JFR launches weekly series focusing on efforts of 'Righteous Gentiles'

The episodes wil premiere during the weekly watch party, which occurs every Monday at 8 pm EST starting July 27, running through August 24.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Portuguese diplomat Aristides de Sousa Mendes. (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Portuguese diplomat Aristides de Sousa Mendes.
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous (JFR) released an online series that honors the "Righteous Gentiles" who saved Jews from the Nazi regime during the Holocaust.
The series will feature weekly episodes on its Facebook page in an effort to educate JFR followers of the "dangers of antisemitism" and "hate speech" towards religious or ethnic minorities, considering Facebook has "recently become a hotbed of such negative content."
The episodes will premiere during the weekly watch party, which occurs every Monday at 8 pm EST starting July 27, running through August 24.
"The films focus on the heroism of rescuers Melpomeni Gianopoulou (Greece), airing July 27; Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds (Knoxville, TN), airing August 3; Krystyna Jakubowska (Poland), airing August 10; and Helena Weglowska (Poland), airing August 17. The page will also screen the documentary celebrating the life of Roman Kent, the Holocaust survivor and president of the JFR on August 24," JFR said in a press statement.
In order to create the documentaries, JFR's production team traveled throughout Europe, Israel and North America to track down and meet the rescued and the rescuers, as well as their families, in order to help share "the stories of heroism in an effort to educate so that the atrocities of the Holocaust are never repeated."
The films have previously been made available to classrooms and film festivals, but this will be their premiere to the general public.
“Social media platforms, such as Facebook, have become a hotbed for antisemitic rants, so we believe what better place to bring education and powerful stories of men and women from all walks of life who rose above hate –and at great peril to themselves and their families—to save Jews,” said JFR Executive Vice President Stanlee Stahl.
Aside from their documentation work, the JFR provides monthly assistance to more than 200 aged Righteous Gentiles, spread across 18 different countries. Since its founding, the JFR has donated of $40 million to these aged heroes, "helping to repay a debt of gratitude on behalf of the Jewish people to these noble men and women."


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