Letter regarding archival material request for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

This letter, dated April 22, 1993, is from Marvin Kalb, Director and Edward R. Murrow Professor at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, to Elie Wiesel. Kalb expresses profound admiration and respect for Wiesel, praising his consistent moral leadership and courage. He highlights Wiesel's actions, such as speaking to President Reagan and pleading with President Clinton for action on Bosnia, as examples of his unwavering commitment to humanitarian causes. Kalb notes that Wiesel is an exception among those who achieve 'high moments' and continuously reaches for and achieves them. He concludes by expressing his honor to know Wiesel and to be his friend, moved to tears by Wiesel's words, wisdom, driving conscience, questioning mind, and unselfish contributions.

Diane Weinstock, nee Gottlieb, was born in Radom Poland in 1923 into a modern religious family. Her mother was a member of WIZO and Diane attended Zionist youth activities. She describes pre-war antisemitism, the German Occupation, the establishment of the Radom Ghetto in 1941 and her family’s living conditions there until 1942. She also details clandestine education and religious observances that happened in the ghetto. She and her mother were able to obtain false papers and hide posing as non-Jews in Warsaw from November 1943 until October 1944. Diane describes how after the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising she, her mother and several others hid out in a bunker in the demolished Warsaw Ghetto until January 1945. She gives a detailed description of how they managed to survive including being warned by a Jewish father and son that the Germans were scouting the area. They were liberated by the Soviets in January 1945. She returned to her hometown of Radom but encountered severe antisemitism. She then fled to Regensburg, Germany to reunite with a brother and an uncle who survived. Her father perished in the same camp three weeks before liberation. Diane worked as an interpreter for UNRRA, then married and emigrated to United States after the war.

This document is an event program for "Elie Wiesel: 'To Life!' A Celebration of 180 Jewish Lectures at 92Y," held on Thursday, November 20, 2014. It commemorates Elie Wiesel's 47-year association with 92Y and his profound impact through lectures on civil dialogue, education, arts, and Jewish values. The program includes an appreciation of Wiesel's life and work, detailing his biography, including his birth in Sighet, Transylvania, his experience in Auschwitz and Buchenwald, his acclaimed memoir "Night," and his roles as chairman of the President's Commission on the Holocaust and the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, as well as his numerous awards, such as the Nobel Peace Prize. The event features musical performances by the Young People's Chorus of New York City and the Zukerman Trio, and speeches by Gary Rosenblatt, Joe Lieberman, Jeff Greenfield, and Eric Kandel. Brief biographies of the speakers and performers are provided, alongside a comprehensive list of 92Y's Board of Directors, honorary directors, and various individual and organizational donors and funders.

Freda Cwanger, nee Stern, was born September 27, 1912 in a small town in Romania. Her family moved to Tarnopol, Poland when she was very young, after her father returned from his service in the Polish Army. She briefly talks about beating of Jews after 1935, and how the Russian occupation and then the German invasion affected her family. Freda's family, along with other Jews, were driven from their homes into the Tarnapol Ghetto. Freda took care of her siblings after both her parents died, her mother from starvation. When Freda realized that all the Jews in the ghetto would be killed, she and her brother and sisters escaped into the forest. Her siblings were captured and killed by the Gestapo in 1942. Freda was alone in the forest for three years. A Ukrainian man captured her so he could bring her to the Gestapo, but she got away. Even though Freda says that she doesn't know how she survived, her testimony shows how courageous she was. She briefly talks about the physical and emotional damage she suffered. Freda left the forest and was hidden by three different women, each time for about five weeks, until the war was over. She went to Trembowla, where Jews that had survived were gathered. She met and married her husband there. Helped by HIAS, Fred, her husband and their son came to the United States in 1946.

Herman Krauser served as an 89th Infantry sergeant in Germany with the 3rd Army during World War II. He briefly mentions that he encountered prisoners liberated from Ohrdruf on April 3, 1945, when his company bypassed the camp while enroute to engage the enemy. Most of this interview is a report - read by Mr. Krauser - based on testimonies of American soldiers in the 355th Regiment and the 4th Armoured Division who liberated Ohrdruf, describing brutal conditions.