Posted 06/03/2009 - 09:24:09am by Cal Halvorsen
At 78, George Wolf needed a job. "My resume garnered many calls, some quite urgent. But once the in-person interviews made my age apparent, the excuses not to hire me were laughably imaginative," the New Yorker recalls.
After he perused Encore.org and attended an inspiring presentation by Purpose Prize winners at the New York Public Library in February 2009, he discovered his own encore career doing work far different than any he had done before. The former garment industry entrepreneur, who narrowly escaped the Nazis during World War II, now feels valued and appreciated doing marketing and public relations for a Jewish charity.
Wolf grew up in Czechoslovakia, living comfortably in a family that worked in the textile business until they were suddenly exiled by the threat of invading Nazis. "In the following years, my parents and I escaped their expanding reach once again, ending up as a refugee in Switzerland and living on charity while I studied on scholarships," Wolf says. "The rest of my family – my grandparents, uncles and aunts, and cousins – did not escape, and with one exception did not survive."
He recalls seeing Hitler in person as an 11-year-old in 1939, witnessing defeated French troops flee the German Blitzkrieg of 1940 and watching American air raids on Friedrichshafen, Germany, from the Swiss side across from Lake Constance in 1944. In 1946 he visited the Nuremberg War Crimes trials to watch Goering and the rest of the German leadership in the dock.
His language abilities enabled him to work at the American consulate in Switzerland and enter the U.S. as an immigrant on Christmas 1946 – alone – at age 19. He then worked in the textile and apparel industry until 1950, when he was drafted into the U.S. Army and sent to Germany to take part in an intelligence effort to recruit members of the Warsaw Pact militaries into the American Army.
Upon his return, Wolf again worked in the garment industry, consulting with top-name designers, both American and French, on knitwear design and production, and he helped develop a hand-knitting industry in Tuscany, Italy. At age 65, he started a new business to produce upscale designer knitwear in the economically disadvantaged South Bronx, a business that he thought would keep him busy and provide income during his retirement.
Although the business was successful at first, imports began to pose a threat. "In an attempt to keep our workers employed, most of whom had been with us for many years, we took on a large Navy crew shirt contract that still required fully domestic provenance. However, we lost money on the contract and, in the end, we reluctantly closed our doors," Wolf says.
That's how he found himself in need of work at age 78. "Finding a responsible job in my old industry became a Sisyphean battle," he says. After suffering constant rejection in his field of expertise, he did some consulting work, but even that ended as clients fell victim to the growing recession.
The turning point came, he says, when he found Encore.org online and attended an exciting and inspiring presentation of Purpose Prize winners at the New York Public Library.
Through community connections, he learned about a small Jewish charity, The Blue Card, that needed help. Started in Germany in 1934, the organization, which assists impoverished survivors of the Holocaust, needed a marketing and PR person to help promote a newly affiliated Visa card that generates contributions to the charity.
"The budget of The Blue Card was minuscule, but so were my needs, and with my interest in helping older adults in need, my background in business and my familiarity with the Holocaust, it was a perfect match," Wolf explains.
Now, at 82, he also is the associate producer of a dramatic theater piece, "Wallenberg," about the Swedish diplomat who went to Budapest in 1944 and helped save 100,000 Jews from death camps, only to disappear into the Soviet gulag. And he's helping a friend at Mercy Ships recruit medical volunteers to crew the ships, as well as doing various kinds of writing.
Wolf says, "I am active, alive, excited, full of energy and ideas, feeling valuable and appreciated, and intend to keep going another 20 years at least. In other words, my whole life was an apprenticeship for what I do now."
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NYC Marathon and The Blue Card
The Blue Card, an organization for which George Wolf works in his encore career, is one of the Official Charities in the 2009 ING New York City Marathon. The press release below is one example of how encore careerists are shaping their communities for the better. In this case, Mr. Wolf is part of a major fundraising effort to help surviving victims of Nazi persecution against Jews.
