B'nai B'rith and German Consulate Jointly Organize First Intergenerational Holocaust Remembrance Event
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Sam Widawsky (survivor), Allan Jacobs (BBI president), David Widawsky (2nd generation), Leora Klein (3rd generation) and Busso v. Alvensleben, Consul General (from right to left)
(© GKNY)
In commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, B'nai B'rith International invited members and guests to the German House for a Kosher breakfast program, "Zachor: Holocaust Memory Across Generations." Well over 100 guests attended the widely publicized inter-generational program, held prior to the United Nations Official Holocaust Remembrance Day Ceremony, "Children and the Holocaust," including survivors, their children, and grandchildren, as well as UN representatives and Holocaust Studies students.
After remarks by Consul General Busso von Alvensleben and Allan J. Jacobs, B'nai B'rith International President, guests had the extraordinary opportunity to hear the story of survivor of the Lodz ghetto and Auschwitz, Sam Widawsky. Mr. Widawdsky described in detail the unimaginable horror that befell his family in his native Poland, including internment in Auschwitz, escaping from the train on the way to Dachau, and hearing news of the end of the war while in hiding.
Sam Widawsky was followed by his son David. A member of the first post-Shoah generation, he gave testimony of the "Silent Era," when talking about the Shoah was taboo and yet weighed heavily on their lives.
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WWII veterans participated as well
(© GKNY)
A granddaughter of a survivor, Leora Klein, shared her own childhood story of the palpable but unspoken trauma among her grandparents on both sides, which inspired her to trace her grandparents' roots in Europe and later form 3GNY, or Third Generation New York, which counts over 15,000 members.
The German Consulate is particularly appreciative that B'nai B'rith chose the German House for this program, the first official UN side event to be held there on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
