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  during World War II. The story became well known through the Oscar-awarded film by Stephen Spielberg: “Schindler’s List”.  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.

 

Schindler’s Ark represents a universal story of how an individual can stand up to discrimination. It is a museum of survivors.

 

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Saving the Ark.

“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 ask how they may respond against discrimination now.

Secondly, we will rebuild the textile workshop as a laboratory for new Bauhaus textiles for building and living, in the tradition of Otti Berger, Anni Albers and the Low-Beer family.

 

Textile Sample
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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
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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  to visit the museum,

and your name included in a list of partners in Saving Schindler’s Ark shown there.

Every gift is welcome.

#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 and rebuild  Schindler’s Ark.

If we are successful, you will have helped contribute to saving a unique piece of  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 Brno and reviews in the newspapers, radio and television. 

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