Martyrdom and Resistance, May/June 2000

JC Ш(0И2¥!1 JUL 6 2000 1 Vol. 26 - No. 5 ISSN 0892-1571 May-June 2000 - lyar-Sivan 5760 Yad Vashem Dedicates New Historical Museum Century s First Yom Hashoah Observances Marked by Intensity and Record Numbers One more piece is in place for Yad Vashem’s com¬ mitment to eternalize remembrance, as the Remem¬ brance Authority broke ground on May 3 for a new Historical Museum. The ceremony, appropriately, took place a day after Yom Hashoah V’Hagvurah. The museum is part of a larger $100 million project, Yad Vashem 2001, that will also include a Museum for Holocaust Art, a Museum for Temporary Exhibitions, a Hall of Names, a Visitors’ Center, and a Visual and Learning Center. The Harry and Joseph Wilf families were honored at the ceremony for their benefaction of this recently. Joseph Wilf is the chairman of the Yad Vashem 2001 campaign. He and his late brother Harry, are founders of Gar¬ den Homes, Inc., a New Jersey real estate develop¬ ment company. “The museum has special meaning for me,” he said. “It’s very important that something like this is built for the future — for education and creating knowl¬ edge.” The new Historical Museum will be three times the size of the current facility to accommodate more than 2 million annual visitors. “Yad Vashem is an institu¬ tion,” Joseph Wilf said, “transcending all other Holo¬ caust memorials in scope and size, Yad Vashem occu¬ pies a premiere place in remembrance, with 50 million pages of documentation, 100,000 photographs, 2,000 films, and thousands of precious personal momentos.” “The American Society is privileged to have become full-fledged partners in the visionary work of Yad Vashem,” said Eli Zborowski, chairman of the So¬ cieties for Yad Vashem. “Today we pay tribute to the Harry and Joseph Wilf families who worked with us in forging this partnership and whose generosity has en- (Continued on page 8) The planning of Yom Hashoah V’Hagvurah obser¬ vances are naturally influenced by current develop¬ ments as they relate to the Holocaust and the general world scene. But seldom — if ever — was the spirit of remembrance buoyed by events coming so close to 27 Nissan and the corresponding English date. The first, at March’s end, was the visit to and address of Pope John Paul II at Yad Vashem. Then came another front-page newsmaker, in mid- April, on the defeat of a Holocaust denier in a London court. In the first Yom Hashoah observances of this century, these events spurred record attendance and more en¬ thused participants worldwide. Yom Hashoah V’Hagvurah 5760-2000 was observed on 27 Nissan, Monday, May 1, and Tuesday, May 2. Ob¬ servances began Monday evening, May 1. The start of a new century, 55 years after the end of the Holocaust, has deepened anxiety and awareness that the numbers of survivors are declining, those who organized programs were most successful in enlisting survivors as principal speakers at observances. The par- Holocaust Revisionist Is Beaten in Court A mighty blow was struck for remembrance in a London court when Holocaust denier David Irving lost his libel suit against Dr. Deborah E. Lipstadt. A professor of modern Jewish history and Holo¬ caust studies at Emory University, Dr. Lipstadt wrote Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory, first published in 1993 in the U.S. Her British publisher was Penguin Books. (Continued on page 10) Yad Vashem and American Society personalities at festive dinner marking groundbreaking ceremony for new Historical Museum. Back row (1 to r) Steven Schwarz, Executive Board member, American Society; Shaya Ben- Yehuda, managing director, International Relations Division; Mark Wilf, Executive Board member, American Society; Avner Shalev, chairman, Yad Vashem Directorate; Leonard Wilf, Executive Board member, American Society; Miry Gross, International Relations Division; Moshe Safdie, architect and designer; Front: Joseph Wilf, chairman, Yad Vashem 2001; Eli Zborowski (r), chairman, American Society, with their wives Elizabeth Wilf (1) and Diana Zborowski (r). ticipation of survivors offered compelling proof that there is no more effective resource for remembrance than that of a survivor. Very visible this year — once more — was the leader¬ ship and direction provided by the second and third gen¬ erations in planning and chairing the programs. As expected discussions of the Vatican and the Holo¬ caust, the future of Catholic-Jewish relations, and the assault on Holocaust deniers were heard at the obser¬ vances. A variety of other themes and concerns were ad¬ dressed: the martyrdom made of 1.5 million Jewish chil¬ dren; the courage of those who resisted the Nazis and their collaborators; the humanity of the Righteous Among the Nations; the pursuit of justice against Nazi war criminals; the continued vigilance against anti-Sem¬ itism worldwide, especially on the Internet; the ongoing developments concerning plundered bank funds, art, and other resources and the resolution of payments to survivors and then- heirs. Participants of the WAGRO Commemoration at Tem¬ ple Emanu-El in New York included New York State Governor George Pataki; New York’s U.S. Senator Charles Schumer; New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuli¬ ani; Israeli Consul General, Ambassador Shmuel Sisso; Dr. Irving Greenberg, chair, U.S. Holocaust Memorial (Continued on page 6) Israel Remembers Past; Optimism for the Future Reaffirming its strength and determination to re¬ member, Israel placed special emphasis this year on the Jewish family on Yom Hashoah V’Hagvurah. Ceremo¬ nies paid tribute to mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, sisters and brothers, to the grandparents and other relatives who did not survive the Holocaust. Writing in Yad Vashem Magazine, Prof. Israel Gut¬ man, chief historian of the Remembrance Authority, ob¬ served: “The strong values and relationships that the Jewish family has nurtured at all times withstood a daunting ordeal in the struggle for survival, as long as it was allowed to remain intact and as long as a glimmer of hope remained.... “Women took action on behalf of their households. They engaged in smuggling, obtaining means of suste¬ nance illegally and in constant means of danger. By means of self-denial, they amassed small portions of food that they mainly distributed to their children. Many women also engaged in assistance and caregiving work for the hungriest and most downtrodden elements in the Jewish population.. . . “A special place in the endurance of the family Is re¬ served for children, including some aged seven and eight. Through the ghetto checkpoints, stringently guarded by armed police, and over and under the wall, hundreds of children slipped onto the other “Aryan” (Continued on page 7)