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U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

Brothers from Princeton and Armonk Open Up about Late Father’s Oral Testimony Recorded by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

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As the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum prepares to lead America’s annual national commemoration of the Holocaust during the Days of Remembrance from April 4-11, the Museum continues its race against time to collect and record oral history testimonies before the last generation of Holocaust survivors is no longer with us.

While the Museum’s doors have been closed to visitors during the coronavirus pandemic, the Jeff and Toby Herr Oral History Archive, one of the largest and most diverse collections of Holocaust testimonies in the world, experienced one of its most productive years in 2020, conducting 181 remote interviews in Europe and the United States with survivors and witnesses to the Holocaust. In 2019, 148 interviews were conducted. The increase in interviews last year is attributed to expanded reach through virtual platforms, whereas previously most interviews were conducted in-person.

Lubcher Family in Vienna

One of the oral testimonies that the Museum recorded in 2018 was that of Frederick Lubcher, who passed away two years later on November 29, 2020. Lubcher was an attorney and retired partner and chair of the Trust and Estates department of Fried, Frank, Harris Shriver & Jacobson, LLP in New York – and he was also a child Holocaust survivor who went nearly his entire life without talking about his Holocaust experience – until he recorded his oral testimony with the Museum at the age of 87.

“He hardly spoke about what happened to him in the Holocaust – we never really knew until the Museum recorded his oral testimony,” said his son Jeremy Lubcher, who resides in Princeton, N.J., with his wife Amy. “I am so grateful my father recorded his experience because we not only learned so much that we would have never known, but we now have a living memorial of him and when I need my dad, I watch it.”

Jeremy, his brother Howard Lubcher, and their spouses and children are grateful to have their father’s and grandfather’s Holocaust survival story, and the specific details of how he escaped Nazism in Poland and Austria, forever preserved by the Museum and accessible on the Museum’s website as an educational resource, and evidence of Holocaust history.

Howard and his wife Mari Lubcher, of Armonk, N.Y., stated, “We are so incredibly proud of who our father was, and thankful to the Museum for preserving the memory of his struggles and accomplishments. We hope that in some way these oral testimonies will help keep the memories of the survivors, and the histories of their endurance and perseverance, alive.”

A private foundation just made a $250,000 gift to the Museum’s oral history archive to honor the memory of Lubcher, who was a longstanding trustee of the foundation, and Shirley Lubcher, his wife of beloved memory, who passed away two months after Frederick.

“I think it’s great that the foundation is making a gift in honor of my father and the oral testimony archives, which mean so much to me,” said Jeremy Lubcher. “If people start seeing these oral testimonies, they will have a better understanding of the Holocaust.”

To date, the Museum’s oral history archive contains more than 25,000 interviews produced and acquired from individuals, institutions and organizations.

“We know there are many others who can relate to the Lubcher family’s experience, and we hope that the Lubchers’ meaningful story will encourage others to contact the Museum to record their oral testimonies with the profound understanding of how precious time is,” said Andi Barchas, director of the Museum’s Northeast Regional Offic

About the Museum

A living memorial to the Holocaust, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum inspires citizens and leaders worldwide to confront hatred, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity. Its far-reaching educational programs and global impact are made possible by generous donors. For more information, visit www.ushmm.org.

 

News Courtesy of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

 

Diane von Furstenberg to Emcee U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum 2020 New York Virtual Tribute Event

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Chappaqua residents Stacey Saiontz and Howard Unger will be honored by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum tomorrow evening and iconic fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg will be the master of ceremonies for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s 2020 New York Virtual Event on October 14 at 6 p.m.

She will join a lineup of passionate speakers featuring Benjamin Ferencz, the last surviving Nuremberg prosecutor and the Museum’s partner in the Ferencz International Justice Initiative, and NBA All-Star Ray Allen.

The event will also include celebrity guests, including Jason Alexander, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Morgan Freeman, who will participate in the Museum’s pledge to Holocaust survivors–and to the future–to never forget.

Stacey Saiontz and Howard Unger at last year’s 2019 NY Tribute Event. Photo credit: Michael Priest for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

At a time of enormous challenges, the Museum’s mission to put this memory and its lessons to work in the world has never been more crucial. Just yesterday, the the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum issued a statement on Facebook’s new decision to ban Holocaust denial and distortion.

Stacey Saiontz of Chappaqua is the granddaughter of Holocaust survivor, Jack Feldman, who was featured in the HBO documentary “The Number on Great Grandpa’s Arm” with Stacey’s son, Elliott.

