MUSEUM OFJEWISH HERITAGEA LIVING MEMORIAL TO THE HOLOCAUST

SPRING/SUMMER 2017

In the months to come, we will continue to expand our commitment to exploring the history of anti-Semitism and addressing present-day concerns.

It is inspiring to work in view of a fast–approaching and important milestone for the Museum—our 20th anniversary. Our special anniversary events will begin in September 2017 and mark two decades of fulfilling our mission as New York’s contribution to the global responsibility to never forget.

The accomplishments of the last few months have elevated what is possible for us as a place of memory and learning. Thank you for being part of the Museum community and supporting our crucial mission as we create the future of Holocaust education.

Sincerely,

Bruce C. RatnerChairman

In keeping with Jewish tradition, spring at the Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living Memorial to the Holocaust has proven to be a time of renewal and recommitment.

We welcomed Michael S. Glickman as our new President & CEO; gathered for a tribute to Elie Wiesel that became the largest public program in the Museum’s 20–year history; organized and presented New York’s Annual Gathering of Remembrance in observance of Yom HaShoah; launched compelling new installations and programs exploring Jewish life before, during, and after the Holocaust; and created new opportunities for testimony–based learning and scholarship.

As we enter this critical time in the Museum’s history, our responsibility has never been greater. The resurgence of anti-Semitism and risk of global discord have motivated the Museum to reinvigorate our mission and answer ignorance with education. This spring brought new programming from the Museum’s Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism spearheaded by Abe Foxman.

SPRING AT THE MUSEUMA MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIRMAN

OPERATION FINALE: THE CAPTURE & TRIAL OF ADOLF EICHMANN On view for Members and Friends July 16, 2017 Official Opening September 10, 2017

The Nazi responsible for the transport of millions of innocent people to death camps might well have lived out his days in Argentina as “Ricardo Klement,” if fate, a Holocaust survivor, and Israel’s foreign intelligence service had not intervened. This multimedia exhibition features recently declassified artifacts never before seen outside of Israel. It reveals the secret history behind the capture, extradition, and trial of one of the world’s most notorious escaped war criminals.

Operation Finale is designed to expand access to understanding the war against the Jews, bringing Nazi atrocities and survivor testimony to a world stage. Surrounded by archival film footage, visitors will become immersed in a courtroom setting, watching Eichmann, projected into the original bullet-proof glass booth where he sat dispassionately throughout the trial listening to eyewitness accounts of the brutality of the Nazi regime and their collaborators.

Operation Finale: The Capture & Trial of Adolf Eichmann is presented as part of the 20th anniversary celebration of the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust with major support provided by The David Berg Foundation; Bruce C. Ratner; and Bernard and Anne Spitzer Charitable Trust.

The exhibition is made possible by George Klein; Paler Foundation; and the Leonard N. Stern Charitable Fund. Additional support is provided by Eugene and Emily Grant Family Foundation; The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation; R. David Sudarsky Charitable Trust; the Salo W. and Jeannette M. Baron Foundation; and The Nancy Fisher Family Fund. Operation Finale is a co–production of The Mossad–Israel Secret Intelligence Service; Beit Hatfutsot–The Museum of the Jewish People, Tel Aviv, Israel; and the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, Cleveland, Ohio.

The Museum will present a rich array of public programs to complement this and other exhibitions throughout fall 2017. Please visit www.mjhnyc.org for more information.

HONORING THE SILVERSTEIN FAMILYINAUGURAL REAL ESTATE LUNCHEON

Last fall, over 400 leaders from the Real Estate and Allied Trades gathered in support of the Museum of Jewish Heritage. The inaugural Real Estate and Allied Trades Division luncheon held at 4 World Trade Center was to honor Larry and Klara Silverstein, Roger Silverstein, Lisa Silverstein and Tal Kerret for their exemplary commitment to the Museum and leadership in rebuilding Lower Manhattan.

