Derek Saker
Director of Communications
OHEL Children’s Home and Family Services
dsaker@ohelfamily.org
718-686-3333 direct | 347 920 0199 mobile | 718 851 2772 fax
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Day of Remembrance for Holocaust Survivors

More than 300 Survivors, dignitaries, and high school students gathered recently to honor the Centennial Celebration for Raoul Wallenberg and his heroic rescue efforts during World War Two, as well as to remember the Shoah and its impact on present and future generations.                          

The event was hosted by Nachas Health and Family Network, a not-for-profit healthcare and social community-based organization that helps thousands of Holocaust Survivors and Co-Sponsored by OHEL Children’s Home and Family Services. On the occasion of the official Raoul Wallenberg Year, the event honored his memory by presenting an award to the Consulate’s Vice Consul Gunilla Forsberg, who accepted it on behalf of the Swedish diplomat. In the packed audience sat tens of survivors that were actually saved by Mr. Wallenberg personally.

The ceremony took place at Young Israel Beth El, a synagogue in Borough Park. Among the speakers were Rabbi Pinchus Horowitz, Executive Director of Nachas Health; Councilman David Greenfield; Congressman Robert Turner; as well as Peter Rebenwurzel, Chairman of the Raoul Wallenberg Centennial Celebration and Norman Gildin, Chief Development Officer, representing OHEL Children’s Home and Family Services. 

Keynote speaker was the world-renowned Rabbi Paysach Krohn, who also is a published author. Not a dry eye was present in the audience as Rabbi Krohn described the memorial of empty shoes at the Danube River in Budapest representing the multitudes that perished on those shores.  He called on us, the descendants of the Survivors, to fill those shoes. “Six million is a farce!” exclaimed Rabbi Krohn “Sixty million is more accurate if you count all the children the six million would have had, had they not been killed.”

Any Survivor in need of assistance with reparations, entitlements, or who wish to join the Nachas weekly support groups or aerobics classes should feel free to contact the Nachas offices at (718)436-7373.  

OHEL continues to offer a breadth of services to survivors and other aging adults including OHEL’s Caregiver Helpline and OHEL’s H.E.A.L. Program. Funds for these programs are funded in part by the Claims Conference.  For more information please call 1-800-603-OHEL or email access@ohelfamily.org.