Sunday, January 21 | 2pm

Gold Lead Sponsor: Jewish Federation of Greater Portland
Community Partner: Holocaust Center for Humanity
The film begins in 1939 Warsaw when the Nazis invade Poland and nurse Irena Gut is displaced and forced to work in support of the German war effort, eventually assigned to run the home of a Nazi commandant. Instead of following the path of least resistance and gambling on her status and ethnicity to keep her safe, Gut risks everything to save a dozen Jewish refugees from persecution and murder, sheltering them under her boss’s nose. Irena’s Vow is 2 hours in length and will be followed by a talk back.

Talk Back Speakers

Jeannie Smith speaks on behalf of her mother, Irene Gut Opdyke, a Polish rescuer who was named Righteous Among the Nations by the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem for saving the lives of 12 Jewish people during the Holocaust. Irene was born in Poland in 1922 and worked as a housekeeper for a high-ranking German official during the war. She made the courageous choice to hide several Jewish people at great risk to herself and her family. Irene came to the U.S. via Ellis Island in 1949, and she married in 1956. Irene later wrote a memoir in 1992, which has also been turned into a nationally acclaimed Broadway play and now the film Irena’s Vow. Jeannie, a recipient of the Civil Rights award in 2015 from the Anti-Defamation League, travels throughout the U.S., Canada, and the UK sharing her mother’s story and a message of hope and love.

Mariah Berlanga-Shevchuk is the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education’s Head of Public Engagement.

Thank you to our sponsors: Rosalind Babener, Cedar Sinai Park, Congregation Beth Israel, Congregation Shir Tikvah, Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, Elizabeth Menashe, Mittleman Jewish Community Center, Multnomah County Cultural Coalition / Oregon Cultural Trust, Oregon Israel Fund*, Oregon Jewish Community Foundation, Oregon Public Broadcasting, Portland Jewish Academy, Harold and Arlene Schnitzer Family Fund of OJCF / Jordan Schnitzer*, Leonard & Lois Schnitzer Charitable Supporting Foundation*, Schwartz Charitable Foundation, Diane Solomon, Travel Portland, and Carolyn and Gary Weinstein*.

*Support provided via a philanthropic fund of OJCF

Tickets

Full festival passes are no longer available.