ABOUT HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR DAY
On March 6, 2021, Michael Berenbaum and Jonathan Ornstein published the following op-ed in The Jerusalem Post calling for the creation of a "Holocaust Survivor Day." In their words, "Holocaust survivors deserve a day of joy; a day of celebration. Not a day to share with condemnation of the Nazis, but a day to celebrate their lives they built in response to the Holocaust. Survivors represent the best in all of us, the best of the human spirit. They are our treasure and our light and we must shine that light into every dark corner of our world. We call on the world to join us and celebrate the inaugural Holocaust Survivor Day on June 26th."
Steven Spielberg's message on Holocaust Survivor Day
Why June 26?
June 26th is Auschwitz survivor Marian Turski’s birthday. This date was chosen to acknowledge the importance and impact of the noted historian, journalist, and the moral conscience of Poland’s Jewish community, and especially his powerful speech at last year’s ceremony commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Mr. Turski had this to say:
"Auschwitz did not fall from the sky. It began with small forms of persecution of Jews. It happened; it means it can happen anywhere. That is why human rights and democratic constitutions must be defended. The eleventh commandment is important: Don't be indifferent. Do not be indifferent when you see historical lies, do not be indifferent when any minority is discriminated against, do not be indifferent when power violates a social contract."
Join us as and celebrate the lives of the survivors from your own community and the living legacies left by those who are no longer with us.
International Advisory Committee
Meryl Ain
Author, The Takeaway Men: A Novel
Ellen Bachner Greenberg
Co-founder and President, Descendants of Holocaust Survivors (2G Greater NY)
Anat Barber
Assistant Director, Capital Gifts and Special Initiatives, UJA Federation of New York
Judy Batalion
Author, "The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler's Ghettos"
Carol Becker
Businesswoman, Philanthropist
Michael Berenbaum
Director, Sigi Ziering Institute at the American Jewish University
Sharon Buenos
Global Director, Zikaron BaSalon
Ulrika Citron
USC Shoah Foundation Next Generation Council member
William Daroff
Chief Executive Officer, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
Rabbi Mark Dratch
Executive Vice President, Rabbinical Council of America
Phyllis Greenberg Heideman
President, International March of the Living
Malcolm Hoenlein
Executive Vice Chairman, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
Rabba Batya Jacobs
Yerushalayim Torah Academy
Beth Kean
Executive Director, Holocaust Museum LA
Rabbi David Seth Kirshner
Rabbi of Temple Emanu-El, in NJ
Doron Krakow
President and CEO, JCC Association of North America
Helise Lieberman
Executive Director, Taube Center for Jewish Life & Learning Foundation
Lindsay Matloff
Director, Leadership Operations, JFNA
Susan Myers
President, The Association of Holocaust Organizations (AHO)
Jonathan Ornstein
Executive Director, JCC Krakow
Rabbi Michael Paley
Senior Scholar at Joint Distribution Committee
Lord Eric Pickles
United Kingdom Special Envoy for post-Holocaust issues
Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Rosenberg
Chairman, Holocaust Commission of the New York Board of Rabbis
Menachem Rosensaft
General Counsel and Associate Executive Vice President, World Jewish Congress
Rabbi Peter J. Rubinstein
Senior VP, Jewish Community
Managing Director, 92Y Bronfman Center
Scott Saunders
Founder & Chairman, March of the Living UK
Rabbi Michael Schudrich
Chief Rabbi of Poland
Paula Slier
CEO and Founder, Newshound Media International
Dariusz Stola
Professor, Institute of Political Studies in Warsaw, former Director of the POLIN Museum
Elizabeth Szancer
Art Curator
Gideon Taylor
Board President, Claims Conference
Mark Wilf
Chair of the Board of Trustees, JFNA
Piotr Wiślicki
Chairperson, Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland
Maria Zalewska
Executive Director, Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation
Colette Avital
Chairperson, Center Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel
Smadar Bar-Akiva
Executive Director, JCC Global
Staci Barber
Co-Chair, JFNA's Holocaust Survivor Initiative
Rabbi Avi Baumol
Rabbinic Representative of the Chief Rabbi of Poland in Krakow
Avi Benlolo
Founding Chairman & CEO, The Abraham Global Peace Initiative
Herbert Block
Executive Director, American Zionist Movement
Joel Citron
Vice-Chairman, Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation
Angela Cohen
Chairman, '45 Aid Society
Tova Dorfman
Vice Chairman and Head of the Department for Israel and the Commemoration of the Holocaust Worldwide, World Zionist Organization
Cheryl Fishbein
Chair, Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Marcy Gringlas
President & Co-Founder, Seed the Dream Foundation
Shira Hutt
Executive Vice President, JFNA
Avi Jorisch
Author, Entrepreneur
Barbara Kirshenblatt Gimblett
Ronald S. Lauder Chief Curator of the Core Exhibition at POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews
Dr. Miriam Klein Kassenoff
Director, Holocaust Teacher Education Institute, School of Education, University of Miami
Hannah Lessing
Secretary General, General Settlement Fund for Victims of National Socialism
Dianne Lob
Chair, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
Mark Medin
Executive Vice President, UJA Federation of New York
Michael Newman
Chief Executive, The Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR)
Lizzie Oved Scheja
Founder & Director, Judisk Kultur i Sverige
Shana Penn
Executive Director, Taube Philanthropies
Shelley Rood Wernick
Managing Director, Center on Holocaust Survivor Care and Institute on Aging and Trauma at JFNA
Elana Rosenfield
President, 3GDC
Eli Rubinstein
Director of Education, International March of the Living
Stacey Saiontz
Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust Trustee
Mariano Schlimovich
Executive Director, European Council of Jewish Communities
Edward Serotta
Director, Centropa
Rabbi Josh Spinner
Executive VP and CEO, Ronald S. Lauder Foundation
Zygmunt Stępiński
Director, POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews
Tad Taube
Chariman, Taube Philanthropies
Vicki Warner
President, Friends of JCC Krakow
Anita Winter
Founder and President, Gamaraal Foundation
Rabbi David Wolpe
Max Webb Senior Rabbi at Temple Sinai