
08/12/2025
Many have been asking: Who’s that elderly woman in the center of the ribbon cutting at yesterday’s St. Charles Jewish Festival?
Her name is Elza Drapacz — a Polish Holocaust survivor.
It wasn’t planned for her to be there. But when she was spotted in the crowd, we knew she needed to be front and center.
Just some 80 years ago, the world tried to erase her — and now, here she was, cutting the ribbon to open a celebration of Jewish life, pride, and community in the heart of Historic St. Charles.
A moment heavy with history, and full of light.
Am Yisrael Chai 🩵