For the 35th year, ADL’s Mountain States Region will host the Governor’s Holocaust Remembrance Program, one of the largest such events in the United States. The program allows Coloradans of all faiths to come together to honor Holocaust survivors, remember those that perished, educate the community about this horrible crime against humanity and translate those lessons into contemporary action. This year’s event will take place on Wednesday, May 4, 2016 at 6 pm at Temple Emanuel in Denver. This year’s program will include a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for attendees to witness the presentation of the Righteous Among the Nations Award to the family of Dr. Maria Kiss Madi. Madi was a Hungarian doctor who passed away in 1970 at the age of 72. She hid two Jews in her apartment for several months, including a 7-year-old boy, saving them from certain death by the Nazis. The award, established by Yad Vashem upon its founding in Israel in 1953, pays tribute to a select number of rescuers whom the museum designates following a rigorous application process as “Righteous Among the Nations”. The award is among the highest honors bestowed by the State of Israel. Consul for Political Affairs Yaki Lopez from the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles will bestow the award to family members of Dr. Madi. Relatives of the individuals she rescued will be present to comment on the award. Madi’s diary of her time as a rescuer is housed at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. The event will also feature keynote speaker Margit Meissner, whose topic will be “What You Do Matters: The Inspiring Story of Margit Meissner, Holocaust Survivor and Activist.” Margit Meissner was born on February 26, 1922, in Innsbruck, Austria and grew up in Prague in a family of privilege with her father Gottlieb Morawetz, a banker, her mother Lilly and three older brothers. Margit’s father died when she was ten years old and the family fortunes soon changed. After leaving Prague to study dressmaking in Paris, where her mother thought she would be safer, Margit was caught up in the Nazi takeover of the city in 1940. Managing to escape on a bicycle with only the clothes on her back, Margit was able to rescue her mother, who had been interned in a Nazi detention camp in the South of France. During a four month odyssey including several close calls with the authorities, they snuck out of occupied France first to Marseilles and then were able to flee via Spain and Portugal to the United States, where they settled with Margit’s brother, Felix, in New York. Throughout the ensuing years, Margit worked several jobs, including a stint as a German Youth Activities specialist, reeducating Hitler youth. A sought after speaker and author, Ms. Meissner (OBM) traveled the world speaking about her remarkable experiences and mission to shed light on modern-day genocide and the current refugee crisis. Ms. Meissner was also the author of the memoir Margit’s Story, published in 2003. When asked how at the age of 18, stranded as an enemy alien with an Austrian passport in Paris, Margit was able to summon the courage and fortitude to escape the city, rescue her mother, and ultimately procure travel documents that brought the two of them to the United States in 1941, she responded: I never even thought about how I did what I did. My mother said, ‘it’s up to you to get us out.’ I never considered how hard it was. I had to perform because she expected me to be capable. That was her greatest gift to me – she expected me to be significant. That was a tremendous gift to me that you can’t quantify. It was more valuable than any inheritance. Governor John Hickenlooper will also offer remarks, and winners of the Moral Courage Student Essay contest will be recognized. ADL thanks Mountain States Regional Board Members Justin Borus, Dan Feiner, Cheri Rubin and Sharon Schonhaut for chairing the program. The event is made possible by the generous support of: The Feiner Family Foundation, Michael and Debbie Feiner, MDC/Richmond American Homes Foundation, The Curtiss-Lusher Family and JEWISHcolorado. Free tickets are necessary to attend the Program and are available online at https://ghrp2016.eventbrite.com. Please contact ADL at 303-830-7177 for more information.
