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The Eastern Office of the Simon Wiesenthal Center furthers its mission through outreach, education, social action and media projects. Based in New York City, it has a constituency of over 100,000 member families in the Tri-State area. In 2004, the Center opened the Museum of Tolerance New York in New York City. Upcoming Events:
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| Marvel Comics X-Men: Magneto Testament | |
 (L-R) Mark Weitzman, Greg Pak and Warren Simons, Ronald Glassman Photo Credit: Ronald L. Glassman |
The Simon Wiesenthal Center was proud to host a conversation with Greg Pak and Warren Simons, author and editor of Marvel Comics X-Men: Magneto Testament, moderated by Mark Weitzman, SWC Director of Government Affairs and Historical Consultant to X-Men: Magneto Testament, at the New York Tolerance Center. The book tells the story of Magneto, the most radical champion of mutant rights that mankind has ever seen. But in 1935, he was just another schoolboy - who happened to be Jewish in Nazi Germany. The definitive origin story of one of Marvel's greatest icons begins with a silver chain and a crush on a girl - and quickly turns into a harrowing struggle for survival against the inexorable machinery of Hitler's Final Solution. The informative and entertaining discussion and question and answer session was followed by a book signing by Mr. Pak and Mr. Simons. |
| Dr. Efraim Zuroff's new book, Operation Last Chance: One Man's Quest to Bring Nazi Criminals to Justice | |
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The Simon Wiesenthal Center's Eastern Office was proud to host the launch of Dr. Efraim Zuroff's new book, Operation Last Chance: One Man's Quest to Bring Nazi Criminals to Justice. Dr. Zuroff, the Director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem, launched Operation Last Chance in 2002, spearheading a vast public campaign to locate and bring to justice the worst suspected Nazi criminals before ill health or death spare them from potential punishment. Despite the passage of many years, the reluctance of many governments to cooperate, and even death threats and a price on his head, Zuroff's project yielded the names of over 520 hereto unknown suspects in 24 different countries and led to dozens of murder investigations, as well as several indictments and extradition requests currently pending. |
| SWC Generations Against Genocide Fall Cocktail Party | |
 Photo Credit: Ronald L. Glassman |
Generations Against Genocide (GvG), the newest division of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, held its annual Fall Cocktail Party to celebrate its second anniversary of working to bring attention to the plight of victims of genocide worldwide. The event was held at the newly renovated King Kong Room at the Edison Ballroom in New York City, with an open bar and passed hors d'oeuvres. The event was well attended and raised money for both the New York Tolerance Center’s Tools for Teens program and partner organization the Agahozo Shalom Youth Village. Photo: L-R: GvG Co-Chair Lisa Weitzman, Agahozo Shalom Youth Village Founder Anne Heyman, and GvG Co-Chair Gerald Barad |
Generations Against Genocide screened the documentary God Grew Tired of Us: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan at the New York Tolerance Center as part of Genocide Prevention Month. Jill Savitt, Executive Director of the Genocide Prevention Project, spoke about the context of the film and how it related to Genocide Prevention Month and the genocide in Darfur. Ms. Savitt’s remarks were followed by a question and answer period and a wine reception.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper (SWC Associate Dean), Rhonda Barad (SWC Eastern Director), Ruth Gruber (journalist, humanitarian) and Rabbi Marvin Hier (SWC Founder and Dean) Over five hundred people attended the New York premiere of “Against the Tide,” Moriah Film’s 10th production, which took place at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts at New York University. “Against the Tide” examines the tensions in America’s organized Jewish community and within the United States government during the period of the Holocaust.
NY Governor David Patterson helps light the SWC's 'TEAM' menorah. L-R: SWC volunteer, Seena Benedek, SWC UN Representative, Mark Weitzman, SWC Eastern Director, Rhonda Barad, and Governor Patterson.
SWC Forum Series presents Professor Emil Draitser
As part of the 2009 Forum Series, the New York Tolerance Center hosted a reading by Professor Emil Draitser, of his memoir, "Shush! Growing Up Jewish Under Stalin." His latest work, the memoir serves as a testimony to and reminder of the lasting impact of Stalinism in light of the current rise of xenophobic and ultra-nationalistic movements in Russia. Professor Draitser's powerful talk was followed by a lively question and answer session and book signing.
Book Award Presentation
Simon Wiesenthal Center Eastern Office proudly presented the 2008 Sandra Brand Tolerance Book Award to Helene Cooper for her book The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood, published by Simon & Schuster. The touching memoir describes Cooper’s early life in Liberia, disrupted by political strife and violence, her family’s escape to America, her attempts at assimilation, and finally her return to her homeland.
