Clinton Global Initiative 2008 Annual Meeting Invitation and Program

This document is a program for the Installation Ceremony of Rabbi Yaakov Y. Kermaier as the Sixtieth President of The New York Board of Rabbis, held on December 17, 2009 (1 Tevet, 5770). The program outlines the order of events, including a welcome by Walter Molofsky M.D., an anthem led by F. F. Frank Pizarro (FDNY), and a Chanukah Menorah lighting with a musical offering by Cantor Joseph Malovany. Greetings are provided by Rabbi Joseph Potasnik and Rabbi Charles A. Klein. A significant part of the ceremony is the introduction and special address by Nobel Laureate Professor Elie Wiesel, followed by the installation and acceptance speech of Rabbi Yaakov Y. Kermaier. The program also features a musical presentation by the Israel Defense Forces Musical Ensemble and the Israeli National Anthem "Hatikvah," concluding with a Chanukah Celebration.

This document is an invitation to the 'Educating for Justice Gala' hosted by John Jay College of Criminal Justice. The first page provides the contact address for the event: 17-19 Marble Avenue, Pleasantville, NY 10570, associated with 'Buckley Hall Events'. The second page features a personalized handwritten note from 'Jay' to 'Ele and Marao', expressing the sender's honor if the recipients could join as guests, considering them 'part of the family'. The printed portion of the second page highlights that the gala is honoring Peter J. Beshar, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and The Tow Foundation, with a special tribute to Rossana Rosado.

Rebecca writes to her sister-in-law Maria about the plans to reunite Maria with her sons in Washington, invites them for Passover, and suggests possible schools for Maria's nephew.

Following Nat Turner's Rebellion and the subsequent racial violence in Virgina, Rebecca writes to her sister-in-law Maria about the immorality of murdering innocent Black people, and expresses her belief that Maria could be an advocate for them, despite being a slaveholder.

Miriam writes to her daughter Rebecca of visiting family, of health concerns including small pox, and educational updates on various children.

Born in Wrexen, Germany, in 1919, Fred Stamm was one of four children. Their father was a poor cattle dealer. Fred describes his limited early education in a Jewish school in Warburg and in the local Gymnasium, from 1930 until 1933, when a Nazi decree forced Jewish students out. His two sisters were transferred from Jewish to Catholic school, protected by the nuns.

He illustrates the effect of pre-war Nazi influence in Wrexen. His grandmother befriended villagers with clothing and bedding after a disastrous flood, but at her funeral in 1934 her casket was stoned by village youths. Fred served as an apprentice with a cabinet maker until 1938, when he was forced into a Jewish labor unit.

During the night of November 9, 1938, strangers broke into the Stamm house, ransacking the ground floor while the family, in bed upstairs, was unmolested. The next morning, Fred and his brother were advised to leave town and ride the railroads for several days. When they returned they found all the males in the town, except their ill father, were taken to a concentration camp. Most of them later returned home.

Within the next few months, both brothers left Germany for the United States, sponsored by their cousin, a gynecologist in Philadelphia where Fred quickly found work repairing furniture.

In 1942, Fred and his brother served in the United States Army even though they were considered German enemy aliens. He served in the Air Force as an aircraft mechanic, and refused European duty until granted American citizenship. He was sent to China with a fighter squadron to bomb Japanese-occupied territories. Fred returned to Philadelphia, married, raised two children and became a student of Jewish history at Gratz College.

See also the testimony of his wife, Ilse Stamm.

Interviewee: Fred Stamm Dater: June 1980