Mokelumne Hill, CA…Mokelumne Hill resident Irene Perbal knows a thing or two about history, having lived through nearly 90 years of it so far; and a portion of it during one of humanity’s darkest periods. It was 1940s Amsterdam. You could trust no one. The city was full of those whose hearts were with the resistance, but also was crawling with Nazi collaborators. “Everyone knew that whoever helped a Jew would be treated like one,” Perbal said.

For the first time anywhere, Perbal, whose story of her family’s life-threatening heroism hiding escaping Jews has been documented in a film – Of Hope & Hate — will attend/answer questions at that film’s premier at Mare Island’s Savage & Cooke, because that’s where the short piece was filmed by Solano Sunset Rotary International member volunteers.

The group, which boasts what members call “a new model,” of the service organization, is celebrating its 10th anniversary with this event.

“We did the film, and are showcasing this remarkable woman and her story, because she is also a Rotarian, and believes in Rotary as a vehicle to world peace,” group spokeswoman Gina Snyder said. “Really! The event is NOT a fundraiser! We are underwriting it ourselves, to get folks to attend.”

Perbal tells of how her family set up an elaborate system in their home to protect Dutch Jews fleeing Nazi persecution during the same time period the Anne Frank family was hiding in a building in the same city.

Irene speaks about how she and her friends were sent on secret missions on their scooters, moving clandestine messages among the Dutch Resistance in their neighborhood.

She recalls her family’s house being searched by the Gestapo several times. And like the Frank family, eventually “Irene’s father was betrayed and arrested with a Jewish family they harbored,” according to the film. “He vanished into the Nazis’ prison and death camp system,” never to be seen or heard from again.

Irene, her mother, and three siblings searched busloads of returning emaciated former prisoners for any news of him, but didn’t learn until much later that he died just a few days after liberation as a result of an intentional typhus injection.

Perbal has been telling her story for years and has been featured in various publications, including: Irene Perbal – Righteous Gentiles – Remember the Holocausthttps://www.remembertheholocaust.org › The woman who did it all lives around the cornerhttp://www.calaverasenterprise.com › sierra_lodestar; Survivor of Nazi occupation tells Turlock students her talehttps://www.modbee.com › turlock › article240205792

The woman was brought to the attention of Solano Sunset Rotary by local poet Donna Nunes, who met her in Calaveras County, learned of her story, and that she was a Rotarian. It was arranged for Perbal to speak to the local group on Zoom during the pandemic, and this was so impactful, that “we said, this story has to be given a broader wider view,” Snyder said.

So, they created the film, of Hope and Hate, and are presenting it to the public on Thursday, Jan. 19 from 4 to 7 p.m. in celebration of their 10th anniversary at Savage & Cooke, an American Distillery, 1097 Nimitz Avenue, Mare Island. The event includes a discussion with “Holocaust Remembrance Activist Irene Perbal.”

Tickets are $30, and includes a reception with light bites and no host bar. Seating is limited.
For tickets and/or information, call 707-642-3653 or 707-562-5677 or go to solanosunset.org.