JANUARY 2012 VOLUME 26 NUMBER 1 Jewish Foundation for the Righteous NEW APPOINTEES TO H OLOCAUST COUNCIL Annual Dinner: Remarks by Rosie Sansalone Alway (JTA)—Holocaust survivors Elie Wiesel and Roman Kent, and Rwanda geno- cide survivor Clemantine Wamariya are among fi ve new appointees to the U.S. November 29, 2011 Holocaust Memorial Council. Good evening. It is a distinct honor and privilege to speak with you this eve- President Obama appointed the members, who were announced Oct. 28. Other ning as the recipient of the Robert I. Goldman Award for Excellence in Holocaust new members are Joseph Gutman and Howard Unger. Education. I would especially like to thank Stanlee Stahl and the Jewish Founda- “These fi ne public tion for the Righteous (JFR). Stanlee’s tireless efforts with the JFR and its mis- servants both bring a sion have certainly paved the way for my standing before you this evening, as depth of experience well as ensuring my ability to effectively teach the lessons of the Holocaust to and tremendous dedica- my students. tion to their new roles," As an English teacher I have found that the most effective tool to use with Obama said. students is the telling of stories. I teach my students to look past the surface of Professor Wiesel, the words, and to search for the author’s intent. What is the author revealing to us the Nobel Prize-win- beneath his words? When we as readers are successful in fi nding this understand- ning writer and activist, ing we are given a gift: we discover again what it means to be human. This is my has been on the council approach to teaching the Holocaust, the ultimate example of man’s inhumanity since he was its found- against man. I fi ght against the dehumanization. I teach life. I tell stories about Elie Wiesel ing chairman in 1980. Roman Kent what it means to be human. Kent, the president .. .the story of 39 red roses of Namor International Corp., is chairman of the American Gathering of Jew- .. .the story of a dog named Lala ish Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants and treasurer of the Conference .. .the story of a young boy from Hungary who has taught me that “Every name on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany. He is also president of the Jewish has a story” and that “indifference is never an option.” Foundation for the Righteous and the International Auschwitz Committee. These stories, these lessons of the Holocaust have woven themselves into ev- Wamariya is an undergraduate student at Yale University. ery novel I read with my students, every lesson I construct, and every interaction Gutman, managing director of Grosvenor Capital Management, is the son of I have with my students and colleagues. I wear my amber bracelet from Poland a Holocaust survivor. He is an active member of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial as a constant visual reminder of these lessons, so that I may incorporate a human Museum’s Chicago offi ce and the Birthright Israel executive committee. touch in all I do. Unger, founder of the investment fi rm Saw Mill Capital, is a member of the I am blessed to have the opportunity to teach at an incredible school: The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Committee on Conscience, the arm of the Summit Country Day School in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is a Catholic Independent council tasked with stimulating worldwide action against genocide and other School that encourages me as a teacher to follow my passions, to teach from my crimes against humanity. heart, and to inspire my students “to share fully the gifts given to them by God; to grow in grace and wisdom; and to become people of character who improve the world they inherit.” Father Philip Seher, our school chaplain, recently told me the Soviet Refugees To Get Hardship Payments story of his decision to become a priest. He was a young boy growing up in post- By Stewart Ain, Jewish Week World War II Europe. He would often ride his bike to an abandoned concentration Thanks to the efforts of representatives of the American Gathering, one-time camp to ponder and pray. It was on this site—a place which had infl icted so much Hardship Fund payments of about $3,300 will now be available to certain Jews horror and agony—where he decided to become a priest. He wanted to make the who fl ed areas of the Soviet Union ahead of the advancing Nazi army and whose world a better place. He has. homes were never occupied. Those eligible will include certain Jews who fl ed In addition, the JFR and the incredible men and women I have met as a result from Moscow, Stalingrad and Leningrad during specifi c time periods. of my association with this organization have reinforced this lesson of humanity. It is the fi rst time that the experiences of these Jews who fl ed for their lives I had the privilege of meeting