SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE — The Israel Spirit Commission will present a $200 scholarship to a recent high school graduate enrolled in post-secondary education. To qualify, graduates must show involvement with their heritage or Israel. The Israel Spirit Commission is a part of the Ethnic Enrichment Commission and does outreach in support of Israel. The Israel Spirit commissioners are Deborah O’Bannon and Ben Nachum. Request an application from Sue-Ellen Flescher at . Applications are due by Thursday, Aug. 8.
CROCK POT’S JEWISH ROOTS PART II — Last week we learned through Jewniverse the Crock-Pot®, the famous name-brand slow cooker, was created by Jewish inventor Irving Naxon. Reader Marvin Fremerman informs us there is more to that story.
“Bet you didn’t know that the actual name Crock Pot® was created by a Jewish advertising agency executive named Al Coleman who serviced the Rival Manufacturers account,” Fremerman wrote in an email. “Al was one of the nicest guys you’d ever want to meet and was a far cry from the folks seen on the ‘Mad Men’ television show ... He was a real mensch.”
CREEPY CAB RIDE — Former Kansas Citian and radio personality Jay Cooper and his wife Valerie Wolf were featured on the front page of the New York Times on Saturday, July 20, but not for something fun. Under the headline “Florida Couple Held by Cabbie in Deadly Temps, 3.6 mile ride turns into heated kidnapping as driver claims to be lost,” the story recounts how they found themselves “trapped in a compact Yellow Cab in direct sunlight on a JFK airport roadway for nearly an hour, as the taxi driver claimed to not know the route to their hotel (located on airport property), kept the air conditioning servicing only the driver’s compartment, and meter running.” The story explains how the couple kept their cool on one of New York’s hottest days, called the Taxi Authority and were returned safely to the taxi stand where a second taxi delivered them to their destination.
ORIGINAL SCHINDLER’S TO BE AUCTIONED — (JTA) The original list of names of 801 Jews rescued by German industrialist Oskar Schindler is set to be auctioned off on eBay.
The New York Post reported Friday, July 19, that the 14 pages containing the original Schindler’s list would be auctioned off starting that day by California collectors Gary Zimet and Eric Gazin, who set the reserve price at $3 million but are hoping to sell it for $5 million.
The date April 18, 1945, is written in pencil on the first page. Only male names appear on the German-language list, as well as each person’s date of birth and profession.
The list was named for Oskar Schindler, a German businessman credited with saving more than 1,000 Jews from the Nazis by deeming them essential workers for his enamel works factories.
His story reached worldwide attention after the release of the 1993 feature film “Schindler’s List.” Directed by Steven Spielberg, the movie won the Academy Award for Best Picture. It was based on the Booker Prize-winning novel “Schindler’s Ark,” which Australian novelist Thomas Keneally published in 1982.
Of the seven original versions of the list, only four are known to exist — including two at Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust Memorial Museum, and one at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, the Post reported.
The sellers said the copy being offered for sale on eBay is located in Israel, according to the paper.
“It is extremely rare that a document of this historical significance is put on the market,” Zimet said. “Many of the survivors on this list and their descendants moved to the United States, and there are names on this list which will sound very familiar to New Yorkers.”