Stacey has championed the cause of Holocaust education through her support of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum by serving as a member of the Museum’s Education Committee and as a founding member of the Museum’s New York Next Generation Board.

Howard Unger, Chappaqua resident and Founder of the investment firm Saw Mill Capital, grew up hearing the story of his father’s survival of the Auschwitz and Dachau concentration camps, which inspired him to become involved in bringing awareness to modern-day genocide. Unger serves in many roles for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum including as: member of U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council’s Executive Committee, Chair of the Audit Committee, member of the Museum’s Committee on Conscience, Museum Benefactor and member of the Museum’s Strategic Advancement Committee.

Link to register for this free event: https://www.ushmm.org/online-calendar/event/nytrbutedinner1020

News courtesy of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Honors Chappaqua’s Stacey Saiontz

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Jared Saiontz, Jack Feldman, Stacey Saiontz, Marc Saiontz and Elliott Saiontz

Some 500 persons attended a New York Tribute Dinner on October 28th during which Chappaqua’s Stacey Saiontz was one of two recipients of National Leadership Awards by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Saiontz is a founding member of the Museum’s Next Generation board and was recently appointed to its Education Committee. She shares her passion with her children who were featured in the HBO documentary The Number on Great-Grandpa’s Arm.

Saiontz with fellow honoree Gary Jacob

“The first words that spring to mind about Stacey are high energy and committed,” said Howard D. Unger, of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, in introducing Saiontz. “Whether it is fiercely advocating for food allergy legislation or relentlessly advancing Holocaust related causes,” he added, “when Stacey is in, she is all in.” The dinner raised over $3.2 million. Saiontz called the Museum “a beacon on the global stage; it reminds us all of what we are capable of, the good and the bad, and offers a universal message of tolerance and importance of taking action. The Holocaust is not just a story of hate; it’s also a story of resilience, humanity, love and kindness,” she said.

Gary Jacob, a second honoree who has served as a regional co-chair of the event,  is vice president of Glenwood Management and vice chairman of the Settlement Housing Fund. Powerful presentations at the benefit included harrowing testimony from Auschwitz-Birkenau survivor Irene Weiss.

Weiss described her family’s losses and how she was “forced to live and work next to the crematorium” and “forced out on a death march with 1000s of other prisoners.” “How does one put into words the magnitude of such a loss?” she asked.

Sara J. Bloomfield, Museum Director, said that while the world will always change, “human nature never will, and that we alone are responsible for the solutions.” She described the need “to unlock these powerful lessons of Holocaust history…so that wishful thinking might be constantly be met with determined resistance, so that today’s bystander will not become tomorrow’s victim… That’s the museum’s bold and urgent aspiration.” For more info, visit ushmm.org.

U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Honors Gary Jacob & Stacey Saiontz

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 Annual New York Tribute Dinner Raises Over $3.2 Million

Gary Jacob and Stacey Saiontz

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum held its annual “What You Do Matters” New York Tribute Dinner on October 28 at Cipriani in New York City raising over $3.2 million in support of the Museum’s critical role as a living memorial to the Holocaust.

Sara J. Bloomfield, the Museum’s director delivered keynote remarks at the Tribute Dinner and thanked the Museum’s guests for their support: “Thank you for helping us unlock these powerful lessons of Holocaust history for people everywhere so that a new world might learn timely lessons from a past world. So that wishful thinking might be constantly confronted with determined resistance.  So that today’s bystander might not become tomorrow’s victim.  So that instead of ‘And then they came for me,’ we might shout, ‘Together we confronted them.’”

(L-R): Gary Jacob, Stacey Saiontz, Mindy Nagorsky-Israel, Jeffrey Feil and Howard Unger

During the benefit event, the Museum presented its National Leadership Award to Gary Jacob and Stacey Saiontz. The Museum’s National Leadership Award is presented to outstanding individuals who have made an exceptional commitment to advance the Museum’s mission of Holocaust remembrance and education.

Museum chairman Howard M. Lorber presented the National Leadership Award to Gary Jacob, a prominent New York real estate industry leader who serves as Executive Vice-President of Glenwood Management, and has been a key member of the Museum’s New York Real Estate group since 2011.

During Jacob’s award acceptance speech, he underscored his unwavering support of the Museum: “When I think about securing the future, the future we all want for our children and grandchildren, I think about a world free of hate, bigotry and discrimination. Unfortunately, we are seeing a rise in hatred and antisemitism around the world, including this country. That makes the Museum’s mission of teaching the lessons of our past history even more of a priority than ever before.”

