The event featured B’nai B’rith members Kurt and Margarete Goldberger of New York (pictured right, with BBI Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin), who were rescued during the Holocaust as children as part of the Kindertransport; Rachel Oestreicher Bernheim, chair/CEO of the Raoul Wallenberg Committee of the United States; and Paul Shapiro, director of the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

The official U.N. commemoration, which this year included a Soviet Army veteran of World War II, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gabriela Shalev, and Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, who chairs the Yad Vashem Council, was developed in part through BBI efforts. It is set on the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1945 by the Soviet Army and coincides with Holocaust remembrance events held all over the world.

The speakers at both U.N. programs shared personal experiences and lessons gleaned from the Holocaust. With a rapidly diminishing number of living survivors and witnesses to one of the most horrific events of the 20th century, and a growing number of attempts to deny and trivialize the Holocaust, the opportunity to hear first-hand accounts is particularly significant.

In providing an opportunity for those who lived through the Holocaust to share their stories, B’nai B’rith continues its work to promote tolerance and the ongoing fight against all forms of bigotry.