ID Transcript
mare0802_01 "THE JOSEPH MEYERHOF1 l MARTYRDOM AND RESISTANCE Newsletter for the American Federation of Jewish Fighters, Camp Inmates, and Nazi Victims, Inc. Vol. 8 - No. 2 Nov.-Dec. 1981 — Heshvan-Kislev 5742 Sponsorship of U. S. Holocaust Memorial Council Survivors Greet Liberators; East Meets West at the Fourteen■-Nation Conference Thirty-six years after the liberation, Holocaust survivors and representatives of 14 countries whose armies liberated the Nazi concentration camps met to share experiences and memories. Sponsored by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council at the U.S. Department of State from Oct. 26- 28, the International Liberators Conference was dedicated to the theme: 'Tor the dead and the living, we must bear witness."" The theme is a quotation from Holocaust Council Chairman Elie Wiesel. ""In the last 30 years we have told the story. We have tried to bear witness,"" he said. ""There are still people who believe that Hitler didn't exist. Maybe the testimony of the liberators themselves will help. They have seen."" Those who were murdered in the Holocaust, Wiesel said, ""must not be killed again"" by forgetting them. As survivors and liberators, he added, we must ""dedicate ourselves not only to the memory of those who suffered but to the future of those who are suffering today."" The conference was welcomed to the State Department by Secretary of State Alexander Haig, who quoted Winston Churchill to the effect that the Holocaust was a ""crime without a name."" Haig added: ""We can bear the memory of the Holocaust only if we strive to prevent its reoccur- >> rence President Reagan sent a letter saying that ""by increasing public awareness of the Holocaust this conference serves as a stark reminder to the world's conscience of what transpired during that period of history and it will strengthen our resolve to prevent mankind from sinking into that ultimate horror again."" Others taking part in the opening ceremony were Elliott Abrams, Assistant Secretary for International Organizational Affairs, U.S. Department of State; Brig. Michael Gray, military attache, British Embassy in Washington; Jean Lau- rain, French Minister of Veterans; Lt. General Pavel Danilovich Gudz, deputy head, Soviet Union Academy of Armed Forces; the Rev. Roy Eck- ardt; Rabbi Judach Nadich; Miles Lerman, conference coordinator and chairman of the International Relations Committee of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council; and Mark Talisman, conference coordinator and vice chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council. Both Brig. Gray and Mr. Laurain emphasized the need to teach youth about the Holocaust. Lt. Gen. Gudz said that conflicts can only be solved through negotiations. ""I stress,"" Gudz said in Russian, ""that one of the most important conclusions emerging from this conference is the necessity to unify our efforts and our struggle so that the tragedy so objectively and truthfully described here never will be repeated."" Referring to the liberators confronting memories of years gone by, Mr. Talisman said, ""A lot of attics are being opened up, and that's a very healthy process."" Countries represented were: Belgium; Canada; Czechoslovakia; Denmark; Great Britain; France; Israel, represented by veterans of the World War II Jewish Brigade; the Netherlands; New Zealand; Norway; Poland; Soviet Union; U.S.; and Yugoslavia. Featured were workshops and panel discussions dealing with eyewitness accounts, moderated by Sigmund Strochlitz, member, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council (USHMC) ; war correspondents, moderated by Prof. Monroe H. Freedman, executive director, USHMC; medical personnel, moderated by Dr. Hadassah Rosensaft, member, USHMC; military, moderated by Julian E. Kulas, member, USHMC; historians, moderated by Prof. Raul Hilberg, member, USHMC; chaplains, moderated by the Rev. Franklin Littell, member, USHMC; resistance, moderated by Frank R. Lau- tenberg, member, USHMC; war crimes tribunals, moderated by Bernard Fischman, special advisor, USHMC; survivors, moderated by Prof. Yaffa Eliach, faculty, Broklyn College; uprisings, moderated by Dr. Irving Greenberg, member, USHMC; discovering the ""Final Solution,"" moderated by Marvin Kalb, ABC-TV displomatic correspondent. Among other participants were U.S. Senator John Danforth (R—Mo.) ; Father Robert Drinan, former Massachusetts Congressman; Father Edward P. Doyle; Dr. Morris Leibman, ex-officio member, USHMC, representing the U.S. State Department; Rabbi Bernard Raskas, member, USHMC; S. Dillon Ripley; and Eli Zborowski, member, USHMC, and past president, American Federation of Jewish Fighters, Camp Inmates, and Nazi Victims. The significance of the conference was accented by Miles Lerman, member, USHMC, and coordinator of the gathering: ""The first liberators conference was a major international event, held under sponsorship of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council. East met West (Continued on Page 7) Federation of Survivors Recounts A Decade of Great Accomplishment REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST. Scenes of liberation at the concentration camps (such as Auschwitz, above) were relived at the Liberators Conference. In the life of an organization a decade is but a dot in terms of historical time. Organizations may have to be in existence for decades before their service and achievements receive recognition from the Jewish community. However, there are exceptional organizations who are quick to make an imprint. Such an.organization is the American Federation of Jewish Fighters, Camp Inmates, and Nazi Victims. Having completed its first decade, the Federation looks forward to more exciting chapters of accomplishment in the Jewish community. With 36 years having passed since the liberation of the concentration camps and with the ranks of survivors continually diminishing, the task of the roof organization of Holocaust survivors takes on added importance. As but one example of its importance in the Jewish community, the Federation was recently spotlighted in a listing of resource organizations, published by the Department of Programs of the United Synagogue of America. Special praise was given to the pivotal role of the Federation in the observance of Yom Hashoa on the English date corresponding to 27 Nissan: "". . . as the organization which brought Yom Hashoa to public prominence. It provides information on how to organize and observe this day of remembrance."" Indeed, the Federation has made an unmeasured contribution in promoting and implementing the concept that 27 Nissan be permanently affixed as Yom Hashoa V'Hagvurah, the annual day of observance for the martydom and heroism of the six million innocent souls who lost their lives simply because they were Jews. The Federation has acted vigorously since 1972 to observe 27 Nissan as a national remembrance date in conformity with Jewish communities around the world. The joint proclamation has been released annually since 1972, and today more than 80 national Jewish organizations cosponsor the proclamation. In addition, the Federation was the first organized body to ask governmental authorities to issue proclamations calling for the observance of Yom Hashoa on 27 Nissan. But it takes more than a proclamation to sponsor a meaningful observance. And so for 10 years, the Federation, with limited financial resources, has been instrumental in disseminating materials and information on the Holocaust. The Federation has distributed tens of thousands of educational kits"" prepared by Yad Vashem and has distributed more than 100,000 booklets on The Holocaust and Resistance. For the observance of Yom Hashoa on April 30, 1981, more than 26,000 posters, booklets, and program packets were distributed. In the three ^months before and during the Yom Hashoa period, 300 ""Holocaust and Resistance"" exhibits were sent to organizations, institutions, and groups. Organizations were serviced throughout the country, as far west as Washington state. (Continued on Page 7) "