Gary Jacob and Howard M. Lorber

New York Tribute Dinner Chair Howard Unger presented the National Leadership Award to Stacey Saiontz, granddaughter of Holocaust survivor Jack Feldman, who was recently featured in the HBO documentary “The Number on Great Grandpa’s Arm” with Stacey’s sons, Elliott and Jared.  Saiontz is also a founding member of the Museum’s New York Next Generation Board.

Upon accepting the National Leadership Award, Stacey Saiontz remarked: “My grandparents lost all of their siblings, their parents and their extended families in the Holocaust. They lost their homes, their childhood, and their entire world as they knew it.  Yet, they were resilient.  After experiencing the worst humanity had to offer, they still responded with the best of the human spirit.  They chose life. And because they chose life, I am able to stand before you tonight. That’s why standing in the Capitol building with four generations of my family watching my grandfather proudly light one of the six memorial candles during the National Days of Remembrance Ceremony was one of the most special moments of my life. That is why I support the Museum.”

Following Saiontz’ award acceptance remarks, Irene Weiss, a Museum volunteer who survived Auschwitz-Birkenau and forced labor as a teenage girl, shared her story which was especially meaningful just three months ahead of the 75TH anniversary of the camp’s liberation.

Irene Weiss

Andi Barchas, director of the Museum’s Northeast Regional Office, also addressed the Tribute Dinner guests, sharing how grateful the Museum is for supporters such as Gary Jacob and Stacey Saiontz. “I have known both of our honorees for many years, and we really are so fortunate to have them as part of our Museum family. Through Gary’s involvement with our Real Estate division and Stacey’s involvement with our Next Generation Group and in Westchester, they bring together a newly expanded group of Museum supporters. Thanks to their efforts, and the hard work of our chairs, there are almost 500 people in the room tonight and we have raised over 3.2 million dollars! Thank you all.”

The New York Tribute Dinner was chaired by Debrah Lee Charatan, Jeffrey Feil, Lloyd Goldman, Mindy Nagorsky-Israel and Ronen Israel, and Caryn and Howard Unger.

Jared Saiontz, Jack Feldman, Stacey Saiontz, Marc Saiontz and Elliott Saiontz

 

Howard Unger, Stacey Saiontz, Sara J. Bloomfield, Gary Jacob and Howard M. Lorber
Cathy and Gary Jacob
Marc and Stacey Saiontz and Mindy Nagorsky-Israel and Ronen Israel

About the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

A living memorial to the Holocaust, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum inspires citizens and leaders worldwide to confront hatred, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity. Its far-reaching educational programs and global impact are made possible by generous donors. For more information, visit www.ushmm.org.

 This news is courtesy of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.  

HBO’s “The Number on Great-Grandpa’s Arm” Airing January 27 Moves Bet Torah Audience

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Family Documentary Presented by HBO with the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, the short film “The Number on Great-Grandpa’s Arm” debuts this Saturday, January 27, from 6 p.m. to 6:20 p.m (ET/PT).

“A17606. That was his number and he told us back then that your number was your name. That is all he was to them.” Elliott Saiontz

Article and Photos by Grace Bennett

Elliott Saiontz with his great grandfather Jack Feldman

Mount Kisco, January 22–Hundreds of parents and their children packed the Bet Torah Synagogue sanctuary for an early screening of “The Number on Great-Grandpa’s Arm,” a powerful 19-minute HBO family documentary directed and produced by Amy Schatz. Filmed two years ago, it depicts 10-year-old Elliott’s adoring relationship with his great grandfather, the soft spoken and big hearted 90-year-old Jack Feldman. Through the film, Elliott first asks Jack questions about his experiences, and then we hear Jack’s heartbreaking answers.

At the film’s start–and with a backdrop of historical footage and the striking animation of acclaimed artist Jeff Scher throughout–Jack describes happy childhood memories of Poland (in his hometown of Sosnoweicz) predating the war. He tells his great grandson of an eclectic hat collection or of watching soccer games. Jack speaks of a close knit family, a successful family business and summertime vacations.

The documentary quickly segues into Jack describing harrowing experiences surviving Nazi brutality… from the forced wearing of yellow stars, confinement in a ghetto (“We had maybe 15-20 people sleeping in a room.”) to his separation from his family (“They grabbed me and took me away.”), of Auschwitz and of the notorious death march.  (“A lot of people couldn’t make it. Thousands and thousands just died.”)

