Yad Vashem ( sometimes written as Yad VaShem; "Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority") is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the ''Yad Vashem Law'' passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament.

The origin of the name is from a Biblical verse: "And to them will I give in my house and within my walls ''a memorial and a name'' (''Yad Vashem'') that shall not be cut off".

Located in the western region of Mount Herzl on the Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem, Yad Vashem is a complex containing the Holocaust History Museum; memorial sites, such as the Children's Memorial and the Hall of Remembrance; The Museum of Holocaust Art; sculptures, outdoor commemorative sites such as the Valley of the Communities, a synagogue, archives, a research institute, library, publishing house and an educational center, The International School for Holocaust Studies. Yad Vashem honors non-Jews who saved Jews during the Holocaust, at personal risk, as the "Righteous among the Nations".

Yad Vashem is the second most-visited tourist site in Israel, after the Western Wall. It receives some one million visitors annually. Admission is free.

Layout

The new Holocaust History Museum, opened in March 2005, is a prism-like triangular structure. It is 180 meters long, in the form of a spike, which cuts directly through the mountainside. Its stark walls are made of reinforced concrete, and it covers an area of over 4,200 square meters, most of which is underground. At the uppermost edge of the shaft is a skylight, protruding through the mountain edge.

The design of the facility reinforces the story and imagery of the museum; it is impressive in its own right. Visitors enter the museum near ground level. The sky and sunlight are readily visible through a skylight. The entrance features a movie and images depicting scenes of Jewish celebration and happiness in Europe prior to the Holocaust. Walking away from the entrance, visitors proceed through the galleries featuring different chapters, items and stories from the Holocaust. The hall emerges from the hillside, allowing visitors to approach a large window and balcony. Light is visible once again, as well as a stunning view of Jerusalem.

There are 10 exhibition halls, each devoted to a different chapter in the history of the Holocaust. Unlike the exhibition in the old museum, which was primarily composed of photographs, the new exhibition is a multi-media presentation that incorporates personal artifacts donated to Yad Vashem by Holocaust survivors, the families of those who died, and Holocaust museums and memorial sites around the world. The exhibits are set up chronologically, with the testimonies and artifacts accentuating the individual stories used to highlight the historical narrative.

Goals and objectives

Education:

operating the International School for Holocaust Studies;

*providing professional development courses for educators both in Israel and throughout the world;

*developing age-appropriate study programs, curricula and educational materials for both Israeli and foreign schools, in order to teach students of all ages about the Holocaust

*holding exhibitions about the Holocaust; and

*teaching about the Holocaust to the general public.

Documentation:

collecting names of Holocaust victims. The Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names currently holds 4 million names of Holocaust victims, all accessible online. Yad Vashem continues its project of collecting names of Jewish victims from historical documents, postwar commemoration projects and individual memories.

*collecting photos, documents and resources regarding the Holocaust. The Yad Vashem Archives house some 138 million pages of Holocaust-related documentation and over 400,000 photographs.

collecting Pages of Testimony memorializing Jewish victims of the Holocaust, Yad Vashem has so far collected 2.2 million Pages of Testimony.

*recording testimonies of survivors. The Oral History Section of the Yad Vashem Archives currently houses some 102,000 audio, video, and written testimonies.

Commemoration:

*preserving the memory and names of the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust and the numerous Jewish communities destroyed during that time; and

*holding ceremonies of remembrance and commemoration.

Research and Publications:

*conducting, encouraging and supporting research regarding the Holocaust;

*encouraging students and young scholars to research the Holocaust;

*developing and coordinating symposia, workshops and international conferences and undertaking scholarly projects;

*publishing research and making it available to the general public; and

*publishing memoirs, documents, albums and diaries related to the Holocaust.

Righteous Among the Nations:

*Honoring non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. Since the 1960s the title of Righteous Among the Nations has been awarded to more than 23,700 individuals.

Museum

In 1993, Yad Vashem institute decided to build a larger museum to replace the one built during the 1960s. This was in response to the need to provide a meaningful way to commemorate the Holocaust amid the technological advances of the new millennium, while connecting to younger generations, whose responsibility it will be to pass on the legacy of Holocaust remembrance. The new Holocaust History museum is the largest Holocaust museum in the world. It is carved into the Mount of Remembrance and designed to tell the story of the European Jewish community during the Holocaust. Consisting of a long corridor connected to 10 exhibition halls, each dedicated to a different chapter of the Holocaust, the museum tells the story of the Holocaust from a Jewish perspective. The museum combines the personal stories of 90 Holocaust victims and survivors and presents approximately 2,500 personal items including artwork and letters donated by survivors and others. At the end of the Holocaust History Museum is the Hall of Names, a memorial to the 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. The main hall is composed of two cones: one ten meters high, with a reciprocal well-like cone excavated into the underground rock, its base filled with water. On the upper cone is a display featuring 600 photographs of Holocaust victims and fragments of Pages of Testimony. These are reflected in the water at the bottom of the lower cone, commemorating those victims whose names remain unknown. Surrounding the platform is the circular repository, housing the approximately 2.2 million Pages of Testimony collected to date, with empty spaces for those yet to be submitted—room for six million Pages in all. Attached is a study area with a computerized data bank and where online searches of Holocaust victims' names may be performed on the Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names. Access to the Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names is also available on the Internet at the Yad Vashem website.