FEATURED AT MJH

The Museum announced a new opportunity for scholars after having received a $1,150,000 grant from The Vivian G. Prins Foundation. Vivian Prins was a successful businessman and entrepreneur who emigrated to the United States in 1938 to escape Nazi Germany. The Vivian G. Prins Fellowship Program creates residencies at the Museum for scholars, curators, visual artists, filmmakers, researchers, writers, and Holocaust educators. The fellowship was established in honor of Bronia Brandman (above), a survivor of Auschwitz and one of the Museum’s earliest and most steadfast volunteers.

The sold–out event, chaired by Museum trustees Peter S. Kalikow (President, H.J. Kalikow & Co.), George Klein (Chairman, Park Tower Group), and Bruce C. Ratner (Executive Chairman, Forrest City Ratner), raised over $3.2 million. The event was the largest and most successful fundraiser in the Museum’s 20–year history.

The Eighteenth Annual Fanya Gottesfeld Heller Conference for Educators in April took up the topic “Lives Turned Upside Down: Teenagers During the Holocaust.” Featured speakers Samuel D. Kassow (Charles H. Northam Professor of History, Trinity College) and Dr. Irit Felsen (Psychologist and Researcher) explored the effects of the Holocaust on family relationships, with a special focus on teenagers. Fanya Gottesfeld Heller (above), a Museum trustee, is a Holocaust survivor, author, and philanthropist whose support enables the Museum to carry out its Holocaust education mission.

This spring, the Center for the Study of Anti–Semitism inaugurated a new program series with Museum trustee Abraham H. Foxman, former National Director of the Anti–Defamation League (ADL), who is spearheading the Center. The series included programs that focused on the roots of anti–Semitism, how and why this specific form of hatred continues to persist, and the dangers anti–Semitism poses to free society. In 2016, the Museum introduced the Center to address these central questions.

Above: Detail of Anti-Bolshevist poster of the NSDAP which purports to reveal the truth about Bolshevism as a secret tool of world Jewish domination. Gift of Leslie, Judith and Gabri Schreyer and Alice Schreyer Batko in memory of Oscar Schreyer

Looking ahead to a time when there will be no Holocaust survivors left in our families, neighborhoods and communities, the Museum of Jewish Heritage created the Heritage TestimoniesSM program. This new program gives people the opportunity to learn about the Holocaust by meeting with descendants of survivors. With the training and help of the Museum’s professional educators, participating second and third generation descendants of Holocaust survivors are currently helping school groups and other audiences connect with the history of the Holocaust on a personal level.

At the Museum’s 25th Annual Spring Women’s Luncheon on March 29, 2017, Irene Hizme recounted her experience as a child trapped in Auschwitz. Irene and her brother René were among more than 3,000 twins on whom Mengele and other Nazi doctors conducted “medical experiments.” Only 160 of the twins survived.

The Luncheon was held at The Pierre and brought together over 350 survivors, scholars, philanthropists, business innovators, and activists

25TH ANNUAL SPRING WOMEN’S LUNCHEON

who are making incredible contributions in their fields and communities—and who are dedicated to supporting the Museum’s mission.

Irene Hizme said: “Truth is on our side. We must never be silent in the face of hatred and bigotry and we must remember that the road to Auschwitz is paved in silence.”

Above, from left: Ann Oster, Stacey Saiontz, Minna Seitelman, Kathy Gantz, and Patti Kenner with Holocaust Survivor and Honoree, Irene Hizme

FEATURED AT MJH

NIGHT “WHOEVER LISTENS TO A WITNESS, BECOMES A WITNESS.” ELIE WIESEL

This year’s International Holocaust Remembrance Day was our first without Elie Wiesel. Elie served as Honorary Chairman of the Museum of Jewish Heritage, and remains an inspiration for our work. Even as the Museum community felt his absence, we were more grateful than ever for his gift to us—his words.

On Sunday, January 29, 2017, the Museum and its resident theater company, National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene, brought together a new global audience for Tribute to Elie Wiesel: A Community Reading of NIGHT. Luminaries, friends, students, survivors and community leaders read aloud the full text of one of Mr. Wiesel’s most important and memorable works for a public audience at the Museum.