This annual award is made possible through the generosity of the late Sandra Brand, a survivor, author, and volunteer lecturer for the Simon Wiesenthal Center. The Center, a human rights organization dedicated to preserving the memory of the Holocaust and fostering tolerance and understanding through educational outreach and social action, presents the award to the author whose non-fiction work most exemplifies the goal of promoting tolerance.
As part of the New York Office's ongoing Forum Series, the New York Tolerance Center hosted a reading by Holocaust survivor Shalom Eilati, of his book "Crossing the River." "Crossing the River" is both a personal memoir and a valuable historical resource. Set against the backdrop of Lithuania’s occupation – first by the Red Army, next by the Germans, and then again by the Russians – the story begins in the occupied Kovno Ghetto and ends with Eilati’s flight across the Soviet border, through Poland and Germany and finally, his arrival in Palestine. Eilati attempts to reconcile his present life as a husband, father, scientist, and writer, with the images, feelings, and thoughts from the past that have left an indelible mark on his life and that continue to haunt him.
L to R: Jill Savitt and GvG Co-Chair Lisa Weitzman
Over 170 people guests attended Generations Against Genocide’s sold-out wine reception and private tour of the New York Tolerance Center. The incredibly successful evening was co-chaired by Generations Against Genocide Committee (GvG) members Joshua Kramer and Valerie Tocci, and raised more than $2,000 and sponsored fourteen students to take part in the Tools for Teens program at the Tolerance Center.
L to R: Event Co-Chair Valerie Tocci, GvG Co-Chair Gerald Barad, and Event Co-Chair Joshua Kramer.
Photo: Andy Kropa
, Professor Robert Wistrich, Mark Weitzman (Director, Task Force Against Hate).jpg)
As part of the 2009 Forum Series, Professor Robert Wistrich, Director of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism at Hebrew University, delivered the lecture “The Founding Myths of Antisemitism” to a sold out crowd at the New York Tolerance Center. Professor Wistrich based his lecture on his forthcoming book A Lethal Obsession: From Antiquity to the Global Jihad, due out in fall of 2009. The event committee was chaired by Benita Lebow and Lisa Weitzman, with Jonathan Adamsky, Caren Kabot, Matthew Slonim, Phyllis Solomon.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center and American Friends of Tel Aviv University co-hosted Professor Dina Porat, head of The Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and Racism at Tel Aviv University, where she previously headed the Chaim Rosenberg School for Jewish Studies and the Department of Jewish History. Professor Porat delivered a talk entitled “Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism After Gaza: Which Is the Chicken and Which Is the Egg?” which was followed by a question and answer period.
, Professor Dina Porat, Allen Adler (SWC Trustee).jpg)
Mark Weitzman (Director, Task Force Against Hate), Professor Dina Porat, Allen Adler (SWC Trustee)
Professor Porat
L-R, Frances Beatty Adler, Anna Deavere Smith, Allen Adler and Rhonda Barad
Anna Deavere SmithIn cooperation with the 92nd Street Y, the Eastern Office presented its annual Dorothy Gardner Adler lecture (The State of Antisemitism). The lecture, titled "Hatred Knows No Boundaries," was delivered by groundbreaking playwright, author and actress Anna Deavere Smith. A professor at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Anna Deavere Smith founded and directed the Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue and is the author of Talk to Me: Listening Between the Lines and Letters to a Young Artist. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, The New Yorker, and other publications.
"Anna Deavere Smith showed once again why she is America’s leading performer in depicting human beings and their reactions relating to race, religion, and those differences amongst up. She was moving and entertaining," said SWC Trustee Allen Adler, who has endowed the lecture series in perpetuity in memory of his mother Dorothy Gardner Adler.
PHOTOS: Ron Glassman
Photo: Ron Glassman
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SWC Eastern Director Rhonda Barad welcomed the attendees, and Premiere Chair Marc Utay gave remarks before Rabbi Marvin Hier, SWC Founder and Dean, introduced the film.
