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Gwyneth Paltrow Funds Historical Signboard at
Her Jewish Ancestors’ Cemetery in Poland
Movie star Gwyneth Paltrow has funded a sign
chronicling the history of the Jews in her ances-
tors’ hometown in Poland.

The informational signboard — as the Foundation
for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland,
which is leading the project, called it in a state-
ment — was unveiled on April 19 at the Jewish
cemetery of Nowogród in northeastern Poland.

The sign “recounts the history of the Jewish
community dating back to the 15th century as well
as the creation of the cemetery in the late 18th
century, and the destruction of the local Jewish
community and its cemetery” during and after the
Holocaust. Paltrow’s father’s family descends from
Nowogród, according to research done
for the 2011 episode of the celebrity genealogy TV
show “Who Do You Think You Are?”
Paltrow’s great-great-grandfather Simon
Paltrovich, who went by Simcha, had immigrated
from Eastern Europe to the United States, she said
during the show, and she discovered that Simcha’s
father, Hirsch, was also a rabbi in Nowogród.

Hirsch Palterovich, who was murdered in the
Holocaust, was remembered by survivors from
Nowogród as a courageous man who singlehand-
edly put out a fire that threatened to consume the
entire Jewish neighborhood of the town, Paltrow
learned on the show. He was also a Kabbalah
expert. ”This is kind of blowing my mind. Because I
study Kabbalah. I can just feel how his spirituality
is coming off the page,” she said on the show.

Paltrow, who won an Oscar for best actress in
1999’s “Shakespeare in Love,” was particularly
attached to her father, director and producer
Bruce Paltrow, who died in 2002, she said.

“My dad was the love of my life until he died.

My father really instilled in me the importance of
unconditional love and support, and to treat your
family with love and respect because they’re your
family,” she said on “Who Do You Think you Are.”
“And you know, those are the ties that bind.”
— Cnaan Liphshiz
Gwyneth Paltrow attends Hollywood Unites for the 4th
Biennial Stand Up for Cancer at the Dolby Theatre in
Hollywood, California, on Sept. 5, 2014.

Paltrow: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images via JTA’ Neeson: Amblin Entertainment via JTA
Belgian State TV Apologizes for Video Parodying ‘Schindler’s List’
A state-owned broadcaster in
Belgium apologized for a video that
parodies Steven Spielberg’s classic
Holocaust movie “Schindler’s List”
by dubbing alternative dialogue
about an apparent cookie shortage
over some of the film’s footage.

VRT, a public broadcaster which
is owned and funded by the gov-
ernment of the Flemish Region of
Belgium, on April 18 said that it was
removing the “inappropriate” April 7
video from its YouTube channel.

“Humor and satire should be
allowed in our programming but it
must never be the intention to hurt
the feelings of others or laugh at
their suffering,” a VRT statement
read. “We recognize that this did
happen here, we wish to express our
heartfelt apologies.”
Some Jewish and Christian
groups and Michael Freilich, an
Orthodox Jewish lawmaker serving
4 APRIL 28, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
Actor Liam Neeson portrays Oskar Schindler in “Schindler’s List”
in Belgium’s federal parliament, had
criticized the segment, which aired
as part of the popular evening show
“The Ideal World.”
It aimed to satirize reports in
Belgian media about how the war in
Ukraine could be causing shortages
in the supply of the popular Cent
Wafer cookie brand.

One character portraying a Jewish
concentration camp prisoner is
dubbed to say: “Goddamn, that sh**
boy is gone with the last family pack
of Cent Wafers” about a character
being led to Nazi gas chambers.

Among the
organizations that protested the video was the
Consultative Body of Christians and
Jews in Belgium, which deemed it in
a statement “disrespectful and taste-
less” and called on VRT to use public
funds to “promote higher values.”
An Israeli primetime comedy
show “Eretz Nehedert,” or “It’s a
Wonderful Country,” also referenced
“Schindler’s List” in a sketch from
last month that used the Ukraine
conflict to satirize Israeli high-tech
executives. — Cnaan Liphshiz