The event featured Elisha Wiesel, Tovah Feldshuh, Joel Grey, Sheldon Harnick, Jessica Hecht, Fanya Gottesfeld Heller, David Hyde Pierce, Bill T. Jones, Daniel and Nina Libeskind, Sheila Nevins, Itzhak Perlman, Ron Rifkin, Geraldo Rivera, Daryl Roth, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, and many other readers.

People from around the world watched the livestream online—making it a truly international remembrance and the largest public program in the Museum’s 20–year history. Visit www.mjhnyc.org/night to view the reading.

Top, from left: David Hyde Pierce, Zalmen Mlotek, Joel Grey, Ron Rifkin Above: Ellen Burstyn

EXHIBITIONS AND INSTALLATIONS

MJH AT ITS COREThe Museum made significant enhancements to the visual impact of its Core Exhibition about Jewish life before, during, and after the Holocaust to continue providing visitors with an impactful experience. Among the changes, the Museum digitized the 1551 Proclamation that Security Police gave Hermann Göring for his birthday in 1940. The proclamation by Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I compelled all Jews to wear a yellow badge.

MY NAME IS... THE LOST CHILDREN OF KLOSTER INDERSDORFOn view through July 23, 2017

In 1945, a former convent near Dachau named Kloster Indersdorf became a temporary home for hundreds of displaced children in the immediate aftermath of World War II. To help locate relatives, a photograph was taken of each child to be circulated in search notices. Many of the children had changed markedly during the war, and some had even lost their names. The installation displays a selection of the images and their individual stories, conveying the powerful reality faced by these children.

EYEWITNESS: PHOTOGRAPHS BY B.A. VAN SISEOn view through September 15, 2017

The Museum’s first public art installation features portraits of Holocaust survivors living in New York City. Photojournalist B.A. Van Sise spent the past year photographing survivors who are part of the Museum’s Speakers Bureau and who serve as Gallery Educators. Eyewitness was commissioned for Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Museum. The installation consists of 31 photographs of Holocaust survivors (between 4 and 13 feet high) filling the windows of the Museum’s façade and windows along the Reflection Passage on the Museum’s third floor.

“In a 15–year career, this has possibly been the single hardest assignment I have ever taken on. I chat with the subjects, listening to their stories, and I end up carrying part of their lives within me, after I leave. I was once an elementary school teacher, and many of the survivors were roughly the age of the first graders I used to teach, when they went through the Holocaust. Meeting these people, you realize: they were never children.” —B.A. Van Sise

NEW YORK’SANNUAL GATHERINGOF REMEMBRANCE

As New York’s Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Museum of Jewish Heritage is committed to creating meaningful opportunities for diverse communities to gather in remembrance and commemoration. From April 19 through April 30, 2017, the Museum hosted nearly 20 remembrance events, attracting thousands of people to its New York home. On April 23, 2017, more than 2,100 people attended the Museum’s Annual Gathering of Remembrance (at Temple Emanu–El)—New York’s largest Holocaust commemoration—and 45,000 people watched the ceremony live online. Visit www.mjhnyc.org/live to view the gathering.

Top: Holocaust Survivor Rose Feigenbaum lights a memorial candle with her familyAbove: The HaZamir Youth Choir, led by Matthew Lazar

Excerpted remarks fromMICHAEL S. GLICKMAN, PRESIDENT & CEO OF THE MUSEUMat New York’s Annual Gathering of Remembrance on April 23, 2017

Simon and Stefany Bergson made a $1 million gift in memory of Milton and Nadzia Bergson, and Henri-Louis Bergson, an influential French philosopher during the first half of the 19th century who was awarded the 1927 Nobel Prize in Literature. In recognition of their gift, the Museum has created Café Bergson.

The David Berg Foundation awarded two grants to the Museum totaling $550,000 in support of its 20th Anniversary programming. Funding will be used to present high–impact exhibitions, revitalize public space, and introduce new technology for the benefit of visitors. It will also support advances to the Museum’s security infrastructure.

