| Home | Who We Are | What We Do | Education | Archives | Partnerships | |||||
 |
||||||||||
Book Project Close to Goal
The Weidner Foundation Dutch-Paris Book Project is now within $20,000 of reaching its $375,000 goal. That’s the news from Weidner Foundation Treasurer Steve Morgan, CPA.
According to Kurt Ganter, Chairman of the Weidner Archives Committee, “raising this kind of money was only possible with the support of the Weidner Board of Directors, with strong leadership of Board Chair Michael Goldware, and gifts from the Schnurmacher Foundation, the Glazer Foundation and Rotarians.
John Henry Weidner, the originator of the Dutch-Paris Escape Line for Jewish families and downed Allied pilots was a Paul Harris Rotarian after emigrating to the U.S. after the war.
The Dutch-Paris Book Project will provide the first-ever fully-documented account of how a WWII escape line operated. The line rescued over 1,000 Jewish families and Allied pilots, including pilots who escaped Stalag 17 made popular in the film The Great Escape.
The line ran from Holland, through Belgium and France, and into either Switzerland or Spain. Escapees relied on the kindness and protection of over 300 Dutch families in these countries. The United States government relied heavily on Dutch-Paris for pilots downed behind enemy lines. It was described after the war as the most efficient and effective line in operation during WWII.
Weidner was the son of a Seventh-day Adventist pastor whose commitment was to serve refugees of every religion and every nationality. “They are all God’s children”, he said.
You can follow the progress of the book’s author Megan Koreman PhD by turning to her blog at http://www.dutchparisblog.com. Dr. Koreman issues a new blog entry every Tuesday.
Publication of the book will precede celebrations of the 2015 liberation of Holland from Nazi occupation and the bicentennial of Holland’s separation from Belgium and Luxembourg.
Should you like to help push this project over its goal, please contact Dr. Kurt Ganter, Archives Chair at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
