(New York, NY)— On Sunday, June 6 at 7:00 PM (ET), New York City’s Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust will present, virtually, “Celebrating the Auschwitz Jewish Center,” a special evening in support of the AJC’s 20 years of work preserving Jewish memory in the town of Oświęcim and educating on the dangers of antisemitism. The AJC, which is the Polish satellite location of the Museum of Jewish Heritage, has been operating since the year 2000.
The event will feature reflections from Alan Moskin, an American liberator of the Gunskirchen camp, and from the Museum’s distinguished American Service Academies Program (ASAP) alumni in a conversation moderated by Dr. David Frey, Director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. The panelists include Teresa Kennedy, Ethan Orwin, and Keidrick Roy.
Since 2004, through its ASAP program, the AJC has taught more than 200 cadets and midshipmen from the US Service Academies (West Point, Naval Academy, Air Force Academy, and Coast Guard Academy) about the lessons of the Holocaust and contemporary mass atrocities, with a focus on ethical decision-making in the military. Auschwitz, which is known to many as the ultimate symbol of the Holocaust, is located in the town of Oświęcim, which has a rich, Jewish history of its own that predates the camp. Prior to the war, Jews made up 60% of the town’s population. Today, there are no Jews living there. The AJC remains the only Jewish presence in the vicinity.
“For the last 20 years, we have preserved the Jewish heritage of the town and educated about antisemitism and the Shoah next to the most tragic place in Jewish history. We provide a place of education, dialogue, and hope,” says Tomek Kuncewicz, Director of the Auschwitz Jewish Center.
“As the Holocaust recedes farther into history, our memorial institutions serve an increasingly important role, and they deserve our most generous support. Holocaust education is key to realizing our collective promise of never again,” says Jack Kliger, President & CEO of the Museum of Jewish Heritage.
The event is open to the public and tickets are free with a suggested, charitable donation. For gifts of $120 or higher, supporters may honor an individual liberator or veteran with a tribute to be displayed during the program. Instructions for submitting a tribute will be provided in the email confirmation following donation.
To learn more or attend the virtual event, visit: https://mjhnyc.org/events/celebrating-the-auschwitz-jewish-center/
About the Auschwitz Jewish Center
The Auschwitz Jewish Center (AJC) in Oświęcim, operated by the Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, is located just two miles from the Auschwitz–Birkenau death camps. The only Jewish presence in the vicinity of Auschwitz, the Center opened its doors in September 2000 so that people from around the world could gather to learn, pray, and remember the victims of the Holocaust. The Auschwitz Jewish Center, a proud member of the Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living Memorial to the Holocaust family, is comprised of three buildings: the Chevra Lomdei Mishnayot Synagogue; the adjoining Kornreich House, which once housed a Jewish family and today houses a Jewish Museum and educational programs; and the 100-year-old Kluger Family House, which belonged to the last Jewish resident of Oświęcim, Szymon Kluger, after WWII.
About The Museum Of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust
The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust is New York’s contribution to the global responsibility to never forget. The Museum is committed to the crucial mission of educating diverse visitors about Jewish life before, during, and after the Holocaust. The third largest Holocaust museum in the world and the second largest in North America, the Museum of Jewish Heritage anchors the southernmost tip of Manhattan, completing the cultural and educational landscape it shares with the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
The Museum of Jewish Heritage maintains a collection of almost 40,000 artifacts, photographs, documentary films, and survivor testimonies and contains classrooms, a 375-seat theater (Edmond J. Safra Hall), special exhibition galleries, a resource center for educators, and a memorial art installation, Garden of Stones, designed by internationally acclaimed sculptor Andy Goldsworthy. The Museum is the home of National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene.
On view are Ordinary Treasures: Highlights from the Museum of Jewish Heritage Collection and Rendering Witness: Holocaust-Era Art as Testimony.
The Museum receives general operating support from the New York City Departmentof Cultural Affairs and New York State Council on the Arts.