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Generations Against Genocide (GvG) screened the 1947 film "Gentleman's Agreement" at the New York Tolerance Center. The Academy Award™-winning film was directed by Elia Kazan and stars Gregory Peck as a reporter who goes undercover as a Jew to discover the reality of antisemitism first-hand in post-World War II America. GvG Co-Chair Gerald Barad introduced the film, noting the importance of the film's message of understanding to the struggle against antisemitism and genocide worldwide. |
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As part of the ongoing Forum Series, Consul General of Israel in New York, Asaf Shariv, presented a lecture titled, "5769: Going Forward – Israel/U.S. Relations." Just two days after the U.S. election, the evening provided a timely discussion on the new administration and the relationship between the United States and Israel from an insider’s perspective. (L to R): Forum Series Coordinator Carly Sorscher, Consul General Asaf Shariv, Event Co-Chairs: Benita Lebow and Lisa Weitzman. |
| Rabbi Abraham Cooper (SWC Associate Dean) briefed a group of SWC supporters about recent relations with Kurdish leaders and the flow of energy dollars to our enemies. The event was hosted by Jerry Cohen at the offices of Ackman-Ziff Real Estate. |
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| Early arrivals Phyllis Solomon and Karen Kaplan enjoy breakfast. | Host Gerald Cohen and Rabbi Abraham Cooper |
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Generations Against Genocide (GvG), the newest division of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, held its Fall Cocktail Party at the newly renovated Edison Ballroom in New York City, with an open bar and full buffet dinner. The event was attended by more than 170 people and raised money for both the New York Tolerance Center’s Tools for Teens program and partner organization Jewish World Watch’s Solar Cooker program.
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| GvG Co-Chair Lisa Weitzman and Rwandan activist Jacqueline Murekatete | Gerald Barad (Generations Against Genocide Co-Chair), Julie Henderson (Sports Illustrated swimsuit model), Nicole Fiscella (Gossip Girl) and friend |
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| Guests at the Edison Ballroom | |
| Photos: Ron Glassman |
June 18, 2008 |
The New York Tolerance Center hosted the launch of Shock Jocks: Hate Speech and Talk Radio, a new book by media critic, filmmaker and blogger Rory O'Connor with Aaron Cutler. The book examines the highly politicized, overly partisan and often factually challenged world of talk radio and its use of hate speech under the guise of free speech. Rhonda Barad (SWC Eastern Director) welcomed the attendees and introduced Bridget Regan (Director, New York Tolerance Center) who discussed the aims of the Tolerance Center and how the book ties into those aims. Don Hazen (Executive Director, Independent Media Institute, Executive Editor of AlterNet.org, publisher of Shock Jocks) and O'Connor followed, each discussing the book's importance to today's discussion of free speech and tolerance. |
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2008 marks the 75th Anniversary of Holocaust Remembrance Day, known in Hebrew as Yom Hashoah. Assemblyman Cymbrowitz, a child of Holocaust survivors, sponsored the resolution. |
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Generations Against Genocide welcomed Jill Savitt, Director of the organization Dream for Darfur, to speak at the New York Tolerance Center. Ms. Savitt, just back from protests of the Olympic torch relay in San Francisco, discussed China's role in Darfur, including the situation on the ground in the refugee camps, and what we can do to pressure China as the Olympics approach. The lecture was followed by a Q & A session and a wine and cheese reception. |
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Generations Against Genocide (GvG) its third event at World Bar to raise awareness of the group's programs. GvG, a division of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, was founded by the children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors, co-chairs Gerald Barad and Lisa Weitzman. Rhonda Barad, Eastern Director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, welcomed the guests to the event and briefly explained some of GvG’s current endeavors, which include underwriting the Tools for Teens program at the New York Tolerance Center, and fundraising to help Darfuri refugees currently being sheltered in Israel. (l-r) GvG Chair Gerald Barad, SWC Eastern Director Rhonda Barad, and World Bar manager Mark Grossich. |
 Photo: Ronald Glassman |
A group of New York Park Rangers completed a day of training at the New York Tolerance Center Thursday, January 30th. "Parks are one of the few places in New York City where everyone gathers together despite any differences," said New York Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe. "As our communal backyards, parks are the epicenter of the diversity that makes our city so strong. We are grateful to the New York Tolerance Center for offering training that teaches understanding and tolerance. Their program is a vital element of the Urban Park Service Training Academy, which teaches the skills that will help future Rangers and Parks Enforcement Patrol Officers protect our parks and educate the public about our city's natural wonders." |
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In cooperation with the 92nd Street Y, the Eastern Office presented the annual Dorothy Gardner Adler Lecture (The State of Antisemitism), this year delivered by constitutional expert and Harvard University law professor Noah Feldman. The lecture was titled “The U.S. and The Middle East: Where Do We Go From Here?” and examined the current relationship between the United States and the Middle East and its future. Noah Feldman is a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and an adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He is also the author of Divided by God: America’s Church-State Problem and What We Should Do About It; What We Owe Iraq; War and the Ethics of Nation Building; and After Jihad: America and the Struggle for Islamic Democracy. |
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In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the Simon Wiesenthal Center's New York Tolerance Center hosted over 70 students from the Urban Assembly Media High School, Tottenville High School in Staten Island, and the Abraham Heschel High School for a special Civil Rights program on Monday, January 14, 2008. During the program, students embarked on a customized Civil Rights tour of the Tolerance Center which included the Power of Words exhibit, which depicts how the use of language can instill hope or incite hatred, and viewed a thought-provoking film on Civil Rights. The program continued with the students conducting a question and answer discussion with New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr., (pictured at podium). |
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To mark the 60th anniversary of the signing of the 1947 United Nations Resolution Creating the State of Israel, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Consulate General of Israel Asaf Shariv held a celebration and reception at the New York Tolerance Center, joined by His Excellency Dan Gillerman (Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations) and The Honorable Irwin Cotler (Canadian Member of Parliament, Former Justice Minister), who both delivered addresses commemorating the occasion. |
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On November 15th, the Simon Wiesenthal Center celebrated the launch of its newest division, Generations Against Genocide (GvG). Marked with a cocktail reception at the New York Tolerance Center, the launch was attended by over 100 people. Founded by children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors, GvG will draw upon the lessons of the Holocaust to bring attention to the plight of victims of genocide worldwide. It will further the Wiesenthal Center’s goals by empowering a new group of advocates to educate and alert the community about the threats of anti-Semitism and modern day genocide, in part by underwriting the Tools for Teens® program at the New York Tolerance Center.
