Martyrdom and Resistance, November/December 2013

ID Transcript mare4002_01 "AMERICAN & INTERNATIONAL SOCIETIES FOR YAD VASHEM O . U-INO. The American & International Societies for Yad Vashem Annual Tribute Dinner LEGACY AND GRATITUDE The Annual Tribute Dinner of the American Society for Yad Vashem was held on Sunday, November 10th. With inspiring addresses from honoree Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Chairman of ing remarks. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg was honored with the Yad Vashem Remembrance Award, given for his visionary leadership and for his support of Yad Vashem's efforts to contributions of Eli Zborowski, z""l. A member of the Jewish Fighters Organization, Zborowski survived the war in hiding along with his mother, sister and younger brother, and served as liaison between the Jewish This year's dinner also recognized the tenth anniversary of the Columbia shuttle disaster. Tributes to Petr Ginz and Col. Ilan Ramon were especially powerful, thanks to the presence of Ginz's nephew Yoram Pressburger Leonard Wilf, Rabbi Israel Meir Lau and Ambassador Ron Prosor. the Yad Vashem Council Rabbi Israel strengthen the cause of Holocaust ghettos and non-Jewish par- Meir Lau, Chairman of the Yad remembrance and education. Most tisan units. Upon arriving in Vashem Directorate Avner Shalev, recently the recipient of the presti- America, Eli immediately and Mauthausen survivor Ed gious Genesis Prize, Mayor began devoting time and Mosberg, the dinner marked thirty- Bloomberg has been a central figure resources to Holocaust two years since the Society was in empowering New York City as the remembrance. In 1981, Eli established by the Founding capital of tolerance, innovation and founded the American and Chairman Eli Zborowski, z""l, along growth. In 2005, Mayor Bloomberg International Societies for with other Holocaust survivors. was the official representative of Yad Vashem, and served as The program, entitled ""Legacy and President Bill Clinton at the opening its volunteer Chairman from Gratitude,"" was presided over by of the new Holocaust History Museum its inception, guiding it to Dinner Co-Chairpersons Marilyn and at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. raise over $100 million for _ _, , . . ... ,_, . , -,-, . , i w ■ i, , Honorable Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor of the City of New Barry Rubenstein, with Chairman of The evening program featured a the benefit of Yad Vashem. York 20,3 recipient of the Y*d y^hem Remembrance the Board Leonard Wilf giving open- special memorial tribute to the life and He established the Diana and Award. Eli Zborowski Interdisciplinary Chair for Holocaust Studies and Research at Yeshiva University, and The American Society for Yad Vashem Annual 1 ribute Dinner. 1, 8-9 endowed the Diana Zborowski Center Discovery of Nazi plundered art offers glimpse ""into a dark story"" 2 for the Study of the Aftermath of the The Nazi hunter. 3 Holocaust at Yad Vashem. Chronicle of Two and a Half Years in Auschwitz 4 a t the event, held on the 75th The vast reach of the Nazi Holocaust 5 /\ anniversary of Kristallnacht, ""Being Jewish meant being dead"" 6 speakers reflected on the Shoah and Poland's dark hunt 7 emphasized the importance of educa- Yad Vashem exhibit honors saviors of Jews in WWII 10 tion and legacy, ensuring that the In going after Nazi criminals, Europe is still divided 12 torch of remembrance is assumed by The Munich crisis through the eyes of cartoonists 15 the second and third generations. IN THIS ISSUE and Ramon's son Tal Ramon, who performed a song he composed in memory of his father. In addition to Tal Ramon's appearance, the program included performances by HaZamir: The International Jewish High School Choir, with moving renditions of ""Eli, Eli,"" written by the young paratrooper Hannah Szenes, and the ""Yugnt Hymn,"" dedicated to the youth club in the Vilna ghetto and written by partisan Shmerke Kaczerginski. "