Martyrdom & resistance, September/October 2019

AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR YAD VASHEM 1C8^rs. “TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE... AND A THREEFOLD CORD CANNOT QUICKLY BE BROKEN” On Sunday, November 17, 2019, the American Society for Yad Vashem will be honoring three generations of one family at our Annual Tribute Din¬ ner in New York City. The Gora-Sterling-Fried- man family reflects the theme of this year’s Tribute Dinner, which comes from Kohelet. “Two are better than one... and a threefold cord can¬ not quickly be broken” (4:9-12). All three gener¬ ations are proud supporters of Yad Vashem apd are deeply committed to the mission of Holo¬ caust remembrance and education. Paula and Jack Gora will receive the ASYV Remembrance Award, Mona and David Sterling will receive the ASYV Achievement Award, and Samantha and Jonathan Friedman and Paz and Sam Friedman will receive the ASYV Young Leadership Award. Jack Gora was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1920 and lived with his parents and sister, Mar- ilia, always surrounded by extended family. Jack had a zest for life and grew to be a mischievous child and a survivor with a remarkably vivacious spirit. During the Shoah, Jack fled to Lvov, where he was arrested and sent to Rybinsk. He spent seven years in hard labor, enduring perilous con¬ ditions working in lumber camps in Siberia, and then in coal mines during his conscription in the Russian army. After the war, Jack joined his mother, who had miraculously survived, unlike the rest of her fam¬ ily. His sister Marilla, a Polish and Jewish patriot, having been betrayed by her own housekeeper, took her own life, rather than allowing the Nazis to do so. In New York City, Jack met and married Paula, also from Poland, whose family had been in Japan during the war years. Jack and Paula settled on Long Island, raising their daughters, Mona and Bonnie, in a home filled with love, fam¬ ily and Judaism. Mona married David Sterling in 2006 at the Southern Wall of the Kotel in Jerusalem. They share a dedication to family and a deep commit¬ ment to Yad Vashem’s mission of Holocaust re¬ membrance and education, the strength of the Jewish people, and the State of Israel. David is a board member of the ASYV, and he and Mona are leaders of numerous organizations, including AIPAC, WIZO, UJA, and American Friends of Rambam Hospital. Jonathan and Sam Friedman have been deeply influenced by Mona, David and their ex¬ traordinary grandparents, Jack and Paula. Grow¬ ing up, they both heard Jack tell his story of survival and resilience at the Yom HaShoah pro¬ membrance for their grandparents, and to rein¬ force their commitment to Yad Vashem so that the world will never forget. II three generations, including David’s three children — Ian and his wife Laura, Jeremy and his wife Morgan, and Melissa — live in the greater New York City area. They gather often, gram at their Jewish day school. As an adult, Mona, too, listened and learned the details from which her father had shielded her as a child. In 2018, Jonathan traveled on the Yad Vashem Generation to Generation Mission. Deeply inspired, Jonathan, Samantha, Paz and Sam became trustees of Yad Vashem. They are forever proud to carry the torch of Holocaust re¬ joined by Sam and Paz’s young children Abra¬ ham and Benjamin, Bonnie and her husband Tod, their daughters Rachel and Sofia, and the rest of the remarkable Gora-Sterling-Friedman family. We hope you will join us in honoring this wonderful family and their commitment to Yad Vashem.