Since the 1950s, Yad Vashem has collected approximately 102,000 audio, video and written testimonies by Holocaust survivors; as the survivors age and are beginning to become less mobile, the program has expanded to visiting survivors in their homes to tape interviews.

On 15 March 2005, the dedication of the new Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum in Jerusalem, Israel took place. The impressive building was designed by the world acclaimed Canadian-Israeli architect, Moshe Safdie. Leaders from 40 states and former Secretary General of the UN Kofi Annan attended the inauguration of the Holocaust History museum. President of Israel Moshe Katzav said that the new museum serves as "an important signpost to all of humankind, a signpost that warns how short the distance is between hatred and murder, between racism and genocide."

The grounds of Yad Vashem display sculpture by Naftali Bezem, Ilana Gur, Lea Michelson, Nathan Rapoport, Moshe Safdie, Boris Saktsier, Zahara Schatz, Buky Schwartz, Shlomo Selinger, and Marcelle Swergold.

Righteous Among the Nations

[[Image:Israel-Yad Vashem Sculpture.jpg|thumb|'Torah', Memorial to the Victims of the Concentration and Extermination Camps Nandor Glid (1924–1997), cast bronze sculpture by Marcelle Swergold]] One of Yad Vashem's tasks is to honor non-Jews who risked their lives, liberty or positions to save Jews during the Holocaust. To this end a special independent Commission, headed by a retired Supreme Court Justice, was established. The commission members, including historians, public figures, lawyers and Holocaust survivors, examine and evaluate each case according to a well-defined set of criteria and regulations. The Righteous receive a certificate of honor and a medal and their names are commemorated in the Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations , on the Mount of Remembrance, Yad Vashem. This is an ongoing project that will continue for as long as there are valid requests, substantiated by testimonies or documentation. 449 individuals were recognized during 2010, and as of 2010, more than 23,700 individuals have been recognized as Righteous Among the Nations.

History

The idea of establishing a memorial in the historical Jewish homeland for Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust was conceived during World War II, as a response to reports of the mass murder of Jews in Nazi-occupied countries.

Yad Vashem was first proposed in September 1942, at a board meeting of the Jewish National Fund, by Mordecai Shenhavi, a member of Kibbutz Mishmar Ha'emek.

In August 1945, the plan was discussed in greater detail at a Zionist meeting in London where it was decided to set up a provisional board of Zionist leaders with David Remez as chairman, Shlomo Zalman Shragai, Baruch Zuckerman, and Shenhavi.

In February 1946, Yad Vashem opened an office in Jerusalem and a branch office in Tel Aviv and in June that year, convened its first plenary session. In July 1947, the First Conference on Holocaust Research was held at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where further plans were made for Yad Vashem. However, the outbreak in May 1948 of the War of Independence, brought almost all Yad Vashem operations to a standstill for two years. In 1953, the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, unanimously passed the Yad Vashem Law, establishing the Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority.

Recent history

In 1973 the Austrian UN Secretary General, Kurt Waldheim rejected requests to wear a Jewish Kippa during a visit to Yad Vashem.

In 2000, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder visited Yad Vashem as a guest of Israeli Premier Ehud Barak and was invited to turn a handle to boost the Eternal Flame. In a much reported diplomatic gaffe he turned the handle the wrong way and extinguished it.

In 2005, in response to a letter by Sa'ar Netanel, a member of the Jerusalem City Council, Avner Shalev, Chairman of Yad Vashem, promised a presentation of information on "other victims" in a "relevant place". Some information on other victims of the Nazis can be found on Yad Vashem's web site as of January 2008.

During 2008, Yad Vashem hosted a wide range of VIPs and dignitaries, beginning with US President George W. Bush, who visited in January 2008. Also in January, Yad Vashem's International School for Holocaust Studies held the first ever International Youth Congress on the Holocaust. Over 100 young people, from 62 countries and five continents gathered at Yad Vashem for a three-day Youth Congress. The Congress, under the patronage of UNESCO, was devoted to the study of the Holocaust and discussions of its universal significance. Participants, ranging in age from 17 to 19, and including among them Christians, Jews, Muslims and Buddhists, and speaking some 30 different languages, studied various Holocaust-related topics, toured Yad Vashem and Jerusalem, participated in workshops, and met with Holocaust survivors. Special sessions were held with Israeli dignitaries including president Shimon Peres.

During March 2008, German Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel, accompanied by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and eight ministers from each government, visited Yad Vashem. A memorial ceremony, with the participation of the Chancellor, the Prime Minister, and the Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate Avner Shalev, took place in the Hall of Remembrance.

Pope Benedict XVI visited Yad Vashem on 11 May 2009, with the participation of President Shimon Peres and Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin. Similar to the visit of his predecessor Pope John Paul II in 2000, Pope Benedict XVI's visit took place in the Hall of Remembrance at Yad Vashem, where he participated in a memorial ceremony, delivering an address and greeting six Holocaust survivors and a Righteous Among the Nations.

On 9 November 2008, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau was appointed by the Israeli government as Chairman of Yad Vashem to replace the late Tommy Lapid.

During 2009-2010, Yad Vashem launched websites in Spanish and Russian that joined the existing ones in English, Hebrew, and Farsi. Yad Vashem also created dedicated Youtube channels in English, Hebrew, Spanish, Russian and Arabic. Some 11 million visits were recorded on www.yavashem.org during 2010.

Awards

In 1973, the Pinkas HaKehillot (Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities) project of Yad Vashem was awarded the Israel Prize, for its special contribution to society and the State.

In 2003, Yad Vashem was awarded the Israel Prize, for lifetime achievement and its special contribution to society and the State.

In September 2007, Yad Vashem received the Prince of Asturias Award for Concord. The Prince of Asturias Awards is presented in 8 categories. The Award for Concord is bestowed upon the person, persons or institution whose work has made an exemplary and outstanding contribution to mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence amongst men, to the struggle against injustice or ignorance, to the defense of freedom, or whose work has widened the horizons of knowledge or has been outstanding in protecting and preserving mankind's heritage.

On 25 October 2007, Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev was honored with the Légion d’Honneur for his "extraordinary work on behalf of Holocaust remembrance worldwide." French President Nicolas Sarkozy personally presented Shalev with the award in a special ceremony at the Elysee Palace.

In 2011 Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev received the City of Jerusalem’s premier award for outstanding lifetime achievement and service to Israel’s capital city.

See also

List of Israel Prize recipients

List of Righteous Among the Nations by country

The Holocaust History Project

''Yad Vashem: Preserving the Past to Ensure the Future''

References

External links

virtual tour of Yad Vashem

Interactive tour at Yad Vashem new Holocaust Museum, Haaretz

Holocaust Memorial Budapest, testimony from the family Jakobovics in 1947

Witness: "Karoly Szabo played a determining role among Wallenberg’s supporters"

Yad Vashem memorial site for respect of holocaust victims

Global Directory of Jewish Museums

Yad Vashem information and memorial sites

Yad Vashem at ilMuseums.com

New Israel Holocaust Memorial Honors Gay Victims

Yad Vashem at World Heritage Tour (360 degree imaging)

Podcast about Yad Vashem and the educational work of the memorial site

Category:Organizations established in 1953 Category:Holocaust museums Category:Israel Prize recipients that are organizations Category:Israel Prize for special contribution to society and the State recipients Category:Israel Prize for lifetime achievement & special contribution to society recipients Category:Monuments and memorials in Israel Category:Museums in Jerusalem Category:Hebrew words and phrases

ar:ياد فاشيم ast:Yad Vashem bg:Яд ва-Шем ca:Yad va-Xem cs:Jad Vašem da:Jad Vashem de:Yad Vashem el:Γιαντ Βασσέμ et:Õiglaste allee es:Yad Vashem eo:Jad Vaŝem fa:ید و شم fr:Mémorial de Yad Vashem gl:Yad Vashem id:Yad Vashem it:Yad Vashem he:יד ושם jv:Yad Vashem la:Yad Vashem lb:Yad Vashem hu:Jad Vasem mk:Јад Вашем nl:Jad Wasjem ja:ヤド・ヴァシェム no:Yad Vashem nn:Yad Vashem pl:Yad Vashem pt:Yad Vashem ro:Yad Vashem ru:Яд ва-Шем fi:Yad Vashem sv:Yad Vashem uk:Яд Вашем yi:יד ושם zh:以色列猶太大屠殺紀念館

Coordinates	41°38′44″N71°28′39″N
name	Yu Dafu
birth date	December 07, 1896
birth place	Fuyang, Zhejiang, China
death date	September 17, 1945
occupation	Short Story writer and Poet
website	}}

Yu Dafu () (December 7, 1896—September 17, 1945). Born in Fuyang, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, was a modern Chinese short story writer and poet.

Early years

Yu Dafu's father died at when he was only three, leaving the family poverty-stricken and destitute. He received a number of scholarships through the Chinese government and went on to receive a traditional Chinese education in Hangzhou. Chronologically he studied in Jiangxing-Fu Middle School (before he came to Hangzhou), Hangzhou-Fu Middle School, Yuying Academy (育英学堂, formerly of Zhejiang University).

In 1912, he entered Hangchow University (later its major part merged into Zhejiang University) preparatory through examination. He was there only for a short period before he was expelled for participation in a student strike.

He then moved to Japan, where he studied economics at the Tokyo Imperial University between 1913 and 1922, where he met other Chinese intellectuals (namely, Guo Moruo, Zhang Ziping and Tian Han). Together, in 1921 they founded the ''Chuangzao she'' 創造社 ("Creation Society"), which promoted vernacular and modern literature. One of his earlier works ''Chenlun'' 沉淪, also his most famous, published in Japan in 1921. The work had gained immense popularity in China, shocking the world of Chinese literature with its frank dealing with sex, as well as grievances directed at the incompetence of Chinese government at the time.

In 1922, he returned to China as a literary celebrity and worked as the editor of ''Creation Quarterly'', editing journals and writing short stories. In 1923, after an attack of tuberculosis, Yu Dafu directed his attention to the welfare of the masses.

In 1927, he worked as an editor of the ''Hongshui'' literary magazine. He later came in conflict with the Communist Party of China and fled back to Japan.

Second Sino-Japanese war

After the start of the Second Sino-Japanese war, he returned to China and worked as a writer of anti-Japanese propaganda in Hangzhou, and later in Zhejiang. From 1938 to 1942, he worked as a literary editor for the newspaper Sin Chew Jit Poh in Singapore.

In 1942 when the Imperial Japanese Army invaded Singapore, he was forced to flee to Sumatra. Known under a different identity, he settled there among other overseas Chinese and began a brewery business with the help of the locals. Later he was forced to help the Japanese military police as an interpreter when it was discovered that he was one of the few "locals" in the area who could speak Japanese.

In 1945, he was arrested by the Kempeitai when his true identity was finally discovered. It is believed that he was executed by the Japanese shortly after the surrender of Japan.

Works

''Chenlun'' 沉淪 "''Sinking''" (1921)

''Riji jiuzhong'' 日記九種 “''Nine Diaries''” (1927)

''Guoqu'' 過去 “''The Past''" (1927)

his first novel?? (1928) (moderately successful)

his second novel?? (1932)

''Chuben'' 出奔 "''Flight''" (1935)

His most popular work, breaking all Chinese sales records, was ''Jih-chi chiu-chung'' "''Nine Diaries''", which detailed his affair with the writer Wang Ying-hsin. The most critically acclaimed work is ''Kuo-ch'u'' or "''The Past''", written in 1927.

References

Encyclopædia Britannica 2005 Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, article- "Yü Ta-fu"

External links

Category:1896 births Category:1945 deaths Category:Chinese expatriates in Japan Category:Hangzhou High School alumni Category:People from Hangzhou Category:Republic of China poets Category:University of Tokyo alumni Category:Zhejiang University alumni

de:Yu Dafu es:Yu Dafu fr:Yu Dafu it:Yu Dafu no:Yu Dafu zh:郁達夫

Coordinates	41°38′44″N71°28′39″N
name	Oskar Schindler
birth date	28 April 1908
birth place	Zwittau, Moravia, Austria-Hungary (present-day Svitavy, Czech Republic)
death date	October 09, 1974
death place	Hildesheim, West Germany
resting place	Jerusalem, Israel
resting place coordinates
occupation	Industrialist
spouse	Emilie Schindler
parents	Hans SchindlerFranziska Luser
religion	Catholic
party	National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi) }}

Oskar Schindler (28 April 1908 – 9 October 1974) was an ethnic German industrialist born in Moravia. He is credited with saving over 1,100 Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in his enamelware and ammunitions factories, which were located in what is now Poland and the Czech Republic respectively. He is the subject of the novel ''Schindler's Ark'', and the film based on it, ''Schindler's List''.

Early life and career

Schindler was born on 28 April 1908 into a Sudeten German family in Zwittau, Moravia, Austria-Hungary. His parents, Hans Schindler and Franziska Luser, were divorced when he was 27. Oskar was always very close to his younger sister, Elfriede. Schindler was brought up within the Roman Catholic Church. Although he never formally renounced his religion, Oskar was never more than an indifferent Catholic. After school he worked as a commercial salesman.

On 6 March 1928, Schindler married Emilie Pelzl (1907–2001), daughter of a wealthy Sudeten German farmer from Maletein. A pious Catholic, Emilie had received most of her education in a nearby monastery. During the Great Depression, Oskar changed jobs several times. He also tried starting various businesses, but always went bankrupt. He joined the separatist Sudeten German Party in 1935. Though officially a citizen of Czechoslovakia, Schindler also became a spy for the Abwehr, then commanded by Admiral Wilhelm Canaris. He was convicted of espionage and imprisoned by the Czechoslovakian government in July 1938, but after the Munich Agreement, he was released as a political prisoner. In 1939 Schindler joined the Nazi Party. One source contends that he also continued to work for Canaris and the Abwehr, paving the way for the Wehrmacht's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939.

World War II

As an opportunistic businessman, Schindler was one of many who sought to profit from the German invasion of Poland in 1939. He gained ownership from a bankruptcy court of an idle enamelware factory in Kraków, named Pierwsza Małopolska Fabryka Naczyń Emaliowanych i Wyrobów Blaszanych "Rekord", which he renamed ''Deutsche Emaillewaren-Fabrik'' or DEF (location). With the help of his German-speaking Jewish accountant Itzhak Stern, Schindler obtained around 1,000 Jewish forced labourers to work there.

Schindler soon adapted his lifestyle to his income. He became a well-respected guest at Nazi SS elite parties, having easy chats with high-ranking SS officers, often for his benefit. Initially Schindler may have been motivated by money, as Jewish labour cost less, but later he began shielding his workers without regard for cost. He would, for instance, claim that certain unskilled workers were essential to the factory.

While witnessing a 1943 raid on the Kraków Ghetto, where soldiers were used to round up the inhabitants for shipment to the concentration camp at Płaszów, Schindler was appalled by the murder of many of the Jews who had been working for him. He was a very persuasive individual, and after the raid, increasingly used all of his skills to protect his ''Schindlerjuden'' ("Schindler's Jews"), as they came to be called. Schindler went out of his way to take care of the Jews who worked at DEF, often calling on his legendary charm and ingratiating manner to help his workers get out of difficult situations. Once, says author Eric Silver in ''The Book of the Just'', "Two Gestapo men came to his office and demanded that he hand over a family of five who had bought forged Polish identity papers. 'Three hours after they walked in,' Schindler said, 'two drunk Gestapo men reeled out of my office without their prisoners and without the incriminating documents they had demanded. The special status of his factory ("business essential to the war effort") became the decisive factor for Schindler's efforts to support his Jewish workers. Whenever "Schindler Jews" were threatened with deportation, he claimed exemptions for them. Wives, children, and even handicapped persons were shown to be necessary mechanics and metalworkers.

In the factory itself, Jewish workers were treated civilly, with none of the "shouting, abuse and random killing" that was going on in the Płaszów camp next-door. The Jews were able to pray in a minyan daily, and gathered at night to learn Chumash and exchange words of Torah and stories of Gedolim. At the close of Shabbat, the workers gathered for Shalosh Seudos and sang ''zemirot'' (Shabbat-table songs), said words of Torah, and told stories of tzaddikim.

Schindler was arrested three times on suspicion of black market activities and complicity in embezzlement, as well as breaking the Nuremberg Laws by kissing a Jewish girl. Amon Göth, the commandant of the Płaszów camp, and other SS guards used Jewish property (such as money, jewellery, and works of art) for themselves, although according to law, it belonged to the Reich. Schindler arranged the sale of such items on the black market. None of his arrests led to a trial, primarily because he bribed government officials to avoid further investigation.

As the Red Army drew nearer to Auschwitz concentration camp and the other easternmost concentration camps, the SS began evacuating the remaining prisoners westward. Amon Göth's personal secretary, Mietek Pemper, alerted Schindler to the Nazis' plans to close all factories not directly involved with the war effort, including Schindler's enamelware facility. Pemper also persuaded and encouraged Schindler to switch production from enamelware to anti-tank grenades in an effort to save Schindler's Jewish workers. Tipped off to the factory closure, Schindler persuaded the SS officials to allow him to move his 1,200 Jewish workers to Brünnlitz, in the German-speaking Sudetenland, thus sparing them from certain death in the gas chambers. Mietek Pemper further aided Schindler's efforts by compiling and typing the list of 1,200 Jews - 1,000 of Schindler's workers and 200 other inmates - who were sent to Brünnlitz in in October 1944.

In Brněnec, Schindler gained another former Jewish factory, which was scheduled to produce hand grenades and parts for V2 rockets. It is unclear how much armament was actually produced there; Schindler and some of the workers claimed in the immediate post-war years that there had been no production that would have been useful to the German war effort, and even that some or all of the output had been deliberately faulty product.

After the war

Schindler and his wife fled to Austria's U.S. zone, escaping prosecution by dressing in prison clothes and carrying a letter testifying to their heroic actions. By the end of the war, Schindler had spent his entire fortune on bribes and black-market purchases of supplies for his workers. Virtually destitute, he moved briefly to Regensburg and later Munich, but did not prosper in postwar Germany. In fact, he was reduced to receiving assistance from Jewish organizations. Eventually, Schindler emigrated to Argentina in 1948, where he went bankrupt. He left his wife Emilie in 1957 and returned to Germany in 1958, where he had a series of unsuccessful business ventures. Schindler settled down in a small apartment at Am Hauptbahnhof Nr. 4 in Frankfurt am Main, West Germany and tried again – with help from a Jewish organization – to establish a cement factory. This, too, went bankrupt in 1961. His business partners cancelled their partnership. In 1968 he began receiving a small pension from the West German government.

In 1971, Schindler moved to live with friends at Goettingstrasse Nr. 30 in Hildesheim. Due to a heart complaint he was taken to the Saint Bernward Hospital in Hildesheim on 12 September 1974, where he died on 9 October 1974, at the age of 66. At the time of his death, he was surrounded by friends and family. He died penniless; the costs for his stay in the hospital were paid from social welfare of the city of Hildesheim.

Schindler wanted to be buried in Jerusalem, as he said, "My children are here". After a Requiem Mass, Schindler was buried at the Catholic Franciscans' cemetery on Mount Zion, the only member of the Nazi Party to be honoured in this way. A sign at the entrance to the cemetery directs visitors "To Oskar Schindler's Grave".

Schindler's grave is located on the mountainside below Zion Gate and the Old City walls. Stones placed on top of the grave are a sign of gratitude from Jewish visitors, according to Jewish tradition, although Schindler himself was not Jewish. On his grave, the Hebrew inscription reads: "Righteous among the Nations", an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis. The German inscription reads: "The Unforgettable Lifesaver of 1200 Persecuted Jews".

No one knows what Schindler's motives were. He was quoted as saying "I knew the people who worked for me... When you know people, you have to behave towards them like human beings."

The writer Herbert Steinhouse, who interviewed Schindler in 1948 at the behest of some of the surviving ''Schindlerjuden'' (Schindler's Jews), wrote:

"Oskar Schindler's exceptional deeds stemmed from just that elementary sense of decency and humanity that our sophisticated age seldom sincerely believes in. A repentant opportunist saw the light and rebelled against the sadism and vile criminality all around him. The inference may be disappointingly simple, especially for all amateur psychoanalysts who would prefer the deeper and more mysterious motive that may, it is true, still lie unprobed and unappreciated. But an hour with Oskar Schindler encourages belief in the simple answer."

