100 CELEBRATE HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR'S 88TH BIRTHDAY & VIEW FILM ON HIS LIFE

HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR CELEBRATES 88^TH BIRTHDAY  

100  Attend  Screening of ‘A Promise to My Father’ Documentary Tracing Israel Arbeiter’s 2012 Return to Native Polish Village

NORWOOD, MASS. (Issued May 2013) – “Resilient” and “inspiring.”

Speakers used these adjectives to describe Israel ‘Izzy’ Arbeiter at the celebration marking both his 88^th birthday and the anniversary of his liberation from a Nazi concentration camp in 1945.

Some 100 friends, family, students and other well-wishers attended the program at Kehillah Schechter Academy (KSA) in Norwood (Mass.) where the unique Gallery of Understanding is named for Arbeiter. A highlight of the program was the screening of the documentary film, ‘A Promise to My Father,’ produced by the WWII Foundation and Tim Gray Media. It follows Arbeiter’s April 2012 return to his native town in Poland and his story of imprisonment, enslavement and survival. Copies of the film are being donated to schools and libraries throughout the U.S.

Speakers included Dr. Michael Agus, President of KSA’s Board of Trustees and Director of the Medicine Critical Care Program at Children’s Hospital; KSA Co-Head Dr. Nitzan Resnick; and Claudia Schuett, Deputy Consul General of the German Consulate, Boston, who rhetorically asked, “How is it possible that so many of my grandparents’ generation said they didn’t know what was happening? I am ashamed.”

KSA 8^th grader Sarah Solomon read her essay, the prize-winner in the 7^th annual Israel Arbeiter Essay Contest, in which she wrote, “I hope some good can come of that torment. We can learn to keep our family members close, and to always forgive our brothers and sisters, because one day their presence might save our lives. I think those who survived found the strength to do so within their relationships.”

Arbeiterhas devoted his life to a promise he made to his father in 1942 as the family was dragged away to their death: “Save yourself, and if you survive, remember to carry on with Jewish life and Jewish tradition. Make sure future generations never forget.” Arbeiter has spent much of his life sharing his life story with all who will listen, speaking for those who died.

Since its inception in 2007, KSA’s Arbeiter Gallery has attracted such luminaries as Cardinal Sean O’Malley, former Governor and Presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, singing legend Peter Yarrow, Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz, Methodios, Metropolitan of Boston, the spiritual leader of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston, and many others.

Kehillah Schechter Academy, now in its 24^th year and accredited by the Association of Independent Schools in New England (AISNE), attracts boys and girls in grades pre-K – 8 from some 25 communities. It has won national acclaim for its commitment to educational excellence. For more information, contact Sara Ades Goodwin: 781-769-9400, or sgoodwin@ksa-ne.org.                                                                       

                          By Stanley Hurwitz /   508-269-0570 / stanhurwitz@gmail.com