Handicap Amitié Culture Program for January-February 2014

This document is an invitation from The President and Mrs. Obama requesting the pleasure of the recipient's company at a Hanukkah Reception. The event is scheduled to be held at The White House on Thursday, December 13, 2012, at five-thirty o'clock, with entry via the Southeast Entrance. The invitation features the Seal of the President of the United States and a menorah graphic.

This document is a proposal and application for funds for a project to compile an anthology of literary works and personal testimonies from Holocaust survivors and victims. The author states that these valuable materials, including children's writings, have been found in the archives of "Yad Vashem", "The Katzenelson Museum", and "Moreshet", remaining largely unpublished for thirty years. The proposal emphasizes the critical importance of publishing these works in multiple languages to preserve the culture and memory of the Jewish people who suffered during the Holocaust. The document highlights the raw and powerful nature of these writings, which recount harrowing experiences of survival in camps, ghettos, and hideouts. It provides examples, such as an anonymous author's story written with a toenail, Oscar Rosenfeld's unpublished memoir from the Lodz Ghetto, and S. Dratwa's poem "A Jewish Grave". The project is planned for twelve months, with the first six dedicated to selecting and shaping the texts, and the latter six to translation and editing. A detailed budget totaling $15,000 is provided, covering salaries for a chief researcher, assistant, and typist, as well as living accommodations, travel, translation fees, xerox, editing, and miscellaneous expenses. The author underscores the urgency of the project, echoing Elie Wiesel's view that time is crucial for collecting these authentic testimonies from a dwindling survivor population.

This document is an invitation from the Yiddish Book Center for a private reception and talk featuring Aaron Lansky, its Founder and President. The event is scheduled for Monday, June 15, 2015, at The Jewish Museum in New York, NY. The program includes a private tour, remarks by Aaron Lansky, and a reception with hors d'oeuvres and wine. Guests are invited to RSVP by May 29, 2015, by contacting Laura Soforenko. The invitation also mentions a guided tour of The Jewish Museum's exhibition "Repetition and Difference."

Henry (formerly Hans Arnold) Froehlich was born in August 7, 1922 in Rottweil, Germany. In 1935, the Nazi boycott forced his father to close his shoe store, Henry had to leave school, and the family moved to Stuttgart. Henry describes how the family’s life changed. He talks about Kristallnacht, his efforts to warn Jews to flee and how he avoided arrest. His father was arrested, sent to Dachau, and was killed there one month later. The family had to pay 500 Marks to claim his body. Henry worked for the Oberrat (the Jewish community office in Stuttgart that processed immigration) for two years. He describes his activities and contacts with the American Consulate, Gestapo and S.D. (Sicherheitsdienst German Security Service). In 1940, Henry, his younger brother and their mother emigrated separately to the United States. An older brother, crippled since birth, had been placed in a Catholic Home for crippled children and there is some evidence he was killed in a Nazi euthanasia program. In the United States, Henry worked in a CCC program in Berlin, New Hampshire until he was suspected of being a German spy. He was reunited with his family in Philadelphia, where he married, had two children, and became a successful businessman.

This letter, dated July 8, 1997, is from Elie Wiesel, Honorary Chairman of the Zamir Choral Foundation, to "Mati." Wiesel expresses his regret for not being able to attend Mati's July 16 concert, praising it as inspiring. He commends Mati for establishing a national choral movement that unites people through singing and learning about Jewish liturgy and history, while upholding high musical standards. Wiesel acknowledges the significant role of Mati's work with the North American Jewish Choral Festival and the National Jewish Chorale in enhancing the community's appreciation for Jewish culture and memory through performances, lectures, and recordings. He also praises Mati for founding Hazamir, a national Jewish high school choir that engages unaffiliated youth through Jewish music. The letter concludes with an expression of gratitude and wishes for continued success.