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Friday, November 19, 2010

New York City Gala Celebrates JPEF's 10 Year Anniversary

On a recent Fall evening, nearly 300 guests, including many Jewish partisans and their families, gathered at the Park Avenue Synagogue in New York City for a heartwarming and emotion filled evening both honoring the Blaichman and Holm families and celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation (JPEF). WCBS anchor Dana Tyler was the emcee and Defiance writer/producer Clayton Frohman gave awards to the honorees.

The program recalled JPEF's humble beginnings and subsequent growth as a world leader in Holocaust education. In a tribute to her grandfather, Joe Holm (z"l), Elisabeth Holm remembers her grandfather as someone who "carried his family on his back through the forest to keep them alive. He risked his own life countless times for the sake of others...He didn't simply survive, he fought back." Read Elisabeth Holm's entire speech on the JPEF website.

Other speakers included JPEF Board Co-Chair Paul Orbuch, who talked about growing up as the son of a Jewish partisan, and JPEF Founder & Executive Director Mitch Braff, whose remarks included a tribute to the seventy partisans, survivors, their children and grandchildren in attendance. The event culminated in JPEF’s presentation of its first Lev Aryeh (Heart of the Lion) Award to partisans Cesia and Frank Blaichman and Rose and Joe (z’’l) Holm and their families. This award will be presented annually to recognize Jewish partisans, their families, and others who stand up and make a difference in the spirit of the Jewish partisans.

Watch the five-minute video honoring Frank and Cesia Blaichman and Rose and Joe (z"l) Holm. 

Read more about Jewish partisan, Frank Blaichman, on the JPEF website.

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