Play to share story of heroine of Holocaust
Irena Sendler
Life in a Jar, the story of the life of Irena Sendler, a Polish Catholic social worker who assisted in hiding more than 2,000 Jewish children who lived in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II, will be presented Friday and Saturday, March 27 and 28, at Skidmore College.
Performances will take place in Filene Recital Hall at 3 p.m. Friday, March 27, and at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 28. Seating is limited to 210 at the Filene Recital Hall. Tickets are available by calling Lollie Abramson at 518-580-5679 or emailing her. Space will be held until 10 minutes before show time.
Although Irena Sendler had been recognized by Yad Vashem in 1965, most people had not heard of her. In 1999, three high school students in rural Kansas took on the task of researching her life as a National History Day Project. Motivated by their teacher and their classroom motto "He who changes one person, changes the world entire," the students went wrote a performance portraying her life. They titled their production Life in a Jar, a reference to the jars which contained the true identities of the Jewish children. The jars were buried in hopes that they could be reunited with family after the war. Much of the information about Sendler and the others who helped to bring the children to safety was hidden from the public record during the Communist rule following WWII. In researching first-hand accounts, the students learned that Sendler was still alive and in 2001 they visited with her in Warsaw. They have also returned to Europe to meet some of the children who had been saved and to present "Life in a Jar" in Poland. Sendler died in 2008.
In the years since writing the play, the students have performed hundreds of times throughout North America and Europe. While the play dramatizes Jewish life in the Warsaw Ghetto during the war; it also relays the heroic story of those who put their lives and that of their families at grave risk to save others by forging documents and hiding and placing Jewish children in convents and Polish homes
The development of the play led to the publication of a book, Life in a Jar, by Jack Mayer; a DVD with classroom study guide; a collection of Irena's letters, which have been used by universities, historical societies, and foundations for the righteous; the nomination of Irena Sendler for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007; and the development of the Irena Sendler/Life in a Jar foundation.
“The play is more than just a holocaust story. It is also the tale of these young students from Kansas, growing up in a small town which had no Jewish students in the school district, on their journey to promote the ideals of respect and understanding for all people and the importance that one person can have to make the world a better place, personifying the Jewish theme of Tikkun Olam” says Lollie Abramson, coordinator of Jewish Student Life and Interfaith Programming at Skidmore College.
The Skidmore presentation is funded with support from the College’s Jacob Perlow series and the Jewish Federation of Northeast New York. Other sponsors are Skidmore’s Office for Jewish Student Life, Honors Forum, Office of the Dean of Special Programs and Hillel, and Congregation Shaara T’fille and Temple Sinai through the Saratoga Jewish Community Arts Series.
The play is moderated by Norman Conard, the teacher who gave the initial classroom assignment, and a cast of five students from the Irena Sendler Project. Conard and the students will be available for a question and answer session after the performance. Jack Mayer, the author of the book Life in a Jar will attend performances and participate in the question and answer session as well. The two-hour program will be followed by a dessert reception.
There is no charge for the program; however, there will be a Jar for donations. All proceeds will go to Life in a Jar Foundation to further Holocaust education and the Children of the Holocaust Association in Poland. Donations can also be made to: www.irenasendler.org , or by check to: Life in a Jar Foundation, 4 South Main, Fort Scott, KS 66701.