September 29, 2003
UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM’S TRIBUTE TO SURVIVORS BRINGS THOUSANDS TO WASHINGTON
November Tribute To Honor Survivors During Museum’s 10th Anniversary
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As part of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s 10th Anniversary, the Museum is hosting a “Tribute to Holocaust Survivors: A Reunion of a Special Family,” on November 1 and 2. In what will be the largest gathering at the Museum since its April 1993 dedication, the Museum will honor Holocaust survivors, liberators and rescuers, as well as their families. For the first time in its history, the Museum is closing to the public on Sunday, November 2, to provide special programming for Survivor Tribute participants. To date, close to 5,000 people encompassing four generations from 37 states have registered to attend. This will be one of the last times this wartime generation gathers with all of their descendants to recall their shared history that was one of the pivotal events of the 20th Century.
Nobel Laureate and Museum Founding Chairman Elie Wiesel will deliver the keynote address at a special commemorative event on Sunday, November 2. Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat will speak at the Tribute Dinner the evening before.
“We are blessed in this unique opportunity to come together almost six decades following our liberation,” says Benjamin Meed, a member of the Museum’s governing board and President of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors. “We will come to the Museum to renew old bonds, to thank those who risked their lives to aid us in times of unimaginable evil, and to remind future generations of the imperative of remembrance in building a safer, more humane world.”
Tribute events will include: a Survivor Village where survivors and their families can reunite and meet old friends and acquaintances; behind-the-scenes tours of the facility for conserving materials that survivors have donated to the Museum; workshops for survivors and their families on how to record testimonies; activities for children and families; and more. The tribute will close on Sunday evening with a special musical performance, “An Evening with Mike Burstyn and Stars of the Folksbiene Yiddish Theater, Joanne Borts, Adrienne Cooper, Eleanor Reissa and Zalmen Mlotek.”
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has welcomed more than 20 million visitors since opening in April 1993. A public-private partnership, the Museum is a federal institution whose educational activities and outreach are made possible through private donations. More than 250,000 individuals, foundations, and corporations helped build the institution and currently support its programs and operations. Sixty-four Holocaust Survivors volunteer at the Museum. For more information, visit www.ushmm.org.
Media Note: Media interested in attending the event, interviewing attendees from your area, or receiving photographs, should contact Andy Hollinger in the Museum’s Media Relations Office at 202-488-6133 or ahollinger@ushmm.org.
