Martyrdom & Resistance, November/December 1998

ID Transcript mare2501_01 "(OHU^H MARTYRDOM AND RESISTANCE PUBLISHED BY THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR YAD VASHEM, INC. Vol. 25 - No. 1 ISSN 0892-1571 September-October 1998 - Elul-Tishri 5759 Yad Vashem 14th Annual Dinner Honors Vicky and Joseph Safra, Joseph Bukiet November 22, 1998: the 50th year jubilee of Israel, the 14th Annual Dinner of the American and International Societies for Yad Vashem. What more auspicious occasion for the Societies' most successful dinner whose honorees have devoted their lives to furthering the cause of Israel and the cause of Remembrance? This year's honorees were Vicky and Joseph Safra (Humanitarian Award) and Joseph J. Bukiet (Remembrance Award). The worldwide flavor of the Societies was evidenced by an illustrious dais of diplomatic representatives, government officials, and heads of Jewish KRISTALLNACHT 60th YEAR BRINGS REMEMBRANCE, DEBATE IN GERMANY Calls for remembrance, debates about the nature of the message, and actions by extremists all mingled in the 60th year observance in Germany. ""We look ahead without forgetting what happened,"" said Chancellor Gerhard Schroder: ""It is our task to fashion the present and the future so that the past cannot repeat itself."" However, the ceremonies in a Berlin synagogue clearly focused the continuing debate: ""Anniversary Sets Germans to Quarreling on Holocaust,"" observed the headline of a New York Times story by Roger Cohen. The anniversary occasioned an attack on the country's ""spreading intellectual nationalism"" by Ig- natz Bubis, head of the Jewish community. The center of the attacks has been Martin Walzer, a leading writer, winner at the Frankfurt Book Fair: While not denying the Holocaust, Walzer was unhappy about the ""routine of accusations against Germans."" Upon receiving his prize recently, he warned, ""Auschwitz is not suited to becoming a routine threat, a tool of intimidation that can be used any time, a moral stick or merely a compulsory exercise."" (Continued on page 16) organizations that meet the needs of Jewry across the globe. Twenty-two countries represented were: the United States, Israel, Belgium, France, Bulgaria, Georgia, Hungary, Russia, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Poland, Yugoslavia, Spain, Ukraine, the Netherlands, Slovak Republic, Romania, Brazil, Greece, Italy, Austria, Switzerland. The record numbers at the dinner — of more than 1,200 — was dramatic confirmation that Project 2001 is a vibrant blueprint for the next century. What was especially gratifying was the nature of the attendees: more than half were Young Leadership — children and grandchildren — of survivors. The memorable program was another exciting chapter in the remarkable and storied chronicle of the Societies for Yad Vashem. The Societies have excelled and have been dynamic in their role as the educational and developmental arm of the Israeli Remembrance Authority on the Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem. ADVANCING YAD VASHEM 2001 The commitment to remembrance on the part of the honorees advances the goals of Yad Vashem 2001, a master plan for commemorating the Holocaust in the next millennium. The six part plan features: • Collecting and transferring to Yad Vashem documents from Europe; videotaping of survivors' testimonies; constructing a new building for the archives for more than 50 million documents — the world's largest and most comprehensive repository on the Holocaust. • Promoting research by scholars at the International Center for Holocaust Studies. • Building of the International School for Holocaust Studies, with an emphasis on teacher training and development of innovative educational materials and programs. • Constructing an entrance plaza and Visitors Center — mevoah, designed by internationally renowned architect Moshe Safdie. • Expanding and refurbishing the museum complex, also designed by Moshe Safdie, enhanced by a modernized Historical Museum and Art Museum. SAFRAS ACTIVE WORLDWIDE While citizens of Sao Paulo, Brazil, the Safras have extended their active participation in Jewish causes throughout the world. The Safra Foundation has enhanced the cultural, educational, and religious life in Israel and in other countries. In Brazil he has been honored with the Medalha da Ordem do Merito Cultural, conferred by the President of Brazil, in recognition of the cultural advances he has given his country. (Continued on page 6) YAD VASHEM PLANS DATABASE A vast Holocaust database is being planned for Yad Vashem that would track European Jewry on the eve of the Holocaust and during the annihilation of the Jewish community. The story was featured on the front page of the Washington Post, written by Lee Hockstader. The project was presented at the Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era assets (see story on page 8). The Yad Vashem database was conceived by Yaakov Lozowick, director of Yad Vashem's archives. Spurred on by a query to help identify unclaimed banks accounts during World War II, Lozowick committed himself and his staff to compile a ""list of lists."" Almost all his 40 researchers were, assigned to the project. Said Avner Shalev, chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate, ""You'll be able to follow someone deported from Vienna to a transit camp, then see his name moved to Auschwitz, then on another list if he was lucky enough not to have been sent to Birkenau. lipp^ ^w * * :|,: <|I - - ''■'•■ ■''* ,«* As? /' ' , * ' '/ /* ^ .;,;;,,..■,.;.;,.;,. ;■ ■. ,&L , ■ ,^.,._ . . ■ ,.- Hip ;: x;:;x ■■ m 9b AWARDS CEREMONIES: Left — Joseph and Vicky Safra receive first Yad Vashem Humanitarian Award. (1 to r) Dr. Israel Singer, Gideon Patt, Vicky Safra, Joseph Safra; Right — Joseph Bukiet (1) receives Yad Vashem Remembrance Award from New Jersey U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg "