KSA Holocaust Program Gathers 200 Guests

Some 200 people were on hand at the Kehillah Schechter Academy (KSA) in Norwood this past week for a program entitled "Everyday Heroes: The Power of Truth, Knowledge and History.”

The program included the 2,000-year history of the Romaniotes (the little-known Jewish community of Greece), the story of a courageous Greek woman who risked her own life to save a Jewish family from the Nazis, a specially-produced film on that era and commentary by two descendants of those who were saved, and remarks by a former Governor and U.S. Presidential candidate Michael Dukakis.

Keynote speakers, Dukakis and his wife Kitty Dukakis, talked about their own Greek and Jewish roots and their recent trip to Europe where they looked into their ancestries in Greece and Hungary.

Four Holocaust survivors - Israel ‘Izzy’ Arbeiter, Marion Katz, Irene and Aaron Raboy - greeted guests in the Israel Arbeiter Gallery of Understanding, a centerpiece of KSA.

A highlight of the program was the screening of a documentary, “In the Shadow of the Acropolis,” produced by Laura Zelle, a descendant of the family that was saved in Athens, and directed by Maxine Davis who was also in attendance.

In her comments introducing the documentary, filmmaker Zelle, Director of Tolerance Minnesota, said, “The challenge for us today is to include not only educating ourselves about a particular history, but also to move towards a positive action that we can do to shape a more tolerant future… to help young people develop as thoughtful, caring, compassionate and responsible citizens.”

Zelle’s cousin, local businessman and Program Chairperson Mark Ettinger also spoke before the screening.

“How many of us can say that if we were presented with a similar situation as Mrs. Sayanou (the woman who rescued his family) during the Nazi occupation, that we would risk our own lives to save a friend’s family?" he said. "Could I have the courage to do what she did? …We all have the power to make a difference in the lives of others and the greater world we live in.”

Besides several rabbis, the crowd also included Monike Dane, representing the German Consulate, Julie Hock, Regional Director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and Rick Mann, Board member of the Jewish Community Relations Council, that presented the event in association with AJC (the American Jewish Committee). Many KSA middle school students also attended.

From a press release by KSA