(December 10, 2007) On Thursday, December 13, 2007, at 4:00 PM at the Tri-City Jewish Center in Rock Island, 88-year-old William Zachar from Davenport, will be presenting a copy of newspaper clippings he complied in 1938, to the Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities.
Sixty-nine years ago at the age of 19, while living in Philadelphia, Mr. Zachar began collecting newspaper clippings on Nazi Germany's planned invasion of Czechoslovakia. He was very moved by what was happening because Czechoslovakia was his parents' country of origin.
The clippings are from 1938, and some are in color. They depict cartoons, propaganda posters, photos of Hitler, reactions of the Czech people, effects on the Jewish community, and more. The two Philadelphia newspapers he used were: Evening Bulletin--2 cents per paper-- and the Daily News.
Until just recently, Mr. Zachar never showed his collection to anyone. He was worried that he would die and the collection would be thrown out. Fortunately, he came into contact with Sandra Milakovich, the US Contact for the Arnold-Liebster Foundation and a Holocaust Resource Consultant (563 391-1819) who has worked extensively in the Quad Cites and Midwest on Holocaust-related projects, and is a valued friend of the Jewish Federation.
Mrs. Milakovich made arrangements for Mr. Zachar to donate the original album to the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library in Cedar Rapids. The Museum also sent a representative here to video tape his story. Mr. Zachar asked Mrs. Milakovich to contact the Jewish Federation to give us a copy of the album.
Mr. Zachar said that being able to tell people about his album and the album being placed in the Museum has changed his life.