Legacy

''Schindler's List'' (''Schindler's Ark'')

Schindler's story, retold by Holocaust survivor Poldek Pfefferberg, was the basis for Thomas Keneally's book ''Schindler's Ark'' (the novel was published in America as ''Schindler's List''), which was adapted into the 1993 movie ''Schindler's List'' by Steven Spielberg. In the film, he is played by Liam Neeson, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal. The film won seven Oscars, including the Academy Award for Best Picture. The prominence of Spielberg's film introduced Schindler into popular culture. As the film is the sole source of most people's knowledge of Schindler, he is generally perceived much as Spielberg's film depicts him: as a man who was instinctively driven by profit-driven amorality, but who at some point made a silent but conscious decision that preserving the lives of his Jewish employees was imperative, even if requiring massive payments to induce Nazis to turn a blind eye.

Other film treatments have included a 1983 British television documentary produced by Thames Television, narrated by Sir Dirk Bogarde entitled, ''Schindler: The Documentary'' (released in the US in 1994 as ''Schindler: The Real Story''), and a 1998 A&E; Biography special, ''Oskar Schindler: The Man Behind the List''.

Schindler's suitcase

In late 1999 a suitcase belonging to Schindler was discovered, containing over 7,000 photographs and documents, including the list of Schindler's Jewish workers. The document, on his enamelware factory's letterhead, had been provided to the SS stating that the named workers were "essential" employees. Friends of Schindler found the suitcase in the attic of a house in Hildesheim, where he had been staying at the time of his death. The friends took the suitcase to Stuttgart, where its discovery was reported by a newspaper, the ''Stuttgarter Zeitung''. The contents of the suitcase, including the list of the names of those he had saved and the text of his farewell speech before leaving his Jewish workers in 1945, are now at the Holocaust museum of Yad Vashem in Israel.

List of Schindlerjuden

In early April 2009, a second list was discovered at the State Library of New South Wales, Australia by workers combing through boxes of materials collected by author Thomas Keneally. The 13-page document, yellow and fragile, was filed between research notes and original newspaper clippings. This list, given to Keneally in 1980 by Leopold Pfefferberg, who was listed as worker number 173, differs slightly from the other list, but is nonetheless considered to be genuine and authentic. It is believed that several lists were made during the war as the protected population changed. This particular list, dated 18 April 1945, was given to Keneally by Pfefferberg when he was persuading Keneally to write Schindler's story. In the last months of the war, German Nazi camps stepped up their extermination efforts. This list is believed to have saved the lives of 801 people from death in the gas chambers. It was this list, taken with the surrounding events of the time, that inspired Keneally to write his novel.

See also

List of Schindlerjuden

List of individuals and groups assisting Jews during the Holocaust

''Schindler's List''

''Schindler's Ark''

Righteous among the Nations

Yad Vashem Righteous among the Nations

List of Righteous among the Nations by country

Raoul Wallenberg

Necdet Kent

Chiune Sugihara

John Rabe

Leo Rosner

Ángel Sanz Briz

References

External links

The Schindler Story

Biggest online gallery of images of Oskar Schindler's Factory in Kraków

Oskar Schindler's Factory info and tours

Oskar and Emilie Schindler - Righteous Among the Nations - Yad Vashem

Oskar Schindler's list at Auschwitz.dk

Aerial Evidence for Schindler's List

Holocaust Rescuers Bibliography

Schindler's List (film) bibliography via UC Berkeley

Pictures of Oskar Schindler's suitcase

Find-A-Grave profile for Oskar Schindler

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum - Oskar Schindler

''Voices on Antisemitism'' Interview with Helen Jonas from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Interview with Mimi Reinhard, Schindler's secretary

Category:1908 births Category:1974 deaths Category:People from Svitavy Category:Abwehr Category:Moravian Germans Category:German Roman Catholics Category:Nazis Category:German humanitarians Category:German businesspeople Category:German people of World War II Category:German Righteous Among the Nations Category:Catholic Righteous Among the Nations Category:Rescue of Jews in the Holocaust Category:Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Category:Burials at Mount Zion Category:Knights of St. Sylvester

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Sonia Pressman Fuentes (born May 30, 1928) is an American author, speaker, feminist leader and lawyer. She was born in Berlin, Germany, of Polish parents, with whom she came to the U.S. to escape the Holocaust. In the U.S., she became one of the founders of the second wave of the women’s movement. She was a founder of National Organization for Women (NOW) and Federally Employed Women (FEW), and was the first woman attorney in the Office of the General Counsel at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

Fuentes is the author of a memoir, ''Eat First--You Don’t Know What They’ll Give You, The Adventures of an Immigrant Family and Their Feminist Daughter'', which has been required reading at Cornell University and American University in Washington, D.C. Her articles on women’s rights and other subjects have been published in newspapers, magazines, and journals in the U.S. and throughout the world.

Fuentes has given talks throughout the U.S. as well as in Germany, Spain, Japan, China, the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand. She has served as an “American specialist” on women’s rights for the then-U.S. Information Agency.

She is a member of the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame.

Sources

This biography has been excerpted from Fuentes’ Web site (http://www.erraticimpact.com/fuentes).

External links

Jewish Women and the Feminist Revolution from the Jewish Women's Archive

Category:American activists Category:American writers Category:1928 births Category:Jewish writers Category:Living people Category:American female lawyers

Robert Herman Alfred de Foy (Geraardsbergen 23 March 1893 - Brussels 15 August 1960 ) was a Belgian magistrate, and head of the Belgian State Security Service, before and after the Second World War.

