Jolie (a.k.a. Jolly) Zeleny, a humanistic Jew, Holocaust survivor, teacher, spokesperson for Israel, force for Holocaust remembrance, and admired leader, was given the Congregation for Humanistic Judaism of Fairfield County's first Menschlichkeit Award at a ceremony in Westport, Connecticut in 2003.  Jeanne Franklin of the CHJ praised her for "her continuous search for knowledge, her mastery of love and understanding, her capacity to teach, interpret and record history, her assumption of responsibility--both in hardship and in pleasure, her generosity and her caring, and her beauty inside and out."

Joanne W. Rudof, Archivist of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies at Yale University, said, "I suspect Jolie is one of the "Lamed-vov'nicks" those thirty-six righteous people upon whom, according to Jewish legend, the existence of the entire world depends.  She has contributed so very much to the work of the Archive, not only through her own testimonies, but in training interviewers, in fund raising, and in interviewing other survivors."

CHJ decided to create this award to honor people who embody menschlichkeit, and to encourage others to follow their example.  Menschlichkeit, the quality of being a mensch, involves character, responsibility, and caring, the qualities, which lead us to say, "Here is a real person upon whom others may depend."  Wealth and position are not relevant.  The importance of this ideal fits with the philosophy of the CHJ, which emphasizes personal responsibility and good deeds.

Childhood was the beginning of philosophical thought for Ms. Zeleny.  She says that by 12 she was very religious, and took her Judaism very seriously.  At 16 she became an atheist.  And at 17 a "spiritual agnostic". 

Ms. Zeleny, who grew up in Czechoslovakia, survived Auschwitz.  After the war she worked with Golda Meier to collect money for the illicit weapons campaign that was going on to support development of Israel.  "Adversity does not build character--", she says, "it reveals character:  The choice is ours.  We make the choice.  Beast or Saint." 

She came to this country through the UJA HIAS Program.  At the request of UJA she became a cross-country speaker spreading understanding and support for Israel, often with Moshe Sharet, Israel's Foreign Minister, who later succeeded Ben Gurion as Israel's Prime Minister.

"Throughout this time I was on a quest, seeking to find a philosophy that would be emotionally and intellectually meaningful for me" she says.  She became active in Ethical Culture for ten years, and was a founder in the Ethical Culture Chapter in Westport.  This, while raising three children with her husband Nick.  She joined the Congregation for Humanistic Judaism at its founding in 1967, and became a teacher in its Sunday School.

Ms. Zeleny was active in the Council of Churches and Synagogues in Fairfield.  She formed the Fellowship of Survivors --the first in the country, and in 1981, for Channel 13, she narrated the gathering of Survivors that was held in Israel.

Quoting John Paul Sartre, and reflecting on her experiences, including Auschwitz, Ms. Zeleny says, "Life is absurd and meaningless.  We have to impose meaning-even if there is none.  We have to create happiness in the face of adversity."