Help save Schindler’s Ark

Help save Schindler’s Ark

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Schindler’s Ark…

…is where 1200 Jews were saved from certain death by Oskar Schindler during World War II. The story became well known through the Oscar-awarded film by Stephen Spielberg: “Schindler’s List”. Schindler’s Ark – where the jews on Schindler’s list were moved in 1944, from the factory in Krakow, instead of being sent to Auschwitz, Poland – was situated in Brnenec, near the Czech city of Brněnec. It is still there.

But possibly not for long. Urgent repair work is needed to prevent the main buildings from collapsing.

We ask your help in ensuring that this critical historical monument from the Holocaust is saved.

 

This is an urgent appeal to ensure that the buildings of Schindler’s Ark survive before a full-scale restoration can start later in 2021. We urgently need at least €70,000 to make sure the structure of the buildings are safe.

Schindler’s Ark represents a universal story of how an individual can stand up to discrimination. If we save Schindler’s Ark together, we will make this story live on, and you will become a partner of the project. As a donor, you will receive the exhibition electronically, or the book ARKS, an invite to a personal tour and to see the film where it occurred.  

 

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Saving the Ark appeal.

“Playing Oskar Schindler in Steven Spielberg’s ‘Schindler’s List’ profoundly moved me. Putting myself into the shoes of Schindler was devastating.

 

“I am hugely grateful that the Low-Beer family and the local community around the factory near Brněnec in the Czech Republic have come together to save Schindler’s Ark where the 1200 Jews on Schindler’s List were saved. At a time with growing neo-Nazi sentiments, it is crucial to protect the monuments of the holocaust and to educate people about it, and about the heroic acts of those who fought to protect Jews.

“Why did Schindler do what he did, and as relevant what would you do to fight discrimination now?”

Liam Neeson

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“My father was Arnost Lustig one of the foremost Jewish, Czech writers.
This is a very important place and we need to honour the memory of someone who saved many peoples lives.”

Eva Lustigova

Why now?

Schindler’s Ark was a concentration camp where Jews sent from Krakow in 1944 were saved rather than exterminated.  It has withstood the past 75 years, being used as a factory under different owners throughout the communist and post-communist periods. But after the last owners went bankrupt in 2009, the factory buildings have been stripped of materials and are now in danger of collapse.

Last year, the Low-Beer family, who built and owned the original factory before they had to flee the Nazis in 1938, have reunited with local volunteers to create the Low-Beer Schindler Arks Foundation.

The purpose of the Foundation is to save and rebuild Schindler’s Ark to become a permanent museum, where future generations can learn about one of the most universal stories of the Holocaust, and contemplate how they may respond against discrimination now.

However, we urgently need help to secure the buildings and prevent them from collapse.

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“The potential lies in the story that is told here, it is a story that is timeless.”

Christian Rapp, Museum Director, Austria

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“I am a historian and the visit of the buildings of Schindler’s Ark was breathtaking, because here is an original place of history, here in the Czech Republic.”

Walter Barr, Historian, Germany

#03 The buildings are evocative and currently intact and include 1. Schindler's Ark 2. The German Building 3. Schindler's Office 4. A Glass Room 5. Restaurant 6. Events space
#04 The plan is to turn the now derelict factory halls into a museum and an interactive space to engage with the Schindler Jew testimonies and current discrimination in the places where the events occurred
#03
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Not only a donation, but a partnership

By supporting our work, you will become a life partner in the effort to save Schindler’s Ark. You will be welcomed to come to Brněnec for screenings of Schindler’s List and to visit the museum.

Every gift is welcome. We see it as your investment in the Schindler’s Ark’s future. Everyone who contributes will therefore receive a certificate of partnership in this effort.  Their names will be listed in the museum to show the social movement that helped save this important piece of history.

This request is specifically to save the buildings in 2020.  It is an urgent request as we have a key gap to Save Schindler’s Ark. Your contribution will allow larger grants from other partners to develop the museum, once the buildings are saved. 

#01 The factory has witnessed the drama of European history of the last 150 years.
#02 The Low-Beers had to flee in 1938. Eighty years later, they have reunited with locals to create the Arks Foundation.
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The Low-Beer family lost all it owned during the war. In recent years, they have used their resources to consolidate the buildings and undertake initial repairs.  However, they now need additional  funding to save Schindler’s Ark this winter.  Every Euro raised will be matched by donations from Daniel Low-Beer. 

The overall goal is to raise 70,000 Euros – 50,000 Euros to save the buildings and an additional 20,000 Euros to clear the buildings and prepare the first exhibition and film screening in the site where the events occurred.

If we are successful, you will have helped contribute to saving a unique piece of Holocaust history.  Saving the Ark is the first stage in the project plan below.  

You can also find the outcomes of community consultations in Prague and Brněnec, and reviews in the newspapers, radio and television.