R. S. Lauder foundation
The R. S. Lauder foundation was established
in 1987. Its goal was to revitalize Jewish life in Central and Eastern Europe.
The origin of this idea comes from the time when Ronald S. Lauder served as the
U.S. ambassador to Austria. During his work in Vienna he became familiar with
the fate of European Jewry during WWII. R. Lauder started to realize how much
impact the history had on the gradual forgetting of Jewish values in Europe.
This led him to further study of Jewish heritage and search for means of its
support in this region. As a result, his foundation finances around 40 projects
and institutions in more than 20 cities of 15 European countries. Most of these
are schools and kindergartens; however the foundation supports also children
summer camps, education and community centers, synagogues and youth clubs. The
foundation supports also special projects that include genealogy project of the
Polish Jewish Historical Institute, the Anti-Defamation League in Vienna
etc.
The Ronald S. Foundation has been present in Prague since the opening of the Jewish community kindergarten “Na Výšinách“ in 1994. Three years later, the Lauder Jewish primary school opened its doors to the first pupils. The first students of the Lauder Jewish high school entered their new classrooms in 1999. The Lauder foundation supports also the Education and Culture center of the Jewish Museum in Prague.
