Boca Raton Philanthropist Marilyn Wallach to Chair U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s 30th Anniversary South Florida Dinner, Featuring CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig
Boca Raton, FL — The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum will host its 2023 “What You Do Matters” 30th Anniversary South Florida Dinner on January 24, 2023.
Thirty years ago, the Museum opened its doors. Holocaust survivors fervently believed it would serve as not only a lesson and a warning, but also an inspiration. While the Museum’s founders faced a daunting task, ours is no less challenging and increasingly urgent. Just as we are losing the eyewitnesses, antisemitism is on the rise and conspiracy theories and misuse of the Holocaust are taking hold.
CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig, who is the grandson of Holocaust survivors and was nominated for an Emmy award for his CNN documentary about the war crimes of Adolf Eichmann, will moderate a discussion entitled Fleeing Atrocities: Witness Perspectives. The panel will feature two witnesses of genocide and mass atrocities nearly 80 years apart: Holocaust survivor Louise Lawrence-Israëls and Rohingya human rights activist Wai Wai Nu, who will be introduced by Naomi Kikoler, director of the Museum’s Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide.
“As we approach the 30th anniversary of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, its mission remains more vital than ever: to preserve the memory of the Holocaust, to honor the memories of those who perished and to ensure that we never again experience genocide or mass murder driven by religious, ethnic, racial or other forms of hatred,” Honig says.
Boca Raton philanthropist Marilyn Wallach will serve as the event’s honorary chair. The Wallach family’s dedication to the Museum has been displayed through their generous $5 million bequest to the institution. Prior to the pandemic, the Wallachs attended the Days of Remembrance commemoration at the Capitol in Washington every year since the Museum opened in 1993. Before his passing in September 2021, Wallach’s husband Kurt, a Holocaust survivor, stated that “I have not found anything that I believe in or wish to support as much as the Museum.”
Wallach has carried on Kurt’s legacy in word and deed as she, along with her family, recently participated in the groundbreaking dedication for the Kurt and Marilyn Wallach Institute for Holocaust and Jewish Studies at Florida Atlantic University.
“At the 30th Anniversary South Florida Dinner, we will celebrate 30 years of working with valued community partners, who have helped the Museum carry the evidence and lessons of the Holocaust beyond the Museum’s walls in Washington, D.C.,” said Robert Tanen, director of the Museum’s Southeast region.
Two local community partners who have played an instrumental role with sharing the Museum’s educational initiatives throughout South Florida will be recognized by presenting the Museum’s “Pledge to the Future” during the dinner: Linda Medvin, M. Ed., director of Florida Atlantic University’s Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education; and Kimberly Coombs, Holocaust studies program planner for the school district of Palm Beach County.
This year’s National Leadership Award will be presented to Julie Peyton, a national patron and regional ambassador for the Museum, who has made an indelible mark in educating and building national and global understanding of the atrocities of the Holocaust and other genocides.
The 2023 South Florida Dinner will be held on January 24 at 6 p.m., at Boca West Country Club. For more information, please contact: 561.995.6773 or southeast@ushmm.org. RSVP: www.ushmm.org/2023-sf-dinner
About the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
A federally chartered, nonpartisan educational institution, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum serves as America’s national memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. The Museum is dedicated to ensuring the permanence of Holocaust memory, understanding, and relevance and inspires leaders and individuals worldwide to confront hatred, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity. For more information, visit ushmm.org.