Personal life

He was the son of the civil servant Léon de Foy (1852-1942) and Mathilde de Vos (1860-1943). His brother Marc de Foy (1890-1964) ended his career as President of the Court of Appeal in Brussels, and his brother Joseph de Foy (1897-1967) was an officer in the Belgian army. In 1919 Léon obtained the change of his name from 'Defoy' into 'de Foy' and in 1934 he acquired hereditary nobility.

In 1941, Robert de Foy married Françoise du Monceau de Bergendal (b. 1910), sister of Count Ivan du Monceau de Bergendal (1909-2005), deputy Prosecutor in Brussels during the war (removed in 1994, reinstated in 1956, founder of the satirical weekly called ''Pan). They divorced in 1943. In 1946 he married the widow Marguerite Tallon (1893-1960). Both marriages remained childless.

Early career

After serving in the Belgian Army during World War I, Robert studied law, obtaining a Ph.d. He decided to become a magistrate. From 1922 to 1925 he was a judge within the military court in the Belgian army of occupation of the Ruhr, Germany. From 1925 to 1929 he was first substitute of the Public Prosecutor in Antwerp.

He then became deputy administrator in the Department of Belgian Public Security. From August 8, 1933, after the sudden death of his predecessor, Baron René Beltjens (1879-1933) he became acting administrator.

Belgian State Security Service: 1933-1940

Appointed as head of the Belgian State Security Service on December 30 1934, de Foy had to deal with the problems of rising international tensions.

Many countries considered communism as the most important threat. Security services of neutral countries like the Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium attended conferences with other nations, including nazi-Germany, to consider their position towards communism. Such a conference took place in Berlin from August 30 until September 3 1937. De Foy attended only at the end. He was rather reserved about such meetings, and reduced his own participation to a minimum. After the war he declared to an investigating magistrate and to a journalist of 'Associated Press' that never there had been deals made between the Gestapo and Belgian police services for a joint battle against communism.

In June 1938, de Foy and J. Schneider, the Director in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, represented Belgium at the Evian Conference in France. By March 1938, after Germany had annexed Austria in the Anschluss, the number of non-Belgian resident Jews had risen to 30,000. The Evian Conference was seen by all as a failure, failing to reach agreement on the number of Jews that would pass to both the United Kingdom and the United States.

With war approaching, the Belgian government, represented by the then minister of Justice Charles du Bus de Warnaffe ordered De Foy to draw up lists of "suspect Belgians and foreigners." On the list were the leaders of extreme right and fascist movements, such as REX (Leon Degrelle), Flemish nationalist movement, Verdinaso (Joris van Severen), etc. but also communist leaders. If the Germans attacked they would have to be arrested and confined into safe places. The list mentioned also Germans or other foreigners of whom it was not certain if they sympathized with the nazis. On May 10 1940, the Germans having invaded Belgium, telegrams were sent to local police authorities, signed 'de Foy' (it is still disputed if he actually sent them) to set in motion the arrests and the deportation to France.

During the war

After Belgium was attacked and its army surrendered on 28 May 1940, Adolf Hitler chose not to install a civilian government (as he had done in the Netherlands), but a military occupation, headed by general Alexander von Falkenhausen of the Wehrmacht. The Belgian administration remained in place and, under German supervision, governed Belgium, according to the developed theory of 'the lesser evil'.

Upon the return in July 1940 of the deported Flemish-Nationalists, De Foy and other civil servants branded as responsible, were arrested. He was transported to Germany, initially held in a hotel in Münster and then transferred to Berlin. Questioned and held for a few weeks, he was released and returned to Belgium. Police Chief Reinhard Heydrich communicated directly to General Eggert Reeder that de Foy was to remain untouched and resume his activities.

In fact, the Secret service department was abolished and only remained the Service of police regarding foreigners. From this point on a relationship of tension existed between de Foy and the occupying forces in Belgium.

On October 1, 1943, De Foy succeeded Gaston Schuind as Secretary General of the Department of Justice. At the same time, the Wehrmacht took over the policing of foreigners in Belgium, and arrests and deportation greatly escalated.

After the Allied Forces invasion of Normandy in June, the Nazis relieved De Foy of his position. In part this was driven by the rumours that he was "London's man," having made contacts, according to post-War records, with the Belgian Resistance via both Walter Ganshof van der Meersch and William Ugeux.

After Robert Jan Verbelen was made head of the ''De Vlag Veiligheidscorps'', a Nazi SS security force in Belgium, an attempt on the life of de Foy failed. During the last weeks of the occupation, he went into hiding.

After World War Two

On 1 September 1944, like most other Belgian officials in the administration, de Foy was suspended by the Belgian government returning from its exile in London, although it was stated that he had handled correctly. A judicial investigation was opened against him, but unlike many others, he was not jailed. The result was that his conduct was judged as having been blameless. From April 1946 to March 1947, he was appointed a judge in the international court seated in Tangier.

Upon his return in Belgium, De Foy resumed his duties as head of the State Security Service. Again, the major part of his activities consisted in tracking soviet agents and spies, as a part of cold war NATO activities. State Security was also tasked with organising "stay behind" groups, who would have resisted any Russian Army invading force. De Foy retired in 1958, handing over operations to Ludovic Caeymaex.

