2023 30thAnniversaryCommemorativeBook SINGLEPAGES-small - Flipbook - Page 90
COUNTERING
BIGOTRY
My parents were
Hungarian Jews—my
mother from Pest and
my father from a small
village, a little farm community.
Each came from very large families,
with 12 or 13 siblings, and escaped
Hungary before the Nazis arrived
in 1944. While both made it to Ellis
Island at different times, only two
of my mother’s sisters and a brother
were able to get out. The rest of our
entire family was rounded up and
perished in Auschwitz. If my parents
had met, married, and remained in
Hungary, I would have been born
there and likely met the same fate.
When my late husband and I went to
Poland and spent a day at Auschwitz,
I cried picturing the horrible things
that happened there. Not long after,
we became charter members of the
United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum. This Museum does far
more than present exhibits or stand
as a memorial. It is an idea, a positive
philosophy countering bigotry and
88 l UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM LEGACY OF LIGHT GUARDIANS
antisemitism and helping persecuted
minorities. I believe in supporting
its mission, its programs all over the
world, and its outreach to educate
people about the Holocaust so it will
never happen again.
When my husband and I first created
our trust, we left a percentage of our
estate to the Museum. After he and
then my son passed away, I revised
it, dividing my estate between the
Museum and several animal welfare
organizations. Then, during its
20th anniversary celebration, the
Museum brought a major exhibition
to Los Angeles. I toured it with a
friend, his wife, and his 90-year-old
father, who had experienced the Nazi
occupation growing up in Vienna. I
left that exhibition knowing I had to
rewrite my trust to leave everything
I had to the Museum. When I made
that decision, I felt elated and satisfied
that I was doing the right thing.
It brings me a sense of calm and
confidence that the funds will be used
well for such an important cause.”