VISIT THE MUSEUM

Museum Hours
Tuesday - Thursday
10:30a - 4:00p

Friday
10:30a - 3:00p

Sunday
1:00 - 4:00p

Admission
Adults: $6
Students|Seniors: $4
Members: Free

Children under 12 accompanied by a parent
or guardian: Free



RESEARCH LIBRARY and ARCHIVE

Open by appointment

Researchers are welcome to use the library. Please schedule an appointment prior to your visit by calling 503.226.3600 Ext 102 or curator@ojm.org

Incorporating the archives of the Jewish Historical Society of Oregon

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Institutional Member, Council of American Jewish Museums

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Constituent Agency of the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland


Letters to Sala:
A Young Woman's Life in Nazi Labor Camps

 

March 21 - June 6, 2010


Letters to Sala: A Young Woman’s Life in Nazi Labor Camps is a treasure trove of documents saved by one young woman during her five-year ordeal of internment. The exhibition, a graphic narrative through facsimiles, provides a remarkable first-hand view of the human drama that unfolded among Jews forced to work as slave laborers during the war. Letters to Sala, curated by Jill Vexler, and on loan from the New York Public Library and the French Children of the Holocaust Foundation, will be on display at OJM starting March 21, 2010.

The exhibition presents approximately 100 postcards, letters, photographs, documents, and other artifacts drawn primarily from the Sala Garncarz Collection of the New York Public Library's Dorot Jewish Division. The total archive, which encompasses more than 300 items that Sala Garncarz collected and saved at great personal risk during her five years interned in Nazi labor camps, was donated to the Library in 2005 by Sala Garncarz Kirschner and her family.  Sala’s daughter, Ann Kirschner, has written "Sala's Gift", the story of her mother's survival and of her own quest to understand the remarkable stories and people behind these rare letters. "Sala's Gift" has been translated into six languages and is the basis of a future documentary film by Murray Nossel and play by Arlene Hutton.

Co-sponsored by the Oregon Holocaust Resource Center, the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, the Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies at Portland State University and the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon.

 

 

 

Letters to Sala
Programs and Events

Opening Reception
Sunday, March 21
1:00 – 4:00pm

Sunday, April 11, 11:30am
The Oregon Jewish Museum will host a talk featuring Ann Kirschner, accompanied by Jill Vexler, Curator of Letters to Sala.  Dr. Kirschner’s talk,  Letters to Sala: My Mother’s Gift of History and of Life is the first event in the community-wide observance of Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day

Thursday, April 15, 7:00pm
Nowhere in Africa a 2002 Academy Award film based on a Stefanie Zweig novel that tells the story of a Jewish family that emigrates to Kenya during World War II.  Advance reservations while 50 seats last. Reserve online at www.ojm.org

Thursday, April 29, 7:30pm
Representatives from the Oregon Trail Chapter of the American Red Cross will discuss the organization’s efforts to trace and reunite family members separated due to natural disasters and armed conflicts, including those separated during the Holocaust and World War II.

Wednesday, May 26, 7:30pm
Hidden Holocausts: Jews Who Kept their Secrets--for Life Roger Porter, Professor of English at Reed College will talk about history, memory and autobiography.

All programs take place at the Oregon Jewish Museum