarters. Photo identification will be required and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Please see the Programme's website www.un.org/holocaustremembrance for registration details and www.un.org/media/accreditation for media accreditation.

* *** *

via http://www.mmdnewswire.com/united-nations-pays-tribute-to-women-of-the-holocaust-21477.html

JPEF Partners with United Nations Holocaust Outreach Program

The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme, whose mandate is to educate the public about genocide, is collaborating with JPEF on its International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27th. 

In New York City, a screening of the documentary film Daring to Resist, which profiles three young Jewish women during the Holocaust--including Faye Schulman Jewish partisan photographer--who found unexpected ways to fight back against the Germans, will be part of a week long observance commemorating the memory of the victims of the Holocaust organized by the U.N. The screening will be followed by a discussion with author Frank Blaichman, former Jewish partisan commander and Bonnie Gurewitsch, Archivist/Curator, Museum of Jewish Hertitage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust.

The U.N. is promoting JPEF's study guide "Women in the Partisans" to coincide with the film to 30 U.N. centers around the world including Kenya, India and Georgia. To access these resources, see below.

"Learning about the Jewish partisans is a vital element of Holocaust education. Resistance is a perfect example of what the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called in 2010, 'a triumph of the human spirit [and a] living testimony that tyranny, though it may rise, will surely not prevail.'" --Melanie Prud'home from the Holocaust and the U.N. Outreach Programme.

There are a limited number of tickets available:

Daring to Resist

Date: Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Time: 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Contact and Registration: Holocaustremembrance@un.org

Venue: Temporary North Lawn Building, ECOSOC Chamber, New York City

Tweet
Share

JPEF's "Pictures of Resistance" Tours South Africa

U.N. Holocaust Memorial Day Flyer

JPEF's traveling photography exhibit, "Pictures of Resistance: The Wartime Photographs of Jewish Partisan Faye Schulman", is in Cape Town at the Cape Town Holocaust Center through February 3rd. The exhibit will travel to Johannesburg and Durban over the next two months. JPEF's executive director, Mitch Braff, will accompany the exhibit, conducting teacher trainings and speaking at public events, including the U.N. Holocaust Memorial Day Commemoration ceremony in Cape Town on January 26th and in Durban on January 30th.


South Africa has a nationally-mandated Holocaust education unit for 9th and 11th grade students. JPEF materials will soon be a valuable addition to these educators' curricula.


Check our blog in the upcoming weeks for more stories, photos and videos from Mitch's trip to South Africa.
Tweet
Share

Women in the Partisans Resources

See Faye Schulman tell the stories behind her pictures, as well as photos from her exhibit, and a printable biography at www.jewishpartisans.org/fayesbio.

More free JPEF resources on women who fought back include:

Jewish Women in the Partisans resource page: films, study guides and women partisan profiles and more at www.jewishpartisans.org/women.

Short Films: "Everyday the Impossible: Jewish Women in the Partisans" and "A Partisan Returns: the Legacy of Two Sisters" at www.jewishpartisans.org/films.

Study Guides and Poster: "Women in the Partisans," Gertrude Boyarski, Sonia Orbuch and downloadable Eta Wrobel "RESIST" poster at www.jewishpartisans.org/resist.

 Tu B'Shevat (Jewish Arbor Day / New Year for Trees):

The partisans depended on the forests to evade from and combat their enemies, as well as endure the brutal winters. JPEF's "Living and Surviving" study guide and short film make great additions to your Tu B'Shevat activities this week.

Visit www.jewishpartisans.org/resist and www.jewishpartisans.org/films.

Tweet
Share

JPEF Exhibit and Training at the University of Washington Hillel

On January 14, accompanied by filmmaker Sharon Rennert -- Tuvia Bielski's granddaughter-- JPEF staff, provided the keynote address for the opening reception of Pictures of Resistance at the University of Washington Hillel. The following day, in conjunction with the exhibit, JPEF led a "Women in the Partisans" teacher training for dozens of area educators.

Pictures of Resistance at University of Washington Hillel, January 14, 2011.

A teacher reflected that "one of the strongest themes that flows through my curriculum is the power of the human spirit. I connect this to all historical events studied in my 8th grade class. 'Women in the Partisans' will be a perfect addition to my Holocaust unit."

To bring the Women in the Partisans and other JPEF workshops to your community, please contact outreach@jewishpartisans.org.

Tweet
Share

Happy Birthday, Resistance Fighter, Mira Shelub

 

Mira after the war, 1947.

Mira on the set of a JPEF interview holding a
photo of her husband, Norman, 2002.

Last week, Jewish partisan Mira Shelub celebrated her birthday. Mira's partisan activity took place mainly in northeastern Poland (today's Belarus) where her all Jewish group engaged in sabotage against the Nazi's and their Polish collaborators. They blew up trains, attacked police stations, and stole food that had been provided for the Germans by peasants.

Mira met her husband, Norman, who was also a fighter in her group and was the leader of their group. She reminisces, "I was lucky enough that I loved my husband and he loved me, and it was like a love affair in the forest. Can you ask for a better place? So, we were lucky that we got together and we, and we promised each other that we'll be together forever."

They married after the war, had three children, and moved to San Francisco.

Read more about Mira here.

Mira Shelub is featured in multiple JPEF documentaries and study guides including the printed guide: "Women in the Partisans" and short film, "Everyday the Impossible: Jewish Women in the Partisans".

Mira talking about the decisions she faced as a resistance
fighter to youth at Fremont High School, 2008.

Tweet
Share

JPEF's New Poster -- Zus Bielski

We have released a new poster -- featuring Jewish partisan Zus Bielski. Zus was one of 12 children, and with his brothers Tuvia, Asael, and Aron Bielski formed the largest all Jewish partisan group. The group had 1,200 members and today, there are 15,000 - 20,000 decedents from the Bielski Brigade -- alive today because of Zus and his brothers.

Zus was featured in the film "Defiance" directed by Edward Zwick and played by Liev Schreiber.

The poster reads, "Zus Bielski and his brothers fought against the Nazis and saved more than 1,200 lives" and was poster was designed by Chicago based designer Eric Triantafillou.

Download a PDF on the JPEF "Defiance" page here.

If you are interested in a t-shirt of this image, please write rachel@jewishpartisans.org.

Tweet
Share

JPEF Executive Director, Mitch Braff, to Speak in Seattle

 

On Thursday, January 13th, JPEF's Executive Director, Mitch Braff will speak at the Opening Reception of "Pictures of Resistance: The Wartime Photographs of Jewish Partisan Faye Schulman". The reception runs from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM (PST) at Hillel, University of Washington with the Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center (WSHERC).

On January 14th (8:30 AM - 3:00 PM PST), Braff and Tuvia Bielski's granddaughter, Sharon Rennert, are featured speakers for a teacher training. JPEF's "Women in the Partisans" training will accompany Rennert's "In Our Hands: A Personal Story of the Bielski Partisans."

View the event flyer.

Register for the training here.

"Pictures of Resistance" will run at UW Hillel until February 17.


Tweet
Share

JPEF Partisan, Jeff Gradow, Celebrates 86 Years

Yesterday was Jewish partisan, Jeff Gradow's 86th Birthday. During World War II, Jeff was forced to take refuge in the forest when the Germans launched Operation Barbarossa. Years later the Soviets would air drop supplies and weapons to his partisan group. This help allowed the camp to launch guerilla attacks on nearby German soldiers. In 1944, his partisan group was absorbed by the Red Army.

Jeff eventually moved to the United States where he still resides today.

As a JPEF partisan, we feature Jeff's story and images on our website. Click here to read more about Jeff.


Tweet
Share