Martyrdom & Resistance, Summer 2000

ID Transcript mare2701a_01 "American & international societies for YAD VASHEM Volume 1, Number 1 MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN Eli Zborowski Dear Friends: It is almost Impossible to believe that twenty years have passed since the establishment of the American Society for Yad Vashem. We began our efforts united in the desire that the horrors of the Holocaust should never be forgotten and our support has helped Yad Vashem become one of the most significant landmarks in the moral history of mankind. Today, I am proud to report that our membership numbers 40,000. The historic pilgrimage of Pope John Paul II to Yad Vashem earlier this year, eloquently demonstrates the vital importance of this unique place to the entire world. This year, 2.5 million people — over 80% tourists, many of them non-Jews — are expected to visit Yad Vashem, and we know they each will be forever changed by what they see and experience there. Our first major project, The Valley of the Communities, began in 1981 and dedicated in 1992, has been a precious reminder for generations to come of the irreversible loss suffered by the Jewish community in the Holocaust. Thanks to the generosity (continued on page 3) Summer 2000 YAD VASHEM BUILDS NEW HISTORICAL MUSEUM Wilf Family Honored At Groundbreaking In a moving ceremony held last May, ground was broken for the New Historical Museum at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. This new project is a key part of the Yad Vashem 2001 Masterplan, which supports the renovation and expansion of the 45-acre complex. The Harry and Joseph Wilf families, major donors for the project, were honored at the groundbreaking. ""With 50 million pages of documentation, 100,000 photographs, 2,000 films, and thousands of personal mementos, Yad Vashem is an institution that transcends all other Holocaust memorials in scope and size. ""The new Historical Museum will ensure active Holocaust commemoration for future Leonard Wilf, son of Judith and the late Harry Wilf, receiving a scroll from Avner Shalev Joseph Wilf, Chairman, Yad Vashem 2001, Amnon Lipkin- Shahak, Israeli Minister of Tourism and Avner Shalev, Chairman, Yad Vashem Directorate, breaking ground generations,"" said Joseph Wilf, speaking on behalf of his late brother and their families. Joseph Wilf, chairman of the Yad Vashem 2001 Campaign, has spent his life dedicated to preserving the cause of Remembrance. Born in Jaroslaw, Poland, Wilf and his family were deported by the Russians to a Siberian labor camp. After the war, determined to return home, they experienced the pogroms of post-war Poland before they were able to emigrate to America where the whole family - Harry, his wife Judith, Joseph, his wife Elizabeth (known as Susie by her friends), and their parents, Oscar and Ella — began a new life. , (continued on page 4) 1 "