Martyrdom & Resistance, November/December 2012

ID Transcript mare3902_01 "Vol. 39-No. 2 November/December 2012-Kislev/Tevet 5773 IYLAND21252 mmmmmmmmmm ANNUAL TRIBUTE DINNER OF THE AMERICAN & INTERNATIONAL SOCIETIES FOR YAD VASHEM CELEBRATING RESISTANCE: ARMED RESISTANCE, GHETTO FIGHTERS, AND SPIRITUAL RESISTANCE ""THE TORCH WILL CONTINUE TO ILLUMINATE OUR SACRED MISSION"" LEONARD WILF, Chairman of the American & International Societies for Yad Vashem Ti onight's theme is ""Resistance: Armed Resistance, Ghetto Fighters, and Spiritual Resistance."" It is therefore appropriate that we honor three people — Cesia and Frank Blaichman, and Liev Schreiber — who, in their own ways, represent the brave nature of resistance during World war II. Cesia and Frank Blaichman were teenagers when the war broke out. They exhibited heroic courage when they each, separately, became resistance fighters. They miraculously survived the war, built their lives, and vowed to remember. Their connection to our organization goes back to its inception when together with Eli, z""l they spearheaded the construction of the ""Memorial to the Jewish Soldiers"" at Yad Vashem. They continue to dedicate themselves to the cause of Holocaust remembrance. We are also delighted to have with us the celebrated actor of stage and screen, Liev Schreiber, whom we are privileged to honor as well. Mr. Schreiber, a recipient of the Tony Award and numerous Tony, Emmy, and Golden Globe award nominations, helped show the world the role of Jewish resistance during the war, through his portrayal of the partisan Zus Bielski. Cesia and Frank Blaichman displayed unparalleled bravery in their own lives, and Liev Schreiber brought the story of Zus Bielski's courage to screen. Our guest speaker, Major-General Amir Eshel, commander of Israel's Air Force, is also no stranger to valor. As you will later hear, as a son of Holocaust survivors, Major-General Eshel undertook a unique and special historical mission to which he aspired a long time. At this time of celebrating heroes, I wish to pay tribute to the hero who was in our midst: our recently departed friend, founder and chairman, Eli Zborowski, z""l. It was because of Eli's vision and determination that we are able to stand here today, proud of what we have accomplished in the area of Holocaust commemoration and education, in Israel and throughout the world. Eli made it his life's mission to honor the memory of our heroes and martyrs and ensure that it be held for eternity. We miss Eli dearly, but it is our commitment to continue in the path he forged. We will carry out the work of the American & International Societies for Yad Vashem, and continue to be dedicated to the cause of remembrance. At these fraught times of terrorism and anti-Semitism, it is important that we renew our pledge to educate our children and grandchildren and indeed the world about the perils of intolerance and hate, those which gave birth to our biggest catastrophe, the Shoah. As your chairman I pledge to you that the torch held by my predecessor will continue to illuminate our sacred mission and burn bright. I now wish to extend my deepest gratitude to Marilyn Rubenstein, for her role as dinner chairperson and supervisor. Marilyn put her heart and soul into ensuring that this event would be one to have made Eli proud. To Marilyn, and to her fellow chairpersons — Ira Drukier, Mark Wilf and Jeremy Halpern — thank you for a job well done. And thank you all for being here tonight. ""WE CAN DEAL WITH ANY CHALLENGE"" AMIR ESHEL, Major-General, Commander of Israel's Air Force Six months ago I was privileged to receive the command of the Israeli Air Force. The responsibility for the most central defensive and offensive force for the protection of the State of Israel was given to my hands. In my office, in the headquarters of the Israel Air Force, hangs a single picture. The picture is not very large, but to me, it says it all. On September 4, 1943, 1000 Jews, who had been transported from Drancy in France to Auschwitz-Birkenau, were murdered and cremated, as had so many been murdered just before and still after them. Precisely 60 years later, I led a formation of three F-15 fighter jets of the Israeli Air Force, in a symbolic flight over the skies of the death camps in Poland. The cockpits were manned exclusively by pilots who were the children or grandchildren of Holocaust victims and survivors. Most of my own mother's family was brutally murdered by gunfire in the death gullies in eastern Poland, today Belarus. For all of us, this flight was both a personal and national journey, a journey that touched every raw nerve and asked every difficult question. In that photograph on my wall, one can see two of those jets, with their blue Magen David, the Star of David. Below one sees the remnants of the crematoria, the selection platform, the remaining huts, and that terrible, infamous gateway into the camp. From above, the concentration camp looks like a peaceful park, green fields in a village-like pastoral setting. The thought that this was the appearance of the ceme tery of the Jewish people, a hell on earth created by human beings, where Jews had been murdered simply for having been Jews, had a profound effect on all of us in the air above. We stared down at the camp, thinking how, in this place, had flourished the death factory created by the nation that previously had taken the leading role in the culture and science of Europe. We saw but could not comprehend. From above, we could imagine seeing the small figures of people marching along the selection platforms straight to their deaths. We, the Sabras, who had been educated in our youth on the ethos of the New Jew, had often looked with disdain upon the so- called ""Jews who went to the slaughter like sheep."" How many trials and tribulations did the Jews of Europe endure in the ghettos, in the transports, and in the camps, until their final annihilation by overwhelming forces? What bravery did it take to undergo all this? I understood how wrong we were about our attitude to the victims and to the survivors. The sight that we saw from above on that September day in 2003 was identical to the sight seen by thousands of Allied pilots who flew over the camps in 1944. They saw but did not know. They did not realize. But their leaders knew. Nevertheless, Auschwitz and the rail lines leading to the camp were not designated as military targets! The thought that a relatively small bombing attack could have prevented the deaths of Hungarian Jewry and the Jews of ghetto Lodz arouses difficult thoughts, feelings, and questions. Questions that have no good answer. I thought to myself about the amazing (Continued on page 16) IN THIS ISSUE American & International Societies for Yad Vashem Annual Tribute Dinner. 1,8-9 Trove of everyday items reveals Lithuania's dark Holocaust secret .....5 Proudly bearing elders'scars 6 ""Why would anyone want to burn Jews?"" 7 Rywka's diary. 10 Archive reveals new details of Holocaust in Moldova 11 Holocaust museums in Israel evolve 11 A maharajah comes to the rescue 12 The Nazi who saved Sigmund Freud 13 Ignoring Jewish history. 15 Torah travels from hell on earth into outer space 16 oUhv vcnfibe blessed with qeed health, A,nH' all the■; "