New York, NY – The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust will honor its founders George Klein, Robert M. Morgenthau z”l, Manfred Ohrenstein, Peter A. Cohen, and Howard Rubenstein z”l at the 25th Anniversary Generation to Generation Dinner on Tuesday, November 15, 2022 at 6 PM. Family members will be accepting the honors on behalf of founders who have passed. Political analysts John Avlon and Margaret Hoover will emcee the event, and Leya Kaufman, the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, additional will provide remarks.
For decades, the annual L’dor V’dor, or Generation to Generation, dinner has brought together friends, family, and generations of survivors to help support the Museum’s timely mission to serve as a beacon for education about antisemitism and bigotry through lessons of the Holocaust.
John Avlon is a senior political analyst and anchor at CNN. He is an award-winning columnist and the author of Independent Nation, Wingnuts, Washington’s Farewell, and Lincoln and the Fight for Peace. Previously, he was the editor-in-chief and managing director of The Daily Beast and served as chief speechwriter for New York City’s Mayor during the attacks of 9/11.
Margaret Hoover is the host of PBS’ “Firing Line with Margaret Hoover,” a CNN contributor, and a bestselling author. She has served in The White House under President George W. Bush, in the Department of Homeland Security, on Capitol Hill, and on two presidential campaigns. She is the President of American Unity Fund, a political organization focused on achieving full freedom and equality for LGBT Americans. Ms. Hoover also serves on the boards of Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, the Hoover Presidential Foundation, the Belgian American Educational Foundation, The Markle Foundation, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
To RSVP and contribute to the event, visit www.mjhnyc.org/gentogen
For more information, contact Jessica Kamens, Director of Events at jkamens@mjhnyc.org or 646.437.4225.
Serving as Event Co-Chairs are Elyse & Howard Butnick, Evelyn & Harry Goldfeier, Rita Lerner & Cliff Salm, Ann Oster, Marilyn Rosen, and Deborah & Wayne Zuckerman. The event’s Leadership Sponsors are Bob & Susan Morgenthau, and Linda Johnson and Bruce Ratner and family. The event’s Heritage Sponsors are George Klein and family.
About the Honorees
George Klein
George Klein was appointed in 1982 as Chairman of Mayor Ed Koch’s Task Force on the Holocaust and is a Founding Co-Chairman and Vice-Chair of The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust.
He is Chairman and CEO of Park Tower Group, a real estate development company headquartered in New York.
He is Chairman of the United Nations Development Corporation and a Founder and Honorary Chairman of Manhattan High School for Girls. He serves on the Christie’s Americas Advisory Board\, and is a member of the Board of Governors of the Real Estate Board of New York and of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Mr. Klein is a refugee from Vienna and the son of Stephen Klein z”l, who served during and post-World War II as a Chairman of the Jewish rescue organization Vaad Hatzala, and as an officer of UNRRA and a Co-Chair of Rescue Children, Inc.
Mr. Klein resides in New York with his family.
Manfred Ohrenstein
Manfred Ohrenstein is a prominent attorney, and a political and civic leader. He is a Co-Founder and Vice Chair of the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust.
He served in the New York State Senate for over thirty years, including twenty as its Democratic Leader. He was an architect of the New York City fiscal rescue, worked to strengthen the state university system, championed civil rights issues, and secured support and funding to establish the Museum of Jewish Heritage. In private law practice, he counsels clients on a broad range of legal, strategic, and government affairs matters.
He received his BA, cum laude, from Brooklyn College and his law degree with honors from Columbia University. He served in the U.S. Army and Army Reserve as a Captain in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps.
Mr. Ohrenstein was born in Mannheim, Germany and immigrated to the United States at thirteen years old. He is married to Dr. Lynn Bacher Ohrenstein, and they have two children and four grandchildren.
Peter A. Cohen
Peter A. Cohen is an investor with holdings in technology, biotechnology, and real estate. He was Chairman and CEO of Cowen Inc., which was acquired in 2009 by Ramius Capital, an asset manager founded by Mr. Cohen in 1994. Mr. Cohen formed Republic New York Securities for Republic New York Corporation and served as Vice Chairman and Board Member. He spent two decades at Shearson Lehman Brothers, which merged with American Express in 1981. He was named Chairman and CEO in 1983.
Among the boards he’s served on were The New York Stock Exchange, American Express, L-3 Communications, and the Mount Sinai Medical Center. He is currently on the board of ButterflyMX Quadrant Biosciences and is Chairman of the Board of the Museum of American Finance.
Mr. Cohen has degrees from The Ohio State University and Columbia University. He has three children and resides in New York City with his wife.
Howard J. Rubenstein Z’’l
Howard J. Rubenstein Z’’l presided as the Founder and Chairman of Rubenstein Public Relations for more than 60 years. Today, with a staff of nearly 200 and hundreds of clients, the firm is one of the nation’s largest independent public relations agencies.
He served as a member of numerous civic and philanthropic organizations, including the Real Estate Board of New York, NYC & Co., the Association for a Better New York, the Foundation for the National Archives, and the City University of New York Business Leadership Council. He was the Vice Chairman of the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust and served on the Mayor’s Committee on Business & Economic Development.
He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and holds an honorary Doctor of Law degree from St. John’s University School of Law. Howard was greatly loved by his wife Amy, his three children, and his seven grandchildren.
Robert M. Morgenthau Z”l
Robert M. Morgenthau Z”l was a Founding Co-Chairman of the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust and is Chairman Emeritus. He was Co-Chairman of the New York City Holocaust Memorial Commission. From 1975 until his retirement in 2009, he was the District Attorney for New York County. Prior to the appointment of John F. Kennedy, Morgenthau served as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York throughout much of the 1960s. At retirement, Morgenthau was the longest-serving District Attorney in the history of the State of New York.
Morgenthau was an American lawyer who carried on his father’s and grandfather’s tradition of unflinching public service. A graduate of Amherst College and Yale Law School, he served in the U.S. Navy from 1941-45, practiced corporate law prior to his time in office, and twice ran for Governor of New York. He had seven children, six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.
About The Museum Of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust
Celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2022, the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust is New York’s contribution to the global responsibility to always remember. 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 and JewishGen.
The Museum’s current offerings include The Holocaust: What Hate Can Do, a major new exhibition offering a timely and expansive presentation of Holocaust history, now on view in the main galleries. Also on view is Survivors: Faces of Life After the Holocaust, featuring photographer Martin Schoeller’s portraits of Holocaust survivors on view through June 18, 2023.
Each year, the Museum presents over 60 public programs, connecting our community in person and virtually through lectures, book talks, concerts, and more. For more info visit: mjhnyc.org/events.
The Museum receives general operating support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Council on the Arts.