Hillary Clinton, Debra Messing, Both Pritzkers Headline IL Holocaust Museum Awards Dinner

SKOKIE, IL — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Emmy Award-winning actress Debra Messing last month headlined the Illinois Holocaust Museum's largest annual fundraising gala.

More than 1,700 people attended the museum's Humanitarian Awards dinner held Feb. 27 event at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, raising more than $3 million to support the mission of the Skokie institution, according to museum representatives.

The event featured a reunion between the descendants of both the late Imperial Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara and the Jews he saved while stationed in Lithuania in 1940. Sugihara, who died in 1986, risked his life to issue more than 2,100 visa to Jewish people fleeing Europe during World War II.

Rick Salomon, vice president of the museum's board, said it was an honor to bring the Sugihara family together with four generations of people whose lives would not have existed had the diplomat not courageously helped them get visas.

“Japanese Consul General Chiune Sugihara dared to do what was right when the world was largely silent,” Salomon said. "The transit visas he signed saved my father and thousands of others from certain death at the hands of the Nazis."

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Attendees heard a musical tribute to Sugihara from renowned cellist Kristina Reiko Cooper, whose father-in-law was saved thanks to Sugihara’s actions, organizers said. Survivors Chaya Small, Leo Melamed and Esther Levin also took part in the tribute.

Clinton and Gov. J.B. Pritzker spoke on stage after Messing was interviewed by M.K. Pritzker, the governor's wife.

The 2016 Democratic Party nominee for president and the billionaire governor, whose own name is often floated as a potential future presidential candidate, discussed global issues during their conversation, organizers said.

Thanking museum officials for their work, the former senator from New York said support for its efforts could not be more important than it currently is.

“We were reminded tonight of how quickly things can change," Clinton said. "There was a reference to what was happening to Germany in the 1930s and how there was, on part of the people, a disbelief."

"You can go back and read the stories and headlines during that period, and it was believed it was not possible that what was being said about Hitler and his henchmen could actually come to pass and we paid a very big price for that disbelief,” she said.

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Messing discussed her work fighting antisemitism. Earlier this month, Deadline reported that the "Will and Grace" star has signed on to be the executive producer of a new documentary called "Primal Fear" about antisemitism on college campuses following the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel.

“If you know what you are doing is right, that you are on the right side of history, then all of the vitriol, all of the threats that come at you, they drop away because you have purpose,” Messing said during the gala.

Illinois Holocaust Museum CEO Bernard Cherkasov emphasized the relevance of the museum's mission amid increasing discrimination and hate.

“In this world, scarred by violence, anger, and hatred — with antisemitism, racism, LGBTQ-phobia, and other forms of hatred dramatically on the rise — these lessons from not-too-distant-a-past are as critical as ever,” Cherkasov said.

“This museum is built on the idea that when faced with injustice, every one of us has the ability to take a stand,” he said.

This year's Humanitarian Awards were presented to Michael and Juliet Gray, as well as Wintrust Bank, organizers said.

The Grays have made major contributions to combating hate and antisemitism, educating people about the Holocaust and reducing inequalities in health. While Wintrust, a longtime corporate sponsor, was honored for its charitable service and engagement with the community.