News & Updates
Keep up with the project...ANNOUNCEMENT:
BE WATCHING FOR NEW PERFORMANCES IN 2021News of the Week – 10/20/15
News of the Week – 9/21/15
Wednesday, September 23rd, will be the 16th anniversary since the beginning of the Life in a Jar project. Megan, Liz and Sabrina would start a project which would have impact around the world and bring to life the story of Irena Sendler. Over 45 young people have been involved in the project. The legacy of Irena and the project continues to grow (see below).
Thousands of descendants of Irena’s rescued children.
News of the Week – 8/15/15
News of the Week – 6/2/15
Dear Norm,
Thanks for the beautiful email to remind us that Irena passed away 7 years ago today. I will go to St. Patrick’s Cathedral this afternoon and light as many candles as I can in her memory. I thank you and Jack and Megan and the other Kansas girls for introducing me to Irena Sendler and enriching my life by knowing her story.Patti Kenner
Reading your e-mail had me thinking about God’s providence again.
News of the Week – 5/12/15
News of the Week – 4/17/15
Dear Mr. Conard,
Your recent visit to Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York was a gift to those of us present to experience and learn about Irena Sendler and the Life in a Jar project. Amazed to read Jack Mayer’s book and view the DVD of her story. What a privilege to hear both of you share the history, play and watch the young actors. We thank you and are inspired to make a difference in our area.
Blessings, Neal and Betsy Boudette- Halfmoon, New York
News of the Week – 4/7/15
This celebration of Irena Sendler’s life and work is the second event in a series of two presented by Elms College; Women’s Philanthropy, a division of the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts; the Kosciuszko Foundation, New England Chapter; the Polish Center of Discovery and Learning; and a generous grant from the Jewish Endowment Foundation of Western Massachusetts’ Harold Grinspoon & Diane Troderman Hatikvah Holocaust Education Fund.
News of the Week – 2/17/2015
Irena Sendler would have been 105 this Sunday, February 15th. We remember her beautiful and courageous heart.
What a wonderful event in London at Chabad Belgravia. Rabbi Mendel did a beautiful job of arranging the event. We shared the story of Irena Sendler and much more. A man who had been part of the Kindertransport was in the audience. Also, Nadine Wojakovski, who wrote, “Two Prayers at Bedtime,” a powerful book of her family and the Holocaust was in attendance. Many ideas were formulated about more collaboration with Holocaust education.
This note comes from Rabbi Mendel: “I wanted to thank you very much on behalf of our community for making the trip to London to share the incredible story of Irena Sendler, and that of your inspiring class project and wonderful students! You really touched the heartstrings of those who attended your lecture, and I believe the impact will continue to reverberate into the future! Your humility, altruism, and passion are truly refreshing and inspiring.
I look forward to being in touch and exploring ways in which we can work together.”
Elizabeth (Liz) Cambers Hutton to present:
Lebanon, Missouri, High School Teacher to Participate in Discussion
Elizabeth (Liz) Hutton is now a teacher at Lebanon High School. She grew up in rural Kansas, never dreaming that a school project would take her to Poland, where she would meet one of the great heroines of World War II.
Lily Isaacs is one of the most celebrated gospel music singers in America, having won most of the major awards, including gospel’s highest honor, the Dove. She was born a Polish Jew, the daughter of two Holocaust survivors.
Liz and Lily will be together at Hillcrest Baptist Church, 299 Hoover Avenue in Lebanon, at 4 p.m., Friday, March 13, where they will tell their stories. All Lebanon school system teachers and staff are invited to attend.
For Lily, it’s a deeply personal experience, her own parents’ imprisonment during the war for no reason other than their nationality and faith, and their struggles to survive the war, including a brush with the gas chamber. Following the war they married and later brought two-year-old Lily to America.
For Liz, it’s her perseverance to find the truth, even though it occurred across an ocean and in another generation, that uncovered the terrible living conditions of those imprisoned and the woman who rescued an estimated 2,500 babies and children from almost certain death, twice the number saved by Oskar Schindler, as chronicled in the award-winning movie Schindler’s List. The woman’s name was Irena Sendler and her accomplishments were mostly unknown until Liz and three classmates wrote and performed a play that would shine a light on her accomplishments and win her the world’s recognition and admiration, including a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. The girls received their share of attention as well, appearing on CNN and The Today Show and being featured by many publications such as Ladies Home Journal.
The program is free and open to the public. It is being presented by the Lebanon Host Lions Club in association with a concert by the Isaacs at 7 p.m. at the Cowan Civic Center. Tickets for the concert are on sale at Morgan Music in Lebanon or by calling 417-532-7402.
News of the Week – 3/4/2014
Ivan Obert, social studies teacher at Joplin South Middle School in Joplin, MO, did a beautiful job in preparing our Life in a Jar venue. On a cold and icy night, we had a large and enthusiastic crowd for the Life in a Jar performance. We salute Ivan and all of those who assisted him.
From Montreal comes this note: “Your project is awesome, may you be granted the health and strength to continue bringing this project to many.”
The Irena Sendler website is starting its 11th year. The site has just passed 46 million hits!!
The next Life in a Jar performance will be in Salem, Oregon on the second weekend in April. See the website calendar for details. Following Oregon will be a weekend performance in Rockville, MD.
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to all of our Life in a Jar friends and family.
We are in our 15th year of Life in a Jar and continue to be committed to making Irena Sendler’s story, the story of survivors, and other rescuers known to the world. Reme Lichtman a child survivor wrote the following about Renata Zajdman, “Our dear friend Renata Zajdman passed away on November 27, 2013. She was a great lady, “larger than life”, a Warsaw Ghetto survivor, a very close friend of Irena Sendlerowa, or Sendler, for many years before Irena became well known. Renata travelled frequently with the High School theatre group from Kansas who performed the play about Irena called “Life in a Jar.” Renata was also an intellectual, very well read, full of information, always wanting to share what she knew.”
Disappearing Traces: Holocaust Testimonials, Ethics, and Aesthetics written by Dorota Glowacka is a powerful book that examines the tensions between the ethical and aesthetic imperatives in literary, artistic, and philosophical works about the Holocaust, in a search for new ways to understand the traumatic past and its impact.