JULY 2010 VOLUME 24 NUMBER 3 Memory and Remembrance bodies and souls, cannot be forgotten. Our festering scars can hardly be healed. Address on the 65th Anniversary at the International Observance of the Today, sixty-five years later, the depth of our pain remains a constant wound. Liberation of Bergen-Belsen The conclusion that we must derive from this tragic history is that we must by SAM E. BLOCH, President, World Federation of Bergen-Belsen Survivors turn memory into collective action. We must continue to confront and remind all and American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust those who did not know, who did not want to know, and those who don’t want to Survivors and Their Descendants be disturbed by such tragic memories as well as those who shamefully attempt to minimize the extent of the tragedy or deny it at all. The lessons of the Holocaust Distinguished Minister-President Wulff, Minis- must not be diminished into just a footnote in history. We must educate the younger ter Neumann and dignitaries of Niedersachsen, es- generations and imbue them with the spirit of remembrance as well as the mission teemed representatives of all other countries, fellow to combat all forms of racial, religious, and ethnic hatred before it is too late. survivors and their descendants, ladies and gentlemen: Memory preserves the threads of sorrow and joys of people, and carries them It is hard to believe that sixty-five years have forth. Forgetfulness betrays not only the past but also the present and the future. passed since our liberation. We remember well that We stand here today with our children as links in the chain of memory -- the spring of 1945, when the war came to an end, the sun memory of our sufferings, the spirit of our Jewish heritage and faith, and our was shining, and the world was back on its course. commitment and love for the State of Israel. We have vowed to transmit these On the day of liberation, the rescued emerged from memories and values to our children, and to their children, so that they can forge Bergen-Belsen and all the other infamous concentra- an eternal bond with our past and keep alive the chain of continuity, to fulfill the tion camps. They stood among the heaps of ashes and dead corpses – a flaming aspirations and objectives that remained unfulfilled with the death of the millions stone in their hearts. While liberation heralded hope for new beginnings, for the of our victims. Jewish survivors victory came too late as we faced the full awareness of the In the name of all Belsen survivors, we pause to pay tribute to the British and catastrophe that had befallen our people. Canadian soldiers who liberated the camp on April 15, 1945. We will never forget Despite everything, we, the survivors, emerged with dignity from the ashes of their noble efforts in saving the lives of the sick and dying in the aftermath of the the Holocaust and the mass graves of Belsen. Our bitter memories served us not liberation. We also express our appreciation to the authorities of Niedersachsen only as a source of grief and sorrow over the loss of our families, but also as a for maintaining our sacred place of memory as well as creating the Bergen Belsen source of strength and motivation to face life again – to go on despite everything. Memorial Museum. This Museum and Archive serves as a major center for the We came to terms with our shattered world, heroically coping by creating life transmission and education of the lessons of the Holocaust to future generations, anew in every sense of the word. Belsen, under the leadership of Josef Rosensaft, in the hopes of eradicating racial hatred and intolerance. became the largest DP camp in Europe with a vibrant creative community where Today, sixty-five years later, we once again stand here with pain and anguish faith and life were made to fully blossom for five years in the shadow of the and shed tears at the mass graves of Bergen-Belsen. We will remember all of our horrors of the Holocaust. martyrs for all of eternity. As survivors, our numbers are dramatically dwindling, By now, the historical facts of what transpired during the Holocaust are known and one day soon there will be no eye-witnesses left to remind the world of man’s to all. The fire that engulfed the victims is a grim past. Bergen-Belsen and all the inhumanity to man. Let us all vow never to forget and to prevent such tragedies other infamous places of the Holocaust were a result of vicious racial hatred, which as the Holocaust. Let us teach the world around us to be dedicated to freedom, started with vitriolic speeches, the burning of books, the shattering of store windows, peace, and friendship among people and nations. Let us all go on in living with a the destruction of synagogues, and ended with the burning of people. The horrible shared commitment to remember the past, to live the present, and to trust the sufferings, which we the survivors endured and that are so deeply rooted in our future. Let us all join hands in this noble objective. American Gathering alleges fraud in sale in the ground, and in former Nazi concentration camps. While smuggling Torahs out of some countries, Youlus claimed he was beaten up and threatened. of pre-war Torah scrolls In April, the New York-based American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust The American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and their Survivors and Their Descendants – which represents 85,000 survivors of the Descendants has called on authorities in Maryland to launch an investigation into Shoah – filed a request for a criminal inquiry. The complaint was written by the sale of Holocaust-era Torah scrolls. The non-profit foundation Save A Torah historian and attorney Menachem Rosensaft, vice president of the group, and Inc. of Rabbi Menachem Youlus claims it is purchasing and restoring European filed with Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler and Maryland Secretary Torah scrolls, and four Maryland synagogues have recently bought scrolls from of State John McDonough. Youlus. A Washington Post article published in January suggested that the dramatic Rosensaft said the request for an official inquiry reflects “disturbing stories told by the rabbi of the scrolls’ origins were false. information” indicating that Save A Torah, a tax-exempt organization, may have An independent investigation by two scribes commissioned by Save A Torah raised charitable contributions based on “incredible and, in some instances, found that eight of the 11 scrolls restored and sold by Youlus were “suitable for demonstrably false representations” regarding the origin of some of the scrolls. ritual use in the synagogue,” according to a statement and report issued by Rosensaft, the son of survivors of the Bergen-Belsen Nazi concentration camp foundation president Rick Zitelman. All of the Torahs examined were found to be in Germany, said in an interview that evidence of misrepresentation was drawn written in pre-Holocaust years in eastern Europe. from the Post story as well as his independent investigation. Youlus has claimed that he found the scrolls in monastery basements, buried cont’d on p. 8 American Gathering of NON-PROFIT Jewish Holocaust Survivors U.S. POSTAGE 122 West 30th Street, Suite 205 PAID NEW YORK, N.Y. New York, New York 10001 PERMIT NO. 4246 July 2010 visit our website at www.amgathering.org TOGETHER 1 Roman Kent Plays Pivotal Role in Reparations Negotiations with Germany TOGETHER Volume 24 Number 3 Roman Kent, Chairman of the American Gathering July 2010 and Treasurer of the Conference of Material Claims c•o•n•t•e•n•t•s Against Germany, played a pivotal role in the successful Memory and Remembrance by Sam Bloch.................................................................................1 negotiations in March with the German Government that American Gathering Alleges Fraud..............................................................................................1 resulted in increased home care services and pension American Gathering Chairman Plays Crucial Role....................................................................2 Address by Ronald S. Lauder.......................................................................................................3 payments in the amount of $125 million for Holocaust Property Restitution by Julius Berman.......................................................................................3 survivors, including $55 million for home care. Stop Holocaust Analogies by Menachem Rosensaft .............................................................4 Ambassador Stuart E. Eizenstat, the Claims What Helen Thomas Missed by Richard Cohen...................................................................4 Conference Special Negotiator, called the agreement “a A Look into Haiti’s Tiny Jewish Community by Rebecca Anna Stoil.................................5 major step forward in addressing vital social welfare Austria Pays for Looted Books...................................................................................................6 needs for the poorest of Jewish Holocaust victims living The Arab Position on the Holocaust by Shlomo Avineri.......................................................6 Roman Kent around the world.” Polish-language Guide to Shavuot............................................................................................6 The American Gathering takes great pride in the Russia Outlaws Mein Kampf by Theunis Bates.......................................................................7 critical contributions made