News & Updates

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ANNOUNCEMENT:

BE WATCHING FOR NEW PERFORMANCES IN 2021

News of the Week 5/12/20

This week is the 12th anniversary of Irena Sendler’s passing. May 3, 2008 was the last time members of the Life in a Jar cast and crew was able to spend time with Irena in Warsaw before she passed away on May 12. As we continue to share her story through the performance, website, and the book Life in a Jar: the Irena Sendler Project, we continue to spread her light and love for all people. 

During this time, we all have the opportunity to be a light for those around us. Spread light and love.

 

 

News of the Week 4/28/20

80 years ago the world was ablaze with WWII and the beginnings of the Holocaust. Germany was invading more of Europe this month, in May of 1940, the Battle of Britain would begin. Dunkirk was only days ahead.  The world was suffering in a tremendous manner, and today in a different manner, the world is also suffering.  We at Life in a Jar: the Irena Sendler Project know that Irena, if alive today, would be worrying about the children, and all ages of people.

The 32nd Conference of the World Federation of Jewish Child Survivors of the Holocaust and Descendants in St. Louis has been postponed from 2020 to Fall 2021, there is a good possibility Life in a Jar will present to these survivors and their families. More information to come later.

Thank you to everyone for your continued support of the Life in a Jar Foundation. A great number of people have made a difference and supported this life-changing journey over the last 20 years. Thank you.

We hope everyone is safe and staying healthy.

With love,
The Life in a Jar Family

News of the Week 4/3/20

We are thinking of our special Life in a Jar family from around the world during this time. We hope you all are staying safe and healthy. 
Irena was a light in the darkness during the Holocaust. We remember Irena Sendler by being points of lights and sewing seeds of good around us every day. Learn more about Irena’s efforts with a short video clip featuring Irena Sendler and Norm Conard.
This fall we are working on two presentations, one in Kansas City and the other in St. Louis. The St. Louis presentation would be in November in collaboration with the World Federation of Jewish Child Survivors Conference. Be watching our website for more information.
We also have a performance scheduled in 2021!

April 10, 2021 @ 7:00 pm CDT 

Life in a Jar will perform on Sunday, April 11, 2021 in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada sponsored by community groups and the Atlantic Jewish Council. Contact person is Israel Unger at 506-455-9787 or unger@unb.ca.

News of the Week 2/11/20

February 15, 2020 – Irena Sendler was born 110 years ago February 15th. We remember this incredible woman with great admiration. We were with her about a week before her passing in 2008. She continued to speak about the brave Jewish people of the Warsaw Ghetto and the ‘righteous gentiles’ who helped save a great number.   

We are now booking performances for fall 2020 and beyond. Watch our website for more information

News of the week 1/20/20

 

On January 20, 1942, Reinhard Heydrich, Himmler’s second in command of the SS, convened the Wannsee Conference in Berlin with 15 top Nazi bureaucrats to coordinate the Final Solution (Endlösung) in which the Nazis would attempt to exterminate the entire Jewish population of Europe, an estimated 11 million persons. Never Forget, Never Again.  

 
We at the Life in a Jar: Irena Sendler Foundation strive to teach Holocaust education around the world, every day. 
 
Our website is being re-worked and we always welcome critique, as maintaining a website can be difficult.
Many people learn about Irena through irenasendler.org.
 
Be watching for some upcoming performances of Life in a Jar.

News of the Week-10/20/17

“Did I do enough?” – Irena Sendler

On October 20, 1943, the Gestapo came to Irena Sendler’s apartment and took her to a jail. There they interrogated and brutally tortured her for the names of Zegota leaders, which she refused to give up. She received a sentence of death by firing squad and stayed for weeks in prison with her legs and feet fractured from the beatings. The night before she was to be executed, a German guard, whom Zegota had bribed, helped her escape. The next day, posters went up all over the city with news that Irena had been shot. She read these posters herself. When the war was finally over, she dug up the jars and began the difficult job of finding the children and locating living relatives. Tragically, most family members had perished at Treblinka.

