30th Anniversary Guardians Commemorative Book - Book - Page 199
STAMPING OUT
ANTISEMITISM
My father was born in
Żuromin, Poland, and
came to this country
in 1920. His brother
and sister, and more than 20 of
our cousins living in Poland, were
murdered before the outbreak of
World War II. As a child, I was brought
up aware of our family’s loss, and I
remember my father telling stories
about the extreme antisemitism he
experienced in the early 1900s.
Around the time of his bar mitzvah,
my father was attacked by a group of
Poles. They cut him from the nape
of his neck to nearly his waist. He
was scarred for life, but he survived.
When I was growing up in a small
Maine town in the late ’40s and early
’50s, I encountered antisemitism
from the age of nine or ten through
middle school. Someone would call
me a ‘dirty Jew,’ and I would have to
fight to stand up for myself.
influence in countering oppression
against minorities anywhere.
Through its education efforts, young
people learn to care, so that history
does not repeat itself—regardless
of who is being persecuted. The
most important thing is to leave a
lasting legacy in history that prevents
another regime from murdering its
citizens because of religious beliefs.
I keep in my office a photograph
of my father when he was about
eight years old, next to what would
have been my aunt and uncle, had
they escaped. That photograph is
a constant reminder of the family
we lost. Through my legacy gift, the
Museum can continue my fight to
stamp out antisemitism on a much
larger scale and ensure the world
never forgets the slaughter of six
million Jews.”
Today, the Museum constantly
reminds the public that antisemitism
has no place in our society. It is truly
the standard-bearer and a tower of
SAFEGUARDING TRUTH FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS l 197