GOING TO GREAT LENGTHS TO RAISE MONEY FOR NEEDY HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS
Metropolitan National Bank is the Lead Sponsor of The Blue Card Team, One of the Official Charities in the 2009 ING New York City Marathon
New York, NY (July 29, 2009) --- For 75 years The Blue Card has been aiding victims of the Nazi persecution of Jews, particularly those who survived the Holocaust and found themselves destitute, in frail health, without families. As the years go by, their number becomes ever smaller but their needs grow exponentially, with financial, physical and emotional problems related not only to age, but the suffering they experienced.
Metropolitan National Bank is supporting this noble and necessary cause, and has become the lead sponsor of The Blue Card, one of the Official Charities in the 2009 ING New York City Marathon. The Blue Card Team consists of 25 dedicated runners who have strong personal connections to the Holocaust and are running on November 1st to support our mission, raising both awareness about and funds for our cause. The 25 members of The Blue Card Team will join a field of more than 40,000 athletes expected to participate in the 40th running of the ING New York City Marathon.
“In this our tenth anniversary of serving the people and businesses of New York City, from high net worth individuals to minimum wage workers and middle market enterprises from almost every sector, Metropolitan National Bank is proud to be the lead sponsor of The Blue Card’s 2009 New York City Marathon Team and to partner with an organization who serves such a worthwhile and necessary endeavor” said Mark R. DeFazio, President and CEO of Metropolitan National Bank.
“One fourth of all of the remaining Holocaust survivors in the United States, about 30,000, live at or near the federal poverty level. We are grateful to Metropolitan National Bank for sponsoring our team, because with money raised through the ING New York City Marathon, The Blue Card can meet the needs of more survivors, ease their lives and peace of mind, while preserving their dignity,” said Elie Rubinstein, Executive Director of The Blue Card.
About The Blue Card
Established 1934 in Germany and re-established in the United States in 1939, the mission of The Blue Card is to provide direct financial assistance, with a minimum of obstacles, in a caring and dignified manner, to the neediest Jewish survivors of Nazi persecution and their families. The Blue Card is the only organization in America that provides continuous and ongoing support for medical care, rent subsidies, food and other basic needs for impoverished Holocaust survivors. Due to a low overhead, 100% of contributions go directly to survivor support. Charity Navigator—America’s Largest Charity Evaluator--continually bestows its top rating of 4-Stars upon the Blue Card. The Blue Card is a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization. For more information, visit www.bluecardfund.org
About Metropolitan National Bank
Metropolitan National Bank, a nationally-chartered FDIC member institution with assets of over $550 million and headquarters in New York City, operates three full-service Banking Centers in midtown Manhattan, and one in Boro Park, Brooklyn. Metropolitan National Bank offers a full range of commercial and personal banking services to middle-market enterprises and high net worth individuals. Metropolitan National Bank serves a wide range of industries, including healthcare, fashion and apparel, real estate, accounting, legal, and other professional services. Metropolitan National Bank also serves markets that have often been overlooked by today’s consolidating financial services industry by offering innovative, consumer-friendly financial services to the unbanked and under-banked through its CashZone subsidiary. For more information, visit www.MetropolitanBankNY.com
About the ING New York City Marathon
The ING New York City Marathon is one of the world’s great road races, drawing more than 100,000 applicants annually. Since the inception of the official charity program in 2006, more than 13,600 runners have raised nearly $50 million. The race, the premier event of New York Road Runners, attracts many world-class professional athletes. As any one of the nearly 788,000 past participants will attest, crossing the finish line in Central Park is one of the great thrills of a lifetime. For more information, visit www.ingnycmarathon.org
About the New York Road Runners
New York Road Runners is dedicated to promoting the sport of distance running, enhancing health and fitness for all, and responding to community needs. Our road races and other fitness programs draw upwards of 300,000 runners annually, and together with our magazine and website support and promote professional and recreational running. For more information visit www.nyrr.org
Contacts
For The Blue Card
Elie Rubinstein
George Wolf
Izabella Safiyeva
212-239-2251
blue.card@verizon.net
For Metropolitan National Bank
Stephen McAllister
917 208-1917
stephen@designmattersinc.com