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President Benjamin Fisher started the meeting at12:30 p.m. He mentioned that the theme for this year is “Unite for Good”. President Benjamin pointed out with pride that the Rotary Club of Westwood Village has been recognized for “Project of the Year – the Safe Sifter Project” to assist victims of the wildfires. The Club provided funding for the project while President Benjamin, PP Chris Gaynor, and Dave Stover participated in handing out the kits to wildfire victims.
Bill Roen led the Pledge of Allegiance. PP Ed Gauld’s selection for the day was The Marines’ Hymn.
For the thought of the day, PP Gordon Fell recounted events which occurred on August 14.
- 36 years ago, President P.W. Botha resigned as President of South Africa. He was a proponent of apartheid, but his successor F.W. de Klerk collaborated with Nelson Mandela to end apartheid.
- 60 years ago, John, Paul, George, and Ringo were introduced to a nation-wide audience when the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan show.
- 80 years ago, President Harry Truman announced that the empire of Japan had surrendered, marking the end of World War II. (The formal papers were signed on September 2 on the battleship Missouri.)
- 90 years ago, Social Security became law and has since become one of the most popular government programs.
PP Mark Rogo added a few items from “This week in History”:
- 8/11/1965 – The Watts riots began in Los Angeles.
- 8/12/1898 -- Documents were signed to end the Spanish-American War.
- 8/16/1896 – The Klondike Gold Rush (in Canada) began.
- 8/17/1978 – The “Double Eagle” was the first balloon to cross the Atlantic.
There were a few guests at today’s meeting. PP Mark Rogo once again introduced David Kames (PP Mark’s shadow) from Germany who has been a welcome visitor to our club. PP Mark also introduced Gary Ruben who has had an impressive career in labor relations and general management. He has also been a professor at UCLA. It sounds as though he could be a possible future speaker. Val Espinoza introduced Rachel Stepanoff who recently moved to California from Florida and works at the Upside-Down café in Westwood.
PP Tom Barron is now able attend meetings after his knee surgery. He has transitioned from a walker to the two-toned cane he made in his very own woodworking shop (a.k.a. their second garage).
PPx2 Steve Day discussed this year’s foundation event to be held on November 1 on the USS Iowa in San Pedro. The club has reserved two tables. At this time nine seats are still available. (The cost per seat is $225). This year the organizers are requesting donations of experiences and certificates for the auction instead of actual items. “Opportunity” tickets are being sold through October 17. This year the tickets are available in paper form and cannot be purchased online. The cost is $10 per ticket or 12 tickets for $100. Three prizes will be awarded to the winning tickets: 1st = $3,000, 2nd = $1,500, and 3rd = $500.
Sam Botbol introduced today’s speaker, Jake Rosen, who is an artist in residence at the Upside-Down Café in Westwood Village. Jake Rosen was born in France where his parents met after surviving the Holocaust. However, he was raised in St. Louis, Missouri after his parents immigrated to the United States. He earned a B.A. at Washington University in St. Louis.
His topic was “Poet of the Ghetto Lodz” about his mother who survived the Holocaust in Poland. Lodz was the second largest city in Poland, and Jews comprised one-third of the population before World War II. After the Nazis invaded Poland in September 1939, the city was renamed Litzmannstadt, and the Jews were forced to live in a ghetto. Jake Rosen read a poem in translation which his mother, Bronia Rosen, had written. Every line was punctuated with the Yiddish word “oy”, an exclamation which can express a variety of emotions including sadness and despair. Conditions were harsh in the ghetto, and his grandparents died from starvation. People in the ghetto were forced to work and produce items for the Nazis.
In 1944 his mother was transported to Auschwitz, the infamous death and labor camp with its motto of “Arbeit Macht Frei” (“Work Makes you Free”). His mother was assigned to work in the camp and was later transferred to camps Bad Kudova / Graben. She was part of the “death march” toward the end of the war through Germany to Bergen-Belsen. The conditions in Bergen-Belsen were horrible, and diseases such as typhoid and typhus were rampant. His mother contracted typhoid but managed to recover although her sister succumbed to the disease. His mother was the only one from her family to survive the Holocaust. After the war ended his mother lived in Sweden, France, and Israel before settling in the United States.
Jake Rosen’s father was born in Piotrikow in Poland. He fled east to the Soviet Union where he was incarcerated in a prisoner of war camp in Siberia. However, due to heavy losses and the need for additional soldiers, his father was conscripted into the Red Army.
Jake Rosen is a multidisciplinary visual artist, and he displayed three pieces of his artwork which depict the lives of both his parents. Some of the images are based on actual photographs. His artwork is displayed at the Upside-Down Café.
This was a moving presentation. It has now been 80 years since the concentration camps in Europe were liberated. Jack Rosen’s mother participated in Steven Spielberg’s Shoah project which preserves on film the experiences of survivors. The people who can currently recount the events were children at the time. Descendents of survivors also relate the experiences of their family. Jake Rosen’s moving presentation helps us “never forget” the events of that horrific period.
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