Holocaust Survivor-Author Received Honorary Degree at Long Island University

"...Ms Auerbacher has reached out to share her experiences, as well as to teach the lessons of intolerance to many young people.”
Elie Wiesel, Nobel Prize Winner

“…Your books arrived safely here, and I recommended them already to many. Perhaps, we will see each other again when you visit Germany and you are in Berlin. Best regards and Shalom.” (translation.)
Johannes Rau, President of Germany

Inge Auerbacher: Holocaust Survivor, Author and Inspirational Speaker.

When Holocaust survivor Inge Auerbacher received an honorary degree from Long Island University  her most fervent  applause at the Brooklyn Campus commencement ceremony came from  two extraordinary twin sisters. Auerbacher has written books about her childhood concentration camp  experiences and growing up in America that have been translated into nearly  a dozen languages. She also authored a book about the DeSassure twins;  Mary DeSassure Sobers and Martha DeSassure Benton who broke the color barrier to become track stars in New York City in the 1940s. "We have a shared spirit," Auerbacher says of the sisters, who she met more than 30 years ago. "We are soul mates. The colors may be different, but that's just the outside."

 

 

The DeSassures began racing competitively after they happened upon a  track meet in Brooklyn. With no prior training or even sneakers or a tracksuit,  Sobers started winning races and soon her sister Martha began racing as  well. With the support of the Police Athletic League in their Brooklyn 79th  Precinct, they soon formed a racing team, the Trail Blazers. "I just felt I could do it!" exclaims Sobers, her enthusiasm still strong with  her memory. The retired administrative secretary for Elmhurst Hospital Center continues, "With running, the wonderful thing for me was I felt a freedom. In my heart, I just knew God had something to do with this." Today, Sobers, a Brooklyn resident, and Benton, who lives in Queens, are  like family to Auerbacher, 70, also of Queens, who lost many relatives to the atrocities of German Nazis. "She is like a sister, she truly is," insists Benton, now the senior court clerk for the Hon. A. Gail Prudenti, presiding justice of the state Appellate Division's Second Department. Auerbacher miraculously endured the Terezin concentration camp, which  was liberated 60 years ago. In 1946, she and her parents immigrated to the  United States. She is now a retired chemist as well as a lecturer and author. Her book, "Running Against the Wind," describes the DeSassure twins  becoming the first African-American girls to star in New York City track meets sanctioned by the Amateur Athletic Union. On May 12, the DeSassure twins, now 71,  in the front row at the Brooklyn Campus commencement ceremony saw Auerbacher receiving an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.

Photo: Holocaust Survivors: Peter and Alice Masters, Peter Stern, Inge Auerbacher, Irene Zisblatt, and Sam Stern.

Photo: French edition of Inge's Book: "JE SUIS UNE ETOILE". A bestseller in France.

 

 

 

 

 

AMERICAN JEWISH WORLD SERVICE AWARDED $110,000 GRANT FOR JEWISH
SUNDAY SCHOOLS IN RUSSIA AND UKRAINE

Photo: Martin Horwitz, JCDF director, an outstanding Jewish leader in the service of Jewish schools and culture.

The  American Jewish World Service was awarded a $110,000 grant  to continue its much-needed work revitalizing Jewish communities in the former Soviet Union. The grant, which was given by UJA-Federation New York, recognizes the unique role that AJWS' Jewish Community Development Fund (JCDF) is playing in keeping Russian and Ukrainian Sunday schools at the center of Jewish life following the withdrawal of funding from Israel in 2003 due to budget cuts. The grant will fund capacity-building for enhancing Sunday schools' fundraising capabilities, an activity that JCDF began informally several years ago. As Jews and former Soviet citizens, Sunday school staff were used to depending on government subsidies from both Jerusalem and Moscow. In the new economic climate, however, schools found themselves struggling to stay afloat until JCDF identified the problem and began training Sunday school staff to be effective fundraisers. According to JCDF Director Martin Horwitz, "Saving Sunday schools from closing is one of the most important ways we can support Jewish communities in the former Soviet Union. Unlike American Jews, with our variety of institutions, many Russian and Ukrainian Jews have only their local Sunday school as a center of Jewish life." He added, "Sunday schools are often home to every cultural and religious activity in the community, so we have to do everything we can to teach school leaders how to recognize economic realities and keep their doors open." The Jewish Community Development Fund (JCDF), a project of American Jewish World Service, supports grassroots Jewish renewal and human rights programs in Russia and Ukraine. Its work is driven by recognition of the need for independent, creative and diverse approaches to rebuilding Jewish life through the revival of Jewish religion, education and culture, and the need to support efforts toward building civil society. For more information, visit http://www.ajws.org/jcdf. American Jewish World Service supports 200 development projects in 40 countries and provides emergency assistance when disasters strike. Whether through its work on women's empowerment in Afghanistan, income-generation programs in Peru, HIV/AIDS prevention in South Africa, or Jewish community development in Ukraine, AJWS works to alleviate poverty, hunger and disease regardless of race, religion or nationality. To learn more about Mr. Horwitz or  JCDF, email Ronni Strongin, 212-273-1657 or rstrongin@ajws.org  and Mike Blasenstein, 212-356-2963 or mblasenstein@ajws.org

                                              

Eytan Schwartz at the national council of Jewish women, NY

 

