30th Anniversary Guardians Commemorative Book - Book - Page 146
APPLYING THE
LESSONS
My beloved Miles,
z”l, believed in the
dignity of humans
everywhere and
championed their desire to create
a more civilized world.
During the war, he fought the
Nazis as a partisan in the forests
of Poland. I survived Auschwitz.
Despite terrible personal losses
and suffering, we came to America
together, grateful to start anew. We
built a new life, began a family, and
started a small business that—with
hard work and good fortune—
grew into a successful company.
But, throughout all those years,
Miles harbored a dream. A dream
to create a place in America to
remember the six million silenced
during the Holocaust and to ensure
that their individual histories
would collectively provide an early
warning system to mitigate future
catastrophes. From the day that
President Carter established the
President’s Commission on the
Holocaust, Miles, powered like a
force of nature, traversed the
144 l UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM LEGACY OF LIGHT GUARDIANS
country, winning commitments
from Jews and non-Jews alike.
Undaunted by rejection and
skepticism, he traveled tirelessly
across the country to raise the
funds that made the United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum a
reality. He convinced the thenCommunist governments of
Eastern Europe to open their
archives to researchers from
the West and to share precious
artifacts with the Museum.
On April 22, 1993, we proudly
stood together as President
Clinton, Holocaust survivors,
World War II veterans, heads of
governments from around the
globe, and supporters—Americans
from all walks of life—dedicated
this sacred place that embodies our
nation’s fulfillment of survivors’
determination to never forget.
Today, the Lerman and Neubauer
families continue the commitment
to this institution that stands as an
eternal symbol of what men and
women of good conscience and
willpower can achieve.”