Oster Family Foundation provided a grant of $265,000 to enhance aspects of the Museum’s Core Exhibition galleries, including the introduction of interactive elements with appropriately positioned technology, and a number of aesthetic improvements designed to appeal to different visitors, from families to foreign tourists to students of history.

Pickman Foundation awarded a grant of $250,000 to improve the experience of visitors to the Museum’s Morris and Fannie Pickman Keeping History Center. The Center serves as the Museum’s connection to the Statue of Liberty, who “lifts her lamp beside the golden door,” and Ellis Island, where millions of Jews flowed into the refuge of America.

The Krell Family Foundation contributed $150,000 to launch the Frida and Murray Krell Testimony Initiative that encompasses support across exhibitions, programs, and curricula development—thus providing an experience for students and the public that is far reaching.

A $2.8 million bequest was left to the Museum by Milton W. Tretiak, a first time donor, whose legacy supports Holocaust education and Museum operations.

Remembering the lives lost in the Holocaust is an act of resistance against the Nazis’ attempts to dehumanize and destroy the Jewish people.

The full horror of genocide is in its ambition not only to murder individuals, families, and communities, but also to wipe out the entire people to whom they belonged—the people who could tell their story, acknowledge their humanity, and preserve their memory. In their attempt to obliterate the Jewish people, the Nazis sought to change the future and master the past. There would be no Jews to remember the Jewish people who were exterminated; there would be no Jewish perspective on Jewish history, no Jewish insistence that each life is important and should be mourned. Having been denied their humanity in life, victims of the Shoah would be denied it in death. There would be no survivors’ voices or rallying cries.

Today, we are still here. The Jewish people persist, and we refuse to forget.

What should remembrance look like? How should it feel? We at the Museum face the necessary challenge of representing the facts of the Holocaust while encouraging visitors to connect to history on a human level. The more than 30,000 items in our collection illustrate Jewish life, reveal Jewish self–reliance in the face of exclusion, and suggest the trauma of extreme loss in the Shoah. These objects are ambassadors from a world that flesh–and–blood people created, inhabited, and fought to preserve.

In our own time, we are seeing a rise in anti–Semitism and Holocaust denial. We have to be vigilant. The Museum stands against bigotry, hatred, and violence. We protect the historical record, strengthen scholarship, promote understanding of Jewish heritage, and stand with vulnerable groups. And on days like today, voices from the past can inspire all of us to answer calls from the present. Yom HaShoah is a day on which we fulfill the sacred obligation to remember. It is also a time to let what we know of the past inspire our present priorities. Today we teach our children that they must remember, and we guide them to envision a world that’s worthy of their futures. This is a project that’s best undertaken together.

Days like today are powerful because they demand our presence, our attention, and most of all, our togetherness. Thank you for supporting the Museum, and for helping us undertake the difficult and crucial work of remembering.

The Museum of Jewish Heritage is able to fulfill its mission thanks to the generous support of its funders, members, and visitors. The Museum is pleased to highlight a selection of recently received major gifts and grants in support of its programs and initiatives:

MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGEA LIVING MEMORIAL TO THE HOLOCAUST

Edmond J. Safra Plaza | 36 Battery Place, New York, NY 10280 | mjhnyc.org

ANDY GOLDSWORTHY’S GARDEN OF STONESThis living memorial garden of trees growing from stone was planted by the artist, Holocaust survivors, and their families in 2003. The contemplative space is meant to be visited and revisited, presenting new experiences as the garden matures over time. It is visible from almost every floor of the Museum. The effect of time on humans and nature is richly present in Garden of Stones. The sculpture is intended to be viewed, contemplated, and cared for by future generations. Garden of Stones was Andy Goldsworthy’s first permanent commission in New York City and remains a favorite of visitors to lower Manhattan.

VISIT US THISSPRING AND SUMMER: FEATURED INSTALLATIONS