Bet Torah’s Rabbi Aaron Brusso and Edna Friedberg, a historian with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, spoke before the film with remarks sensitive to and frequently directed to the children in the room. “History is what happens to real people. It’s not just a flat idea; it’s something that happens to me and to you,” said Friedberg. She challenged the kids to explore their personal connections to the Holocaust as well. “If you have a connection to it, you as kids can be detectives on it too.”

Following the screening, Feldman and Elliott  participated in a panel discussion. Jack was asked how old he is today. Not missing a beat, he quipped: 72.  Laughter filled the sanctuary–the light moment a reprieve from the darkness of what was being discussed. Elliott’s grandfather, Sammy Feldman (92-year-old Jack Feldman’s first son) told attendees: “Between the ages of 12 and 17, hopefully you were enjoying your life… the Holocaust changed all that for the children of Europe. They were bullied and lost all their privileges. They lost all their rights.”

Rabbi Brusso noted fondly, “I wish I had a grandpoppy Jack.” Turning to Elliott, he offered his appreciation for “how you hold his hand and rub his arm.” He compared that kind of tenderness to Nazis “who treated people like objects.”  Elliott’s example of caring and kindness, in contrast, are “how we preserve every human being.”

On the panel, too: Elliott’s brother Jared and his mom Stacey Saiontz (“without whom it is safe to say we would not be having this program today,” noted Freidberg). Saiontz, a member of the group GenerationsForward of the Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center in White Plains, described a serendipitous meeting between herself and Sheila Nevins, a producer at HBO–ultimately leading to the film’s production. Elliott’s younger brother Jared, 10, answered a child’s question about when he learned of the Holocaust. He said his whole life he listened to his Mom interviewing his grandpa and started slowly learning.

Questions to the panel were mostly from children attending. More than one questioner seemed to want to find the good in human souls. Children are after all instructed to seek out ‘the helpers.’  “Was there ever a Nazi soldier undercover who tried to help the Jews?” one young girl asked. Elliott related that his grandfather was helped by a Nazi who knew his father and protected him from selection to the gas chamber. “Individual choices made a huge difference and could save a life,” said Friedberg. But they were also sadly the exception. 

“Why were Jewish people blamed for Germany’s problems?” another asked. Friedberg explained how the Nazi regime employed the dynamics of bullying to encourage the persecution of Jews. “People feel powerful by leaving one person on the outside,” she said. The Nazis were “building on an existing hatred and stereotypes about Jews.” The Nazis also targeted and murdered hundreds of thousands of Gypsies, Jehovah’s Witnesses, gay men, political prisoners and persons with mental and physical disabilities. 

But by far, it was the Jewish population that was decimated. Before the war, Friedberg continued, there were nine million Jewish people living in Europe; six million were murdered. “Two out of three.” She invited attendees to visit the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to learn more.

Grace Bennett is publisher and editor in chief of the Inside Press, and the 2017 recipient of the Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center’s Bernard Rosenshein ‘Courage to Care’ award.

Resources:

www.mjhnyc.org/‎   The Museum of Jewish Heritage

https://www.ushmm.org/  United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

www.hhrecny.org Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center

 

Release info from HBO:

THE NUMBER ON GREAT-GRANDPA’S ARM was directed and produced by Amy Schatz; executive producer, Sheila Nevins; producer, Lynn Sadofsky; edited by Tom Patterson; animation by Jeff Scher; director of photography, Alex Rappoport; music composed by Keith Kenniff; production executive, Susan Benaroya; supervising producer, Lisa Heller.

It debuts this Saturday, January 27, from 6 p.m. to 6:20 p.m (ET/PT).

The film will also be available on HBO On Demand, HBO NOW, HBO GO and affiliate . THE NUMBER ON GREAT-GRANDPA’S ARM will be included in a signature initiative that is part of a robust education program offered by the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. This effort is designed to use the film with a companion special installation and curriculum to connect stories of the Holocaust across generations.Additionally, companion segments featuring young people in conversation with survivors will be made available on HBO digital platforms.

Director-producer Amy Schatz’s notable HBO projects include the recent “Saving My Tomorrow” series, plus “An Apology to Elephants,” the “Classical Baby” series, “A Child’s Garden of Poetry,” “‘Twas the Night,” “Goodnight Moon and Other Sleepytime Tales” and “Through a Child’s Eyes: September 11, 2001.” Her work has won five DGA Awards, seven Emmy® Awards and three Peabody Awards.

Animator Jeff Scher’s work is found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Academy Film Archive, Hirshhorn Museum and the Pompidou Centre.