Sunday, December 14 at 11:00 am
Holocaust Memorial Center
Free for members; $5 for guests

Film provided by The National Center for Jewish Film, www.jewishfilm.org.

USA, 2009, 73 minutes, Color, English & Hebrew with English subtitles
Directed by Bob Richman
Produced by Zeva Oelbaum

About the Film

“I am experiencing that feeling of zest which goes with exploration. I am in the thick of an historic moment. I am in an era in the making…” – First lines of Ruth Gruber’s initial dispatch from the Soviet Arctic, 1935

Born in Brooklyn in 1911, Ruth Gruber became the youngest Ph.D. in the world before going on to become an international foreign correspondent and photojournalist at age 24. She emerged as the eyes and conscience of the world. With her love of adventure, fearlessness and powerful intellect, Ruth defied tradition in an extraordinary career that spanned more than seven decades.

The first journalist to enter the Soviet Arctic in 1935, Ruth also traveled to Alaska as a member of the Roosevelt administration in 1942, escorted Holocaust refugees to America in 1944, covered the Nuremberg trials in 1946 and documented the Haganah ship Exodus in 1947. Her relationships with world leaders including Eleanor Roosevelt, President Harry Truman, and David Ben Gurion gave her unique access and insight into the modern history of the Jewish people.

Through her own words and images, the film follows Ruth Gruber’s incredible journey as a student, a reporter, an activist leader and a prolific author. The film captures the drama of her life as she lent her camera lens – and her heart – to refugees of war. Ruth continues to travel all over the world re-connecting with many of the people who shared historic moments with her in Europe, in Israel, in the Arctic Tundra, in DP camps and refugee centers overseas and in the United States.

Courtesy of The National Center for Jewish Film

Monday, November 10, 2014 at 6pm
Berman Center for the Performing Arts
West Bloomfield JCC
$12; call the Berman box office at (248) 661-1900 to purchase

Once again, the Jewish Genealogical Society of Michigan is proud to be a sponsor of the JCC’s Annual Jewish Book Fair. This year we are pleased to announce we are co-sponsoring Martin Goldsmith, author of Alex’s Wake: The Voyage of the St. Louis and a Grandson’s Journey to Redemption.

A tale of two journeys…

On May 13, 1939, the luxury liner SS St. Louis sailed away from Hamburg, Germany, bound for Havana, Cuba. On board were more than 900 Jewish refugees fleeing persecution in Nazi Germany. But an indifferent world conspired against them. After being denied landing rights in Havana, the refugees were turned away by the United States and Canada and forced to sail back to Europe, where the gathering storm of the Holocaust awaited them.

Two of those refugees were Alex Goldschmidt, a sixty-year-old veteran of World War I, and his seventeen-year-old son Klaus Helmut Goldschmidt. After their trans-Atlantic voyage, they landed in France. They would spend the next three years in one French camp after another before being shipped to Auschwitz in 1942.

Sixty-nine years later, Martin Goldsmith, Alex’s grandson and Helmut’s nephew, retraced their sad journey. Beginning in lower Saxony where Alex was born, Martin spent six weeks on the road and covered more than 5,700 miles, setting foot on the earth Alex and Helmut trod during their final days. Alex’s Wake is Martin’s eyewitness report.

The book offers a compelling history of the voyage of the St. Louis, including testimony from those on board, a tale of espionage, and the brave resolve of Captain Gustav Schroeder. It also offers a harrowing chronicle of the vast network of camps in France, many of which were organized by the French themselves with little or no encouragement from the Germans.

But Alex’s Wake is also a contemporary travelogue and a heartfelt memoir of a second-generation American Jew trying to make sense of his heritage and to escape the burden of guilt and fear he long thought was his sole inheritance. Setting forth with the irrational, impossible desire to save two members of his family who were murdered ten years before he was born, Goldsmith concludes his journey by coming home to a moving symbol of remembrance at one of the scenes of the crime.

(Description taken from Amazon.com)

Sunday, October 19, 2014 at 11:00 AM
Holocaust Memorial Center

Barbara Moretsky, President of StandWithUs-Michigan, will introduce our speakers, Celia Romm Livermore and Sylvie Salei and the project that began following the passage of a Law by the Knesset that will annually designate November 30 for commemoration of the flight of Jews from Arab lands, Iran and North Africa.