Honours

De Foy was vice president of the Carnegie Hero Fund.

On December 1, 1975 he was posthumously recognized as "Righteous Among the Nations" by Yad Vashem, for the help he had provided to Jews in Belgium.

He was the beneficiary of many honours, mainly after World War II, including:

Belgium:

*Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold II

*Commander of the Order of Leopold

*Commander of the Order of the Crown

*Civic Cross First Class

Other Countries

*Grand Officer of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite (Morocco)

*Grand Officer of the Ordo di Merito (Italy)

*Grand Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands)

*Grand Officer of the Wasaorde (Sweden)

*Grand Officer of the Crown (Romania)

*Grand Officer of the Order of Phoenix (Greece)

*Commander of the Order of the Redeemer (Greece)

*Commander of the Legion d'Honneur (France)

*Commander of the British Empire (CBE)

*Commander of the Order of the White Eagle (Estonia)

*Commander of the Order of Merit (Austria)

*Commander of the Order of Polonia Restituta (Poland)

Literature

J. GERARD-LIBOIS & José GOTOVICH, ''L'an 40. La Belgique occupée'', Brussels, 1971

Albert DE JONGHE, ''De strijd Himmler-Reeder om de benoeming van een HSSPF te Brussel. Deel 3'', Bijdragen tot de geschiedenis van de Tweede Wereldoorlog, 5, 1978, p. 133-147.

Jean VANWELKENHUYZEN, ''Les avertissements qui venaient de Berlin, 9 octobre 1939 - 10 mai 1940'', Brussels, 1982

Maurice DE WILDE, ''België in de Tweede wereldoorlog'', Deel 3, Kapellen, 1982

Rudi VAN DOORSLAER & Etienne VERHOEYEN, ''L'Allemagne nazie, la police belge et l'anticommunisme en Belgique (1936-1944) - Aspects des relations belgo-allemandes'', in: Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Nieuwste Geschiedenis, 1986, blz. 61-121

M. VAN DEN WIJNGAERT, ''Tussen vijand en volk. Het bestuur van de secretarissen-generaal tijdens de Duitse bezetting 1940-1944'', in: België in de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Deel 9, Het minste kwaad, uitg. DNB, Pelckmans, Kapellen, 1990

Rudi VAN DOORSLAER, ''De Belgische politie en magistratuur en het probleem van de ordehandhaving'', in: België in de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Deel 9, Het minste kwaad, uitg. DNB, Pelckmans, Kapellen, 1990

Fred ERDMAN & Hervé HASQUIN (rapporteurs), ''Parlementair onderzoek naar het bestaan in België van een geheim internationaal inlichtingennetwerk'', Belgische Senaat, 1990-1991 (referentie: 1117-4)

Guy BEAUJOUAN, Anne-Marie BOURGOIN, Pierre CEZARD, Marie-Thérèse CHABORD, Élisabeth DUNAN, Jean-Daniel PARISET, Christian WILSDORF, ''La France et la Belgique sous l’occupation allemande 1940–1944. Les fonds allemands conservés au Centre Historique des Archives nationales. Inventaire de la sous-série AJ 40, (revu par Christine Douyère-Demeulenaere avec la collaboration de Michèle Conchon. Index établi par Sandrine Bula. Introduction par Stefan Martens et Andreas Nielen)'', Paris 2002.

Maxime STEINBERG, ''La persécution des Juifs en Belgique (1940-1945)'', Brussels, 2004

Nico WOUTERS, ''Oorlogsburgemeesters 40-44. Lokaal bestuur en collaboratie in België'', Tielt, 2004

Dan MIKHAM, Israel GUTMAN, Sara BENDER, ''The encyclopedia of the righteous among the nations: rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust. Belgium'', Volume 2, Yad Vashem, 2005

Emmanuel DEBRUYNE, ''Un service secret en exil. L’Administration de la Sûreté de l’État à Londres, novembre 1940 – septembre 1944'', in: Cahiers d'Histoire du Temps présent, n° 15, 2005, p. 335-355.

P. PONSAERTS, M. COOLS, K. DASSEN, R. LIBERT, ''La Sûreté. Essais sur les 175 ans de la Sûreté de l'État'', Politeia, 2005

Nico WOUTERS, ''De Führerstaat. Overheid en Collaboratie in België, 1940-1944'', Tielt, 2006

Humbert DE MARNIX DE SAINTE ALDEGONDE, ''État présent de la noblesse belge. Annuaire de 2006'', Brussels, 2006

Rudi VAN DOORSLAER e. a., ''La Belgique docile, les autorités belges et la persécution des Juifs en Belgique'', Volume 1, Antwerp, 2007

Emmanuel DEBRUYNE, ''La guerre secrète des espions belges, 1940-1944'', Brussel, 2008

References

Category:People from Geraardsbergen Category:Belgian military personnel of World War I Category:Belgian lawyers Category:Belgian civil servants Category:Directors of intelligence agencies Category:Belgian people of World War II Category:Belgian Nazi collaborators Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of Leopold (Belgium) Category:Grand Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Category:Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:Belgian Righteous Among the Nations Category:1893 births Category:1960 deaths nl:Robert de Foy