For the remainder of her life, she was haunted by the horrors she had witnessed, asking herself every day, “Did I do enough?”

News of the Week – 9/11/17

2018 is Irena Sendler Year in Poland as declared by the Polish Congress.

See our website, updates and new designs coming over the next month.
Our ‘Poland 2017’ journey this summer with 32 travelers was a tremendous success. Thanks to the great story of Irena Sendler and to the wonderful group traveling.  Thank you Alice, Terry, Donna, Isabella, Addi, Carrie, Cary, Eric, Alta, Amanda, Russ, Belinda, Michelle H., Dan, Jared, Norm, Jessica, Lori, Graham, Liz, Sue, Marzanna, Tina, Suzanne, Kate, Kim, Michelle S., Julie, Michelle W., Ann, Dean, and Judy.
Come and see the incredible Irena Sendler exhibit at the new Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes. Over 15,000 people have viewed the new exhibit.
Cathy Werling a staff member at the Lowell Milken Center, has just written a book on Ken Reinhardt. Ken is an unsung hero from the Central High School de-segregation with the Little Rock Nine. She has another book coming out next year on Irena and Megan Felt. This series of unsung heroes is for elementary age; they make perfect gifts for children and adults.

News of the Week – 7/26/17

We have returned from our first group tour of Irena Sendler sites in Poland. This is not something we will plan every year, many of you have been asking.

The group for Poland 2017 was unique and wonderful to travel with. They were a diverse group of individuals brought together for one purpose, to share the story of Irena Sendler.
You can look on our Life in a Jar Facebook page for photographs from this powerful trip.
Every year there are more and more Irena sites to visit. We went to the tree, the secret meeting place, the monument for Zegota, the street named after her, the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, and the apartment she lived at during the war, and much, much more.
Thanks to Antony Lishak, we visited the Warsaw Zoo and the villa at the zoo. We had a special, private tour. Irena stayed at the zoo for a very short time after her escape from Pawiak.
Members of the group also toured Auschwitz-Birkenau and Treblinka.
We had a marvelous dinner, with guests including: child survivor, Elzbieta Ficowska, Rabbi of Poland Michael Schudrich, leaders of Irena Sendler Schools in Poland, descendants of child survivors, translators for Irena and the head of the Irena Sendler Award for teachers.
A huge thanks goes out to Marzanna Pogorzelska and Margaret Marczewski, both of who were our tour guides. Margaret is a descendant of a child survivor and Marzanna is the head of Lowell Milken Center Europe and a former national Irena Sendler Award winner. She was also a Lowell Milken Center Fellow. Liz Cambers Hutton, a member of the original Life in a Jar girls, went on the trip also.
We also had downtime in Warsaw and Krackow, both beautiful cities.
2018 is Irena Sendler Year in Poland, as proclaimed by the Parliament.

News of the Week – 6/6/17

Poland 2017

We are re-tracing the steps of Irena Sendler and will share with you our travels.
 
Tuesday, July 11 is the beginning of a powerful trip to Warsaw. The group of 30 people will be lead by Life in a Jar teacher and director Norm Conard. Life in a Jar student founder Liz Cambers Hutton and current Life in a Jar cast member Addi Brown will also be joining the group. This will be a once in a lifetime trip to visit the Irena Sendler sites and experience Warsaw in a special way.

News of the Week – 5/11/17

May 12th is a day of remembrance: Irena Sendler passed away on May 12, 2008.  Even though nine years have gone by since her death, her legacy is growing stronger and stronger. This story shares the power of one person to change the world. It is more important than ever before.  Holocaust education and the need to “never again” allow this kind of tragedy to happen is so significant.

Irena’s light continues shining in the darkness. We remember her wonderful, caring personality and her concern for people in this world. She was a giant of our time.

Also, Happy Birthday to Megan Felt, one of the founders of Life in a Jar, on May 12th.

ANNOUNCEMENT

BE WATCHING FOR NEW PERFORMANCES IN 2023