The Jewish Genealogical Society of Tampa Bay will meet at Gulf Coast Jewish Family & Community Services, 14041 Icot Blvd., Clearwater, Florida on Sunday November 10, 2019 for a film presentation of Three Minutes in Poland by Glenn Kurtz. A social with refreshments and library access begins at 1:30 PM, and the featured program starts at 2:00 PM.

     In 2008, Glenn Kurtz discovered a more than 70-year-old family film that included 3 minutes of footage shot in his family’s ancestral Polish village by his grandfather during a 1938 European vacation.  This discovery led Kurtz on a 4-year journey to identify people in this film, track down the few who survived and were still living, and to meticulously piece together the story of a place and its people that were annihilated in the Holocaust.  Kurtz’s book “Three Minutes in Poland” details his inspiring journey to learn about the forgotten village of Nasielsk, Poland.  Carefully assembled from interviews, photographs, documents, and artifacts, Three Minutes in Poland tells the rich, funny, harrowing, and surprisingly intertwined stories from the seven survivors of Nasielsk, Poland that he was able to track down and interview.

His historical reconstruction, how he found families of the images in this film, interviews of people who he helped to remember details they didn’t know existed inside themselves is documented in this film. He discovers the life of a village that was vibrant with Jewish life before the German occupation of Poland.  His research shows us methods, the meaning, the history, and the importance of what we can do as genealogists.  His research and findings should be an inspiration to all genealogists who are seeking to discover their own family story. 

Glenn Kurtz is a published author whose most recent book “Three Minutes in Poland” was named a “best Book of 2014” by The New Yorker, The Boston Globe, and National Public Radio. Kurtz has lectured extensively in the U.S., Canada, and Europe on the preservation of Jewish heritage. He is leading the rededication of the Jewish cemetery in Nasielsk, Poland, and he was instrumental in helping designate two Poles as “Righteous Gentiles”. He is a 2016 Guggenheim Foundation Fellow who has a PhD from Stanford University and has taught at Stanford University, San Francisco State University, and California College of the Arts.

Anyone interested in Jewish family history and in learning how to do Jewish genealogical research is invited to attend this and all meetings of the JGSTB.  Beginners as well as experienced researchers are welcome. There is no charge to attend this meeting.  For information about the organization or for directions to the meeting call Bruce Hadburg at 727-796-7981, or email him at bhadburg@tampabay.rr.com

A special appeal: Please bring a bag of non-perishable food for Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services food pantry for those in need. Your food donation shows our appreciation to Gulf Coast for hosting our meetings, and it is for a worthy cause.