News from the 19th Floor – Alfred Lerner Fellows – October 2019
News from the 19th Floor
LUNCHEON HONORING POLISH RIGHTEOUS
The JFR held its annual luncheon for JFR-supported rescuers living in Warsaw, Poland, on Sunday, September 8, 2019. The luncheon was held at POLIN – The Museum of the History of Polish Jews.
Each rescuer was invited to bring a guest. Many of the rescuers brought their children and grandchildren. Stanlee welcomed everyone. Israel’s new ambassador to Poland, Alexander Ben-Zvi, gave remarks as did Bix Aliu, Charge d’Affaires, from the U.S. Embassy in Poland.
It was a wonderful afternoon. For the rescuers, it meant that they were able to get out and be recognized for their noble deeds during the Holocaust. For the JFR, we were able to see old friends and to catch up on how everyone is doing. Some 80 people attended the luncheon.
The JFR has been hosting a luncheon for rescuers living in Warsaw for the past eleven years. During the luncheon we celebrated the birthdays of two rescuers – Jozef Walaszczyk will turn 100 in November and Alicja Schnepf just turned 89. Alicja Schnepf attended the luncheon with her son, Ryszard Schnepf, Poland’s former ambassador to the United States. The JFR provided each rescuer with funds to cover the cost of a taxi to and from the luncheon.
Click here to see the photos from the luncheon.
JFR ANNOUNCES FOOD PACKAGES FOR RESCUERS IN WARSAW
At the luncheon, Rabbi Michael Schudrich, the Chief Rabbi of Poland, and Stanlee Stahl announced that the JFR would be giving the newly established Warsaw Kosher Food Pantry funds enabling the Food Pantry to provide each Righteous in Warsaw with a monthly food package. The food package will consist of non-perishable items. The Righteous attending the luncheon were delighted to hear this news. Extra food parcels will be provided to the Righteous for Christmas and Easter.
JFR POLISH ALFRED LERNER FELLOWS
Since 2002, more than 50 outstanding educators from Poland have attended the Summer Institute for Teachers. The U.S. Embassy in Warsaw covers the airfare and the JFR provides a full scholarship for the teacher to attend the Summer Institute for Teachers. All JFR Polish Alfred Lerner Fellows were invited to the luncheon. This year four Lerner Fellows were able to attend – Irena Wojtowicz, Zygmunt Kawecki, Aneta Brzezinska-Leszczyk, and Renata Mansili. It was wonderful to see everyone and to reconnect!
2020 Advanced Seminar
Information, application, and program on the 2020 Advanced Seminar was mailed last week. The dates of the Advanced Seminar are January 18 – 20, 2020.
The schedule for the 2020 Advanced Seminar is changing. The Advanced Seminar will start on Saturday, January 18, 2020, with breakfast at 8:00 a.m. We are asking everyone to arrive at the Hilton Newark Airport, the venue for the 2020 Advanced Seminar, by 9:00 a.m., when the first lecture will start. This means that for most, you will have to arrive at the Hilton Newark Airport on Friday, January 17, 2019.
The participant fee for the Advanced Seminar has been $375 for years. We are raising it by $25, that’s all. The JFR will cover the room for Friday night, the breakfast and break on Saturday morning. In addition, the JFR will cover the cost of the bus rental on Sunday. We are also requesting that no one leave the program before 11:30 a.m. on Monday, January 20, 2020. This is so our scholar on Monday, who is coming from Germany, will not have anyone walking out of the program. Additionally, this year we will not accept commuters. Everyone must stay at the Hilton Newark Airport.
EXHIBIT ON RESCUE
If your center has not already done so, you may consider bringing the JFR’s traveling exhibit Whoever Saves a Single Life…Rescuers of Jews During the Holocaust, to your community please e-mail Stanlee Stahl at sstahl@jfr.org. The exhibit opened at the United Nations. The exhibit is perfect for small venues and is appropriate for many community venues, e.g., libraries, community colleges, museums. There is minimal fee for centers to rent the exhibit. Centers must also cover the shipping of the exhibit and insurance. Click here for more information about the exhibit.
JFR Mourns the Passing of Franciszek Paslawski
The JFR mourns the passing of Franciszek Paslawski, a Righteous Gentile living in Ontario, Canada. Below is the death notice we received from his family.
JFR LISTSERV
We are closing the JFR listserv. The last day the listserv will be operational will be September 30, 2019. We will use MailChimp to send emails.
PROBLEMS WITH OUR TELPEHONE NUMBER
We are having problems with our telephone number. If you dial 1-212-727-9955 and you receive a message saying that the number is no longer working – we are here and the number does work, just not for everyone. So please dial 1-212-727-2383.
