Chabad of Poway is honored to host a special lecture by Holocaust survivor
Abraham Foxman
Abraham Foxman, was born in Baranowicze, Poland in 1940. His parents, Helen and Joseph Fuksman (the original family name), lived in Warsaw before the war. They moved East to Belarus after the Germans invaded Poland in September 1939 and then fled to Vilnius in Lithuania, along with their newly hired Polish Catholic nanny, Bronislawa Kurpi, after Abraham was born. But German forces entered the city in June of 1941 and immediately began subjecting its Jewish population to forced labor, deportation and killing.
Abraham was saved from the Holocaust by his nanny, who took him in when his parents were moved into the Vilna Ghetto. She baptized him and raised him as a Catholic for the next four years, during which time he was known as Henryk Stanislas Kurpi. He could not play with other children given the risk that they might see he was circumcised and discover his Jewish identity.
Miraculously, both of Abraham's parents survived, but his grandparents and 13 of his aunts and uncles perished in the Holocaust. His mother managed to escape the ghetto and, posing as a Pole, got a job that helped her support her son and the nanny. His father narrowly escaped death several times, in the ghetto and, later, in various labor camps and in hiding. After the war, he returned to Vilna where the family was reunited but the nanny did not want to give back their only child...
Abraham Foxman is now world-renowned as a leader in the fight against anti-Semitism, bigotry and discrimination.
Mr. Foxman is National Director Emeritus of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), from which he retired in 2015 after 50 years with the organization, 27 of them as National Director.
Join us as he shares his remarkable story and inspiring message of hope and perseverance.
Don't miss this incredible opportunity to hear from 'the hidden child' and learn valuable lessons from his life experiences.
For sponsorship opportunities please email: rabbimendel@chabadpoway.com
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