2008 Woodie Awards
Remembering the Horror and Honoring the Dead
"Evil results when good people do nothing."
Lamia Vucetovic, Staff Writer
Issue date: 4/25/07 Section: Features
St. John's University's Jewish Heritage Day, held on April 20, offered a podium for Holocaust survivor Bernard Gotfryd to share what he called an "undigested lump" of his
experiences with the crowd, words that need to be heard. As he noted, it is his duty to enlighten the masses with his life experience
because "evil results when good people do nothing."
Cantor Moti Fuchs of the Hillcrest Jewish Center urged the crowd to stand up at the first signs of injustice in the world before the small things turn into atrocities of colossal proportions.
Cynthia Zalisky, executive director of the Queens Jewish Community Council, recounted her "credentials" as the granddaughter of victims of the Holocaust. Her mother found out about her grandfather's death during a chance encounter with a frightened Jewish man in Poland. With tears in his eyes, the man said to her, "I was with your father. I can tell you the day that he died." He was one of six million Jews cruelly deprived of life during the Holocaust. Those who managed to survive were often plagued with guilt as to their own chance to live while their kin suffered an unfortunate fate.
It is this suffered fate that unites the Jewish community, lucky to have Holocaust survivors to share their firsthand experiences. The later generations may not have been there in body, but retain the
indelible impressions of a shared history in their unwavering commitment to keeping their story alive.
"The Holocaust isn't just one person," said Mark Kandkhorov, President of the Jewish Students Association. "It's a family."
Councilman Eric Gioia spoke of Darfur as the first genocide of the 21st century occurring in real time. He urged the audience to boycott financiers of the genocide, including companies like Petro China, which contributes 70 percent of its profits to these unconscionable efforts.
As for the efforts to survive, Bernard Gotfryd understands that freedom is a precious gift not to be taken for granted but a virtue to stand up and fight for. He is a man whose duty as a survivor is to
experiences with the crowd, words that need to be heard. As he noted, it is his duty to enlighten the masses with his life experience
because "evil results when good people do nothing."
Cantor Moti Fuchs of the Hillcrest Jewish Center urged the crowd to stand up at the first signs of injustice in the world before the small things turn into atrocities of colossal proportions.
Cynthia Zalisky, executive director of the Queens Jewish Community Council, recounted her "credentials" as the granddaughter of victims of the Holocaust. Her mother found out about her grandfather's death during a chance encounter with a frightened Jewish man in Poland. With tears in his eyes, the man said to her, "I was with your father. I can tell you the day that he died." He was one of six million Jews cruelly deprived of life during the Holocaust. Those who managed to survive were often plagued with guilt as to their own chance to live while their kin suffered an unfortunate fate.
It is this suffered fate that unites the Jewish community, lucky to have Holocaust survivors to share their firsthand experiences. The later generations may not have been there in body, but retain the
indelible impressions of a shared history in their unwavering commitment to keeping their story alive.
"The Holocaust isn't just one person," said Mark Kandkhorov, President of the Jewish Students Association. "It's a family."
Councilman Eric Gioia spoke of Darfur as the first genocide of the 21st century occurring in real time. He urged the audience to boycott financiers of the genocide, including companies like Petro China, which contributes 70 percent of its profits to these unconscionable efforts.
As for the efforts to survive, Bernard Gotfryd understands that freedom is a precious gift not to be taken for granted but a virtue to stand up and fight for. He is a man whose duty as a survivor is to
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