2023 30thAnniversaryCommemorativeBook SINGLEPAGES-small - Flipbook - Page 98
COMPLETING
THE TASK
The challenge of
our generation is to
keep the memories of
Holocaust victims alive
and to stand up to intolerance of
any kind, in any place. We must
remind the world what a civilized
and intelligent population can do
to its citizens. The United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum’s focus
on the atrocities in Rwanda and
Darfur shows the universality of the
problems that exist and their dire
results. Even the problem of bullying
in schools today is not so far removed
from this kind of progression. That is
why young people have to learn what
hate and indifference can become.
Our father, Isidore Falk, came
from a little town in what was then
Austria-Hungary, now Ukraine.
When he was a young boy, his life
was upended when his family had
to flee from the Russian pogroms
in World War I. Although it was
a holocaust by a different name,
the results were basically the
same. Many of the family members
who stayed behind ultimately
died when the Nazis invaded.
96 l UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM LEGACY OF LIGHT GUARDIANS
A few years ago, our family made
a gift to maintain the Museum’s
exhibition Remember the Children:
Daniel’s Story. Now, we are
completing the task and naming
the gallery that houses it in our
parents’ honor. In a sense, Daniel’s
story echoes our father’s early
experiences: a young boy who
had a comfortable existence until
persecution and inhumanity took
everything away. This gift is also a
fitting tribute to our mother, a very
special person who was a warm and
loving champion of all children.
The Museum is exceptionally
effective in retelling Holocaust
history so that it can be understood
by everyone. When children walk
through Daniel’s Story and see a
child’s book and suitcase, they think,
‘That could be me.’ We hope that our
legacy endowment gift will enable
the Museum to continue to spread its
message of faith, hope, tolerance, and
humanity in the years to come.”