30th Anniversary Guardians Commemorative Book - Book - Page 131
Visiting AuschwitzBirkenau, passing
through the
As a bank investment
officer, I’ve served
many Jewish clients
I was born in Germany,
one of nine children. A
sickly child, I couldn’t
‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ gate,
then the prisoners’
barracks, experimental
crematorium, and
other camp areas, was a
horrendous, emotional
experience. I felt that same
emotion on my visit to the
United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum. I
helped develop and test
the first US thermonuclear
weapon, an awesome
device capable of immense
destruction. We hope and
pray that there never will
be another occasion for its
use. In this unstable world,
however, the lessons this
Museum teaches are more
urgent than ever if we are
to give meaning to the
dictum ‘Never Again.’”
of Eastern European
descent. Many were
Holocaust survivors whose
families perished before
their eyes. I am grateful
that many of them chose
to share their stories
with me. I developed a
personal friendship with
one such person, Samuel
Steinberg. He was a Polish
Jew by birth, and I was
a Polish Catholic, two
generations removed.
Samuel was recognized at
the Days of Remembrance
commemoration ceremony
in May 2008. He has since
passed away, but the video
copy he presented to me
will always be a poignant
reminder of those times.”
leave in 1938 with my
siblings. Luckily, my father
arranged for me to escape
in August 1939 and live
with a family in the English
countryside. Shortly
afterward, I received a
letter from my father—the
last time any of us heard
from him. When I heard
about the Museum’s 10thanniversary celebration of
survivors, I knew I had to
go. Today, its collections
contain an unfinished suit
my mother made, my older
brother’s pencil box, and
that last letter from my
father. By leaving a legacy
gift to the Museum, I know
that these personal treasures
will be protected forever.”
JAMES KENZIK
LYDIA KESSLER
WILLIAM E. KELLER*
Calabasas, California
Ithaca, New York
Santa Fe, New Mexico
* Deceased
SAFEGUARDING TRUTH FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS l 129