Jadwiga and Jerzy Sliwczynska at the Rescuers’ from the Nazis is being recognized by Germany, according to the Conference on Luncheon hosted by the JFR in Warsaw Poland in the summer of 2010.1 can still Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, which negotiated for the payments. feel the soft touch of Jadwiga’s hand in mine as we greeted each other. Their Nazi victims still living in former Soviet block countries are not eligible for the example gives me the courage to lead my life following the example of the righ- payment. teous... with a human touch. Hardship Fund payments are also now being made available to eligible appli- This “human touch” is the core of my educational philosophy. I tell my stu- cants who never received German reparations and were citizens of certain West- dents that certainly my lessons in grammar, vocabulary, writing, poetry, and lit- ern European countries at the time of Nazi persecution and also at the time of that erature are important; however, it is my primary goal to teach them to be human country's Global Agreement with Germany. beings with a solid character and integrity, and more importantly righteous hu- In addition, a one-time payment of about $2,500 is for the fi rst time being paid man beings who refuse to be indifferent. to those born in 1928 or later who lived in former Soviet bloc countries, whose This is what we must teach our students. This is the primary lesson of the parents were murdered due to Nazi persecution and who have never received any Holocaust. When we teach our students to see each other as human beings, indif- German reparations. cont’d on p. 3 To apply, call 646-536-9100. PERMIT NO. 4246 NO. PERMIT New York, New York 10001 York New York, New NEW YORK, N.Y. YORK, NEW 122 West 30th Street, Suite 205 Suite Street, 30th West 122 PAID Jewish Holocaust Survivors Holocaust Jewish U.S. POSTAGE U.S. American Gathering of Gathering American NON-PROFIT January 2012 visit our website at www.amgathering.org TOGETHER 1 Those who desecrate the Holocaust should have no place in society TOGETHER By Menachem Z. Rosensaft, The Jerusalem Post January 2012 Volume 26 Number 1 The abhorrent rally in Jerusalem’s Shabbat c•o•n•t•e•n•t•s Square on December 31, 2011, featuring haredim Remarks: Jewish Foundation for the Righteous by Rosie Sansalone Alway.................... 1 wearing yellow stars and simulated concentration New Appointees to Holocaust Council.............................................................................1 camp uniforms brings to mind Walt Kelly’s obser- Soviet Refugees to Get Hardship Payments by Stewart Ain............................................1 vation in the classic “Pogo” comic strip: “We have Desecrating the Holocaust by Menachem Rosensaft........................................................2 met the enemy and he is us.” Partisans Honored by Hillel Kuttler.................................................................................3 “It’s like how it started with the Nazis—very Judge Who Ruled Holocaust a Fact Dies.......................................................................3 slowly,” said one ultra-Orthodox demonstrator, an Names of 30,000 SurvivorsNow Searchable.........................................................................4 American yeshiva student named Salomon Hober- Haredi Protestors’ Use of Holocast Imagery Condemned ................................................4 man, steadfastly insisting on his and his cohorts’ right to discriminate against and Window Opening on Nazi Prosecutions by Steve Lipman ............................................4 even physically abuse women and girls. Rosensaft Profi led by New York Times .........................................................................5 It is important to recognize that this latest misuse of Holocaust imagery and Israel Marks 70 Years Since Babi Yar ...........................................................................5 Nazi analogies did not occur in a vacuum. In 1995, posters of then-prime minister Albanian PM: Ahmadinejad is the New Nazi by Itamar Eichner....................................6 Yitzhak Rabin in a Nazi uniform were displayed at right-wing demonstrations op- Conference Calls on Romania to Acknowledge WWII War Crimes...............................6 posing any political accommodation with the Palestinians. In December of 2004, The Lower East Side Tenement Museum by Morris J. Vogel ..........................................7 Gaza Strip settlers compared then-prime minister Ariel Sharon’s decision to pull USS St. Louis Redux by Sergio Carmona....................................................................7 out of Gaza to the Holocaust and announced that they would start wearing orange “Hitler Wasn’t All Bad” by Allan Hall..........................................................................8