The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Northwest Division will host a community gathering and screening of the documentary “Life in a Jar: The Irena Sendler Project” on Tuesday, Oct. 24, at 4 p.m. at Splendido at Rancho Vistoso, 13500 N. Rancho Vistoso Blvd. The event also will feature Tucson resident Bertie Levkowitz-Herz, who will speak about her experiences as a hidden child during the Holocaust.
“Life in A Jar” portrays the efforts of Sendler, a Polish Catholic social worker, who organized a rescue network of fellow social workers to smuggle 2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw ghetto. She then buried a jar in which she had written their Jewish and new names under an apple tree.
Sendler’s lifesaving actions were largely unknown until a group of teenagers from rural Kansas discovered her story in 1999. The film also documents their work, and how they and other students continue to share Sendler’s story with the world.
Levkowitz-Herz was born in Holland in 1942. When she was three months old, her parents gave her to strangers to be cared for, so that they could go into hiding. As an infant and toddler, she spent several years being passed from family to family, until the occupying forces came too close for comfort and she would be handed over to another family. Levkowitz-Herz will share the story of her adolescence, upbringing, and survival.
Hors d’oeuvres and non-alcoholic beverages will be served. There is no charge to attend, but reservations are required. Call 505-4161 or email
northwestjewish@jfsa.org.