(L to R) Rhonda Barad (Eastern Director, SWC) and GvG co-chairs Gerald Barad and Lisa Weitzman
Photo: Ron Glassman
On Sunday, November 18th, the youth division of GvG, Teens for Darfur, held a fundraising park cleanup in Riverside Park to buy solar cookers for Darfuri refugees. Solar cookers meet a simple but increasingly important need for Darfuri refugees who have fled the genocide destroying their lives and homeland: Women no longer have to gather firewood to cook meals for their families, which has become one of the most pressing dangers of living in refugee camps, as women run the risk of being raped or killed when they leave the camps. Through sponsorships and donations, the teens’ efforts raised over $1700, which will go to help the victims of genocide feed their families. |
In conjunction with the New York Board of Rabbis, the Simon Wiesenthal Center hosted a screening of “Unsettled,” a documentary by filmmaker Adam Hootnick on October 24, 2007 at the New York Tolerance Center. Rhonda Barad (SWC Eastern Director) introduced the film, which examines the lives of six young men and women during the 2005 Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. The screening was attended by one hundred people, and following the film, the attendees were treated to a Q&A with Hootnick. |
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Speaker Hon. Christine Quinn addressing the crowd. |
Council Member Hon. Daniel Garodnick, Howard Teich, and SWC NY Executive Board Member Norman Brodsky. |
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Council Members Hon. David Weprin, |
Photos: Ron Glassman |
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L-R: Martin Rosen, Board of Trustees, SWC, Shimon Samuels, Director for International Relations, SWC, Kristen Silverberg, Assistant Secretary of State, Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General, UNESCO, Graciela Samuels, French Charge de Mission, UNESCO and Mark Weitzman, Director, Taskforce Against Hate, SWC. |
L-R: Former NY Governor George Pataki, Mark Weitzman, Director, Taskforce Against Hate, SWC, Martin Rosen, Board of Trustees, SWC and Rhonda Barad, Eastern Director, SWC. |
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September 24th marked the US launch of Antisemitism: The Generic Hatred, Essays in Memory of Simon Wiesenthal, edited by Michael Fineberg, Shimon Samuels, Director of International Relations, SWC and Mark Weitzman, Director, Taskforce Against Hate, SWC. The launch, which took place at the New York Tolerance Center, featured speeches by Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General, UNESCO, Martin Rosen, personal attorney and close friend of Simon Wiesenthal, as well as Samuels and Weitzman. Those who attended included the German Consul General Dr. Hans-Jeurgen Heimsoeth, the Austrian Consul General Dr. Brigitta Blaha, Assistant Secretary of State Kristen Silverberg and Former New York Governor George Pataki. The book examines some of the reasons that antisemitism has prospered over the ages and persists in our time, seeking to understand and learn from this particular paradigm of hatred and to suggest ways of countering it, in the name of the core values of a common humanity. |
Programs of the Eastern Office Include:
Contact Information
Simon Wiesenthal Center
50 East 42nd Street, Suite 1600
New York, NY 10017
Tel: 212.370.0320
Fax: 212.883.0895
Staff:
Mark Weitzman, Director of Government Affairs & SWC's Chief UN Representative
taskforce@swcny.com
Carly Sorscher
Community Relations Coordinator
csorscher@swcny.com
Carla Bolden
Assistant to the Eastern Director
cbolden@swcny.com
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