30th Anniversary Guardians Commemorative Book - Book - Page 187
PASSING THE
TORCH
I am the child of
Holocaust survivors.
My father, Murray
Pantirer (z”l), was
a Schindler Jew. He believed
with all of his heart that he was
miraculously saved to assure that
the six million innocent Jewish
men, women, and children brutally
murdered by the Nazis would
never be forgotten. He taught his
children and grandchildren that this
Museum stands as the most powerful
institution in the world for keeping
the memory of the Holocaust alive,
the history of the Holocaust accurate,
and for generating global awareness
of current atrocities and genocides.
Murray Pantirer was saved from
certain death by a righteous Gentile
who risked his own life to save the
Jews on what has now become the
famous Schindler’s List. As a pillar
of the Museum and a presidentially
appointed member of the original
United States Holocaust Memorial
Council, my father worked
tirelessly to ensure the Museum
would fulfill its mission as a living
memorial to the Holocaust and an
incomparable source of worldwide
consciousness of today’s rapid and
alarming rise in Holocaust denial,
antisemitism, and genocide.
We live in a very complex and
ever-changing world, and it is the
responsibility of each and every
one of us to enrich the minds,
hearts, and souls of the current
and future generations. My parents
believed that as a strong and moral
society, we are obliged to educate
children about the dangers and
consequences of hatred, prejudice,
racism, indifference, and silence.
We share my parents’ vision, passion,
and determination to ensure that the
Museum continues to build upon
its excellence as a world leader in
education. For this reason, we have
made our legacy gift to the Museum’s
Teacher Fellowship Program. The
Museum does outstanding work
in training passionate, committed,
and expert teachers in Holocaust
remembrance and education, and
genocide awareness and prevention.
As the Talmud teaches us, ‘The world
continues to exist only in the merit
of the breath that comes from the
mouths of schoolchildren.’”
SAFEGUARDING TRUTH FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS l 185
