Martyrdom & Resistance, November/December 2005

ID Transcript mare3202_01 "Vol. 32-N0.2 ISSN 0893-1571 November/December 2005-Cheshvan/Kislev 5766 ANNUAL TRIBUTE DINNER OF THE AMERICAN AND INTERNATIONAL SOCIETIES FOR YAD VASHEM Sixty years have passed since the Holocaust, but pain and wrath still live in the hearts of survivors, their children and grandchildren. Sixty years later survivors remember every detail of their terrible ordeal and these painful memories are getting passed on to younger generations. Those who have been fortunate enough not to endure the atrocities of Shoah do their best to preserve memories of the people who survived the inferno, like this year honorees Mindy and Ira Mitzner and Marilyn and Barry Rubenstein. Like hun dreds and thousands of others contributors to Yad Vashem who give not only money but also their hearts to preserve memories of Shoah. Preservation of memory, continuity of remembrance was the main theme of the speeches at the 21st Annual Tribute Dinner that took place November 20 at Sheraton New York Hotel. We offer you some of the highlights of this memorable event and greetings from the dignitaries sent to The American and International Societies for Yad Vashem. THE TRIUMPH OF THE JEWISH SPIRIT BY MAJOR GENERAL ELYEZER SHKEDY It is a great honor and a pleasure to be here this evening and to speak in front of such a distinguished audience. The very fact that I, Elyezer Shkedy, son of Moshe Mandel Shkedy, a sole survivor of an entire family, am standing here today as the Israeli Air Force Commander is in itself a wonder. My father, Moshe Mandel Shkedy, who has just turned eighty, has an amazing history. He has written an entire book about it and I will tell you only some of its highlights. In 1944, in Hungary, he is separated from his family and taken to work battalions. Later, a daring night time escape, he jumped from a train, destination-unknown. A chance meeting with an old man saved his life and then hid again in Budapest under the Nazis' noses. It took two years from the end of the war for my father to finally realize that he was the sole survivor of his family. His father Elyezer, after whom I am named, his mother and his four sisters all perished in Auschwitz, together with most of Hungary's Jews. When we review our history, from the destruction of the Second Temple through w; Guest speaker Eliezer Shkedy, Commander of the Israeli Air Force and Eli Zborowski, Chairman of the American and International Societies for Yad Vashem . IN THIS ISSUE Highlights from the 21 st Annual Tribute Dinner. 1,5,8-9,11 Court Approves Holocaust Settlement Allocation Formula 3 Book Reviews 4 Survivors Corner. 6 Yad Vashem Urging People to Submit Unrecorded Names .....7 Report from Yad Vashem ...10 Lodz Remembers its 200,000 Holocaust Victims ...12 The October 1938 Precursor to Kristallnacht 13 Lifelong Journey to Faith........ ..14 Reflections on Charles R. Allen Jr. 15 Yad Vashem Awarded the Dane Couple 16 two thousand years of Diaspora until the For fifty-seven years, we have been founding of the State of Israel, we see that struggling to protect and defend our coun- persecution was a part of Jewish life. The try. That struggle is long, hard and bloody. Yes, we have help from our great friend the United States of America, but we, in the Air Force and the Israel Defense Forces know that we can count only on ourselves to carry the true burden of defense. e have learned throughout the years that it is our everlasting obligation not to be wrong regarding the intentions of our enemies and always remain on guard. We must remember and never forget, we must continue telling the story of our people and we must fight for the prevalence of the Jewish nation and the State of Israel. Our past experiences have taught us not to underestimate the abilities of our enemies. The Israeli Air Force, together with all the Israel Defense Forces and the Security forces, stands ready to defend the Jewish people in our homeland and all around the world. Sixty years have passed since liberation and the end of the war. I am proud to stand here as a second generation survivor, as a fighter pilot of the Israeli Air Force that helped to make the dream of a Jewish State come true. All Jews are brothers, and this is true but the survivors and their children, we of the second generation have a special bond. We are truly one large family. I know that each and everyone of you here has a special family and a very special history. Without a doubt, I believe that this is the true victory of our people, what we have survived and been able to build over the last sixty years, what we are doing today and what our children, the third generation will still achieve in the future. This is the triumph of the Jewish Spirit. Holocaust was the ultimate form of it. The Nazis and their collaborators did not only persecute but actually intended to wipe us off the face of the earth. If we think these thoughts perished with the end of the war we need only to listen to news broadcast to realize that the same is being said about the State of Israel today. Despite the best attempts of the Nazi regime and as a part of the post- Holocaust miracle we have succeeded in establishing, a dynamic and vibrant democracy, a thriving economy, a cultural powerhouse, the free Jewish state, the State of Israel. "