Sunday, September 14, 2014 at 11:00 AM
Holocaust Memorial Center

Presented by Priceless Photo Preservation of Ann Arbor, this is an interactive workshop that helps participants figure out the often confusing world of preserving their family photos, movies and slides. Among other things, you’ll learn what digital formats to avoid, how commonly used scrapbooking items actually put your items in danger and how to digitize your mementos properly. Participants are encourage to bring mementos for personal evaluations and consultations.

Rob Hoffman is a former professional journalist for the Ann Arbor News who obtained his master’s from the University of Michigan’s School of Information in 2011. He has worked at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, where he organized the papers of the hall’s primary voting committees, and at the University of Michigan’s Bentley Historical Library, where he put together an Ann Arbor subject guide. In addition, his scholarly paper on the success of the Library of Congress’ Flickr photo stream has been presented at SAA (Society of American Archivists) conferences nationwide.

Hanna Primeau is a University of Michigan School of Information graduate who received her Masters with a focus on Preservation of Information as well as Archives and Records Management. Her B.A. is in Cultural Anthropology giving her a rounded feel of objects and their cultural worth, something that she brings with her to every job. She has worked in the University of Michigan’s Map Library, New York’s Paley Center for Media, the University of Michigan’s Preservation and Conservation lab repairing and rehousing atlases and maps, and the Smithsonian Institution’s Archive helping to safely store and record the Pullman Train-car glass plate negative collection.

Sunday, June 8, 2014 at 11:00 AM
Adat Shalom Synagogue – Glass Room
29901 Middlebelt Road in Farmington Hills
Election, Brunch and Lecture – $35 per person

“My Mother’s Voice” with Judy Sima

Take a journey into the past with Judy Sima as she tells stories of her mother, Elsa Mosbach, including the compelling account of her encounter with the Gestapo on Kristallnacht, her escape from Germany during World War II and adjustment to her new life in America.

Following the storytelling, Judy describes her research to chronicle her mother’s journey. In the second part of the program, participants will be encouraged to tell stories about their own parents using a series of “Conversation Starters.” We will break up into smaller, more intimate circles where you can feel free to reminisce. After the event, take the “Conversation Starters” home to share your stories with loved ones. There are guaranteed to be smiles, laughter and possibly a few tears. Everyone leaves with a warm feeling in their hearts having brought memories back to life and knowing that others have enjoyed them, too.

Proposed Slate

President: Adina Lipsitz
VP, Programming: Position Open
VP, Membership: Richard Jaeger
VP, Publicity: David Goldis
Recording Secretary: Position Open
Corresponding Secretary: Diane Freilich
Treasurer: Irwin S. Alpern

Would you like to join the board?
We are also looking for an Editor for our award-winning publication, Generations.
Please contact John Kovacs at elections@jgsmi.org by June 1, 2014.

Judy Sima is an award winning storyteller, author, and educator. She has been featured at conferences and festivals, schools and libraries throughout Michigan and across the country. A retired middle school librarian, Judy has been telling stories since 1983. Considered to be the “Pied Piper of Storytelling in Metro Detroit,” Judy has introduced many young people and adults to the art of storytelling. She is the recipient of the Distinguished National Service Award from the National Storytelling Network and the current president of the Detroit Story League.

We regret to inform you that our event today Sunday, May 4th, has been cancelled. We hope to reschedule in the future.

thank you,

Adina Lipsitz
President

May 4, 2014 at 1:30 PM – confirmed time
Farmington Community Library
32737 W. 12 Mile Rd.
Farmington Hills, MI 48334 (map)
Help Session half hour before (library opens at 1:00 PM)

Presented by Priceless Photo Preservation of Ann Arbor, this is an interactive workshop that helps participants figure out the often confusing world of preserving their family photos, movies and slides. Among other things, you’ll learn what digital formats to avoid, how commonly used scrapbooking items actually put your items in danger and how to digitize your mementos properly. Participants are encourage to bring mementos for personal evaluations and consultations.

Rob Hoffman is a former professional journalist for the Ann Arbor News who obtained his master’s from the University of Michigan’s School of Information in 2011. He has worked at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, where he organized the papers of the hall’s primary voting committees, and at the University of Michigan’s Bentley Historical Library, where he put together an Ann Arbor subject guide. In addition, his scholarly paper on the success of the Library of Congress’ Flickr photo stream has been presented at SAA (Society of American Archivists) conferences nationwide.

Hanna Primeau is a University of Michigan School of Information graduate who received her Masters with a focus on Preservation of Information as well as Archives and Records Management. Her B.A. is in Cultural Anthropology giving her a rounded feel of objects and their cultural worth, something that she brings with her to every job. She has worked in the University of Michigan’s Map Library, New York’s Paley Center for Media, the University of Michigan’s Preservation and Conservation lab repairing and rehousing atlases and maps, and the Smithsonian Institution’s Archive helping to safely store and record the Pullman Train-car glass plate negative collection.

Monday, April 28, 2014
5:00 PM
Berman Center for the Performing Arts

Please join us as we sponsor The Upside Down Book at the 16th Annual Lenore Marwil Jewish Film Festival!

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayV5ByvEE_o

USA, 2013, 51 minutes, English

Imagine a book so toxic that rigorous hand-washing is required after coming into contact with it. The book in question is a 1938 copy of Mein Kampf, which Karen and Fred Mandell, parents of filmmaker Hinda Mandell, have for decades kept displayed upside down on their bookshelves.

Fred’s uncle—a Jewish-American soldier—brought the book home from Germany at the end of World War II. With nothing but a bare-bones inscription on the inside cover, filmmaker Hinda Mandell investigates the power of family lore as she tracks down the original owners of the Mein Kampf.

The Upside Down Book will be preceded by the short film, Reporting on The Times: The New York Times and the Holocaust:

httpvh://vimeo.com/34566570

USA, 2013, 18 minutes, English

Inspired by Laurel Leff’s award-winning book Buried by The Times. The New York Times was a Jewish-owned newspaper, but it gave little attention to the Nazi persecution of Jews in the 1930s and ‘40s and ultimately, ownership at The Times decided to place articles about the Holocaust only on its back pages.

Through interviews with historians and The New York Times journalists, Reporting on the Times encourages audiences to carefully consider the role of journalism, anti-Semitism and America’s place as the “Great Liberator.”

April 6, 2014 at 11:00
Help Session 10:30 AM
Holocaust Memorial Center

Do you have a genealogical success story? We are looking for volunteers who would like to recount their successes and share their research experiences and tips. The event would take place in March 2014, likely on a Sunday.

Contact Alexandra Goldberg (programs@jgsmi.org) if interested.

Sunday, March 2, 2014 at 2:00 PM
Help Session 1:30 PM
Holocaust Memorial Center

This is a memoir of a very interesting life. The author is a feisty, larger-than-life lady, well-known in Jerusalem and also in various American cities and towns, especially Chicago, where she was a Rebbetzin, supporting her equally well-known husband, Rabbi Jay Karzen.

Her life began in New York on May 9th, 1938. Her parents Isidore Ray and Minnie Gartner Ray were both born and married in Poland, and her memoir begins in a Polish town called Staszow where the Raja family (now Ray) were lumber and leather merchants. There is a very detailed family tree as we are introduced to her many forebears, and throughout the book we meet many more relatives as her memoir covers almost 70 years. The title Cherry on the Top stems from her belief that all of life’s activities flow from faith in the Almighty. Comparing life to an ice-cream sundae, she maintains that it rises higher and higher with acts of goodness and charity. The cherry on top represents the achievement of becoming a “mentsch” (an honorable person).

Cherry on the Top was written as a memoir and an ethical will for their children and descendants. If you like Jewish Geography, you will come across many familiar names. The book is not – nor does it purport to be – a great work of literature. But if you would enjoy sitting down for a few hours with an accomplished, entertaining lady and sharing her life experiences, this memoir will give you a lot of pleasure.

Ruby served for almost a decade as President of the Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel (AACI). An inspirational speaker, she is a constant source of support for the Anglo community in Israel, always ready to serve. She is an avid writer; many of her articles, spanning topics on Israel and Interior Design, have been published in magazines and newspapers. She and her husband, Rabbi Jay Karzen, have lived in Jerusalem since their Aliyah in 1985. All of their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren are passionate religious Zionists and live in Israel.

Sunday, February 9, 2014
Holocaust Memorial Center
10:30 AM – Help Session
11:00 AM – Speaker

Genealogist Diane Oslund will show examples of mistakes found in vital records, obituaries, census records etc., and discuss ways to try verifying the information.