Tonight is the happiest night in the Jewish year, celebrating our journey from slavery in Egypt to freedom on the way to Israel. It has been the model for so many other peoples as they have sought their own path to liberty from the oppressor.
It has been a deeply disturbing year for Jews. There is a massive surge in anti-Semitism from both the Left and the Right. There have been violent incidents around the globe, most recently the attack on a synagogue in suburban Detroit which forced an emergency evacuation of school children, the torching of Jewish voluntary ambulances in London and an explosion at the Liège Synagogue in Belgium. Rather than dwell on the negative, I thought that readers would enjoy the story of a Jewish woman who endured tragedy and came out the other side to lead a life of importance.
Anne Skorecki Levy is the grandmother of my son-in-law, Marcel Garon. Known as Mamaw, Anne was born in Łódź, Poland three years before the outbreak of World War II. Her father, mother, sister, and she are the only family unit to survive intact through the ordeal of the Warsaw Ghetto. Alongside her younger sister, Lila (who recently passed away last year), she hid inside pieces of furniture inside the Ghetto that her father, a masterful carpenter created. Emerging from the shattered Europe in 1945, the family moved to New Orleans in 1947, where she ultimately married Stanley Levy.
She rose to public consciousness through her confrontation in 1989 with David Duke, grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and a recently elected state legislator, who was running for Governor of Louisiana. Levy had come to Baton Rouge at the invitation of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which was opening an exhibition at the state Capitol. Duke was strolling through the exhibit, hands clasped behind his back. This struck Levy as reminiscent of the pose of Nazi officers. She went up and tapped Duke on the back, asking, “What are you doing here? Why are you looking at these posters? I thought you said it never happened.” Duke replied, “I never said it didn’t happen, just that it was exaggerated.”
The confrontation was seen by Capitol reporters, who then followed up with Duke. “I know there were terrible atrocities against the Jewish people, but it is fair to question certain aspects of the Holocaust,” said Duke. Levy decided to follow Duke around the state as he ran for Governor, confronting him about the Holocaust. She said, “I never wanted to be in the papers, and I never wanted to find myself a nuisance. But my children look at me differently because I did speak up.” Levy went on to be a driving force in educating public school students across Louisiana and the deep South about the Holocaust and became very involved in New Orleans' world renowned World War II Museum and was the linchpin of a warm and loving family.
As the holiday approaches, I am considering my own role in preserving freedom for Jews in the U.S., which has been a blessing for immigrant families such as my own, fleeing the horrors in Europe. My commitment is to build alliances with ethnic or religious groups that have similar values of family, hard work, community, and charity. My wife Claudia and I have organized dinners for Latinos and Jews in Chicago, Houston, Long Island and New York City so that leaders in both communities can stand up for each other in challenging moments. This year, we need to find new friends, educate and cultivate them, turn them into powerful advocates for the truth about Jews in America and the world.
Richard Edelman is CEO.