Eytan  Schwartz, is Israel's newest good will ambassador.  Winner of Israel's premier reality-TV show: The Ambassador.  Eytan received a  yearlong diplomatic assignment with the NYC based non-profit organization Israel At Heart. The Apprentice-like program consisted of fourteen contestants vying for this coveted position¦. conveying Israel as the go- to destination for family fun, recreation, shopping, and everyday exploring. Schwartzâ's win was assured with his faux tourism ad for  MTV Europe. Born on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, Eytan immigrated to Israel with his family at the age of 7 and grew up in Tel Aviv. An aficionado of  the performing arts, Eytan appeared with the Israeli Opera as a choir boy and as the lead in Israel's production of Neil Simon's Lost in Yonkers. After serving in the Israeli army for four years as a reporter for the military radio station, he returned to NYC for his higher studies and completed a BA in Anthropology, graduating summa cum laude at Columbia University. Members & students are cordially invited to attend this reception to meet Eytan for free. Wednesday, May 25, 2005.. 6:30 PM,  at the NATIONAL COUNCIL OF JEWISH WOMEN-NY   (NCJW), NY SECTION HEADQUARTERS, 820 Second Avenue/ 2^nd Fl. (bet. 43-44^th Sts.) Non-member: $10.00. RSVP required by May 23, Phone: 212.687 -030 ext. 10. Media Contact: TJ PUBLIC RELATIONS,  TJPUBLIC@AOL.COM.  Phone: 212 - 593 - 0078.

 

 

THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE WEBSITE ON THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN JEWISH EXPERIENCE

The Center for Jewish History is proud to launch www.jewsinamerica.org, the most comprehensive web resource related to the history of the American Jewish experience starting in 1654 with the arrival of 23 Sephardi Jews from Recife, Brazil to New Amsterdam up to and including the present day. The architect of Jews In America: Our Story, Peter A. Geffen, Executive Director of the Center for Jewish History noted, “The American Jewish story is complex and turbulent containing painful struggle together with great achievement in pursuit of “the American Dream.”  The website allows Americans to share this historic saga through the most fascinating and vivid primary sources…documents, photographs, films, sound recordings, books and artifacts on a sight that will regularly expand to retain its timeliness and comprehensiveness.” The website offers stunning images from drawn from the collections of the five Center partners: American Jewish Historical Society,  American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute, Yeshiva University Museum, and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.  Together, the collections at the Center for Jewish History comprise the largest archive of Diaspora Jewish History in the world and are studied and utilized daily by scholars from around the world.  By bringing www.jewsinamerica.org to the web, the Center for Jewish History has made the depth and richness of the American Jewish experience easily accessible to young people, Jews and non-Jews alike.  With a click of the mouse, documents and artifacts rarely displayed in public can be viewed for both personal enjoyment and educational enrichment.  The site provides a dynamic timeline of all 350 years of the American Jewish experience and conveys the contributions of accomplished Jewish Americans as well as the daily life of everyman/woman. It allows the user to view all images in large full screen format, thereby providing classroom oriented opportunities for study of documents, photographs and artifacts. The launch of www.jewsinamerica.org anticipates the opening on May 17, 2005, of a major exhibition, “Greetings from Home: 350 years of American Jewish Life”,  sponsored by the American Jewish Historical Society and Yeshiva University Museum in cooperation with the American Sephardi Federation at the Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16^th Street, New York City.  Developed as part of the Congressional Commission for the Celebration of 350 years of American Jewish Life, the exhibition incorporates materials from the Library of Congress, the National Archives, and the American Jewish Archives and will be the largest exhibition on the American Jewish Experience ever mounted. In 2000, the Center for Jewish History, located in the heart of the historic Chelsea district, became the home of five distinguished partner institutions—the American Jewish Historical Society, the American Sephardi Federation, the Leo Baeck Institute, Yeshiva University Museum, and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.  Sharing a common vision of preserving and presenting Jewish culture and history, the five partner institutions in coming together have created a meeting place where intellectual inquiries are exchanged and freely explored, and where the general public can find cultural programs devoted to a wide variety of themes and concerns. The combined holdings of the Center’s partners include over 100 million documents, books, art, artifacts, photos, and other materials, making the Center the largest repository of Jewish history and culture outside the State of Israel. For current information and a schedule of programs visit www.cjh.org.

The State of Israel and the Federal Republic of Germany celebrated 40 Years of established diplomatic relations.

 Israel's Consul General Ambassador Arye Mekel (far left) enjoys a laugh with his wife, Ruth Mekel (second from left),  Celebrity therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer (center right) and Germany's Consul General Uwe-Karsten Heye. Photo credits: Shahar Azran.

The State of Israel and the Federal Republic of Germany  marked 40 years of diplomatic relations on Tuesday May 17th, 2005, at a reception co-hosted by Israel's Consul General, Ambassador Arye Mekel and German Consul General, Uwe-Karsten Heye at the German House located at 871 United Nations Plaza in New York. Germany's Consul General Uwe-Karsten Heye opened up the evening with brief remarks followed by Israeli Consul General, Ambassador Arye Mekel, and Dr. Klaus Schutz, former Governing Mayor of Berlin and German Ambassador to Israel. Proceeding the lecture, a musical performance by Israeli musicians Benjamin Hochman on piano and Ittai Shapiro on violin  performed pieces from German and Israeli composers. Data/Source: David Prince, Director of National Radio, Consulate General of Israel in New York.

Photo, below: Israel's Consul General, Ambassador Arye Mekel (Left)  stands with former governing mayor of Berlin and former German Ambassador to Israel Dr. Klaus Shutz (Center), and Germany's Consul Generla Uwe-Karsten Heye (Righ