Holocaust Diplomats Honored

Ambassadors representing China, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the Netherlands at the United Nations gathered at the Kupferberg Holocaust Center at Queensborough Community College in Bayside last Wednesday to honor diplomats who helped Jews escape the Nazi onslaught in Europe before and during World War II.

Ambassadors to the United Nations from China, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the Netherlands gathered February 28 at the Kupferberg Holocaust Center at Queensborough Community College in Bayside for a program dedicated to honoring those diplomats who helped Jews escape Europe from the Nazi onslaught. The ceremony was highlighted by the opening of an inhabitation titled Diplomats of Mercy.

"It is to our great honor that during the terror of the Holocaust there arose a number of diplomats who on their own initiative rejected 'the final solution' of the Nazis, and in doing so saved thousands of Jews from destruction," Dr. Arthur Flug, Center director, said. Addressing a group of approximately 200 community leaders, he took the opportunity to explain why this diverse group of diplomats had come to Queensborough Community College. Diplomats from their countries for want of no better reason than doing the just thing and by dint of their initiative emerged as moral leaders in a very immoral world. Flug noted that the diverse group of community leaders present spoke well for rejecting the racism offered by the Nazis.

Visitors view exhibit at the Kupferberg Holocaust Center at Queensborough Community College in Bayside.

Each ambassador received a citation from the Kupferberg Center; three diplomats were honored posthumously. Rabbi Isidoro Aizenberg is the curator of the inhabitation. This exhibition is on view at the Harriet & Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Resource Center and Archives at Queensborough Community College through September 1 Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.