Inside

General Meeting….3

Mel Gibson .........3

Judge Korman ..…4

UCLA Events.......5

Photos ……………… 6

William Elperin

President

Michael Bazyler

Vice President

Susan Golant

Vice President & Secretary

Sam Rubinfeld

Vice President

Steve Hitter

Vice President

Ann Rubinfeld

Recording Secretary

Mike Zelon

Treasurer

The “1939” Club

8950 W. Olympic Blvd. #437

Beverly Hills, CA 90211

(310) 491-7802

Email

the1939club@aol.com

Web Site

www.1939club.com

Copyright

The “1939” Club, Inc.

2005

Dr. Goetz Reunited with His American Liberator

      Cantor Walfish, William Elperin, Dr. Sam Goetz and Bob Persinger

After 60 long years, Dr. Sam Goetz, former president of the Club and its current education chair, was reunited with his American Liberator, Bob Persinger, at The “1939” Club’s 53^rd Anniversary on October 30, 2005, at the Beverly Hills Hotel before a capacity crowd of survivors, dignitaries and students.

Dr. Goetz described the scene of that fateful liberation day on May 6, 1945:

 “I stood in silence, watching the crowds of emaciated humans surrounding the American GI. They kissed his hands and touched his uniform as if touching a saint. Each wanted to make sure the man was real, and this was neither an illusion nor a dream created by their anxious minds.”

 Mr. Persinger described that day as follows:

  “As we approached the camp, you could see swarms of prisoners dressed in their prison garments which were mostly rags, standing behind the barbed wire fences. We stopped at the gates. I remember at that time I reached down from the turret of my tank and took a rifle from the guard and broke it over the gun barrel of the tank. There was a tremendous roar from the prisoners when this happened.”

Former platoon sergeant of F Company, 3^rd Squadron, Robert Persinger lives with his wife, Arlene, in Loves Park, Illinois, outside of Chicago.

Page …….2            The “1939” Club E-Mail Newsletter                      

"I swore never

 to remain silent

whenever and

wherever human

beings endure

suffering and

humiliation. We

must always take

sides.”

            Elie Wiesel

Websites of interest

Jews in America

Forward Newspaper

Holocaust Chronicle

Claims Conference

Jewish Federation

Survivors of the Shoah

The Righteous

Yad Vashem

USHMM 

Page …….3       The “1939” Club E-Mail Newsletter   

VIEW ENTRIES

General Meeting and Election Set for January 25, 2006

The annual general meeting and election for The “1939” Club has been set for Wednesday, January 25, 2006 at 7 PM at Congregation Beth Israel. The slate of officers is as follows:

President -                William Elperin

Vice President-           Prof. Michael Bazyler

Vice President &

Corresponding Secty -  Susan Golant

Vice President-           Sam Rubinfeld

Vice President-           Steve Hitter

Treasurer-                  Mike Zelon

Financial Secty-           Rosemary Elperin

Recording Secty-         Ann Rubinfeld

Club President Issues Statement on

 Mel Gibson

In response to news reports that Mel Gibson plans to produce a film on the Holocaust, Club President, William Elperin, issued the following statement:

I think it’s great that Mel Gibson wants to make a film about  Jews during the Holocaust and that he recognizes the importance of remembrance and witness. His involvement will insure a large ready-made audience to view a movie about the Holocaust and perhaps encourage those who view it to learn more. However, great care must be exercised to deal with the subject matter accurately and honestly. It must be made clear that the Van Beek story is far from typical. Although we need to remember and honor the righteous Christians who risked their lives to save Jews, it must be emphasized that they were a small minority. The Holocaust occurred not only because of the perpetrators, but because of the vast number of people who remained silent bystanders. Most Jewish families who were even lucky enough to attempt to survive in hiding were, like Anne Frank’s family, ultimately betrayed or their hiding places discovered. Few Jews in the Netherlands survived the Holocaust; most, like Anne Frank, as well as her mother and sister, died in the concentration and death camps.

Page …….4              The “1939” Club E-Mail Newsletter 

Yiskor Bikker

 Holocaust Memorial

Books

Now on line

The New York Public Library in partnership with the National Yiddish Book Center has digitized Yiskor Bikker. They are available on line and many have been translated into English.

Yiskor Books

Click Here

Holocaust/Jewish

Studies Programs

• CSUN

• UCLA

• Chapman

• USC  

• Claremont

The “1939” Club  Cordially invites you to celebrate our 53rd Installation Sunday, February 26, 2006 12 O’clock Noon The Beverly Hills Hotel Reservations: (310) 276-5401 Dietary Laws Observed

Judge Edward Korman to be Guest of Honor

 In 2004 Edward R. Korman, a member of the Brooklyn College Class of 1963, was the presiding judge in a landmark case brought by Holocaust survivors against Swiss banks who profited from the confiscated property of European Jews. His work on this case, which he describes as a “once-in-a-lifetime case for a judge,” gave him the opportunity to play a critical role in addressing one of great injustices of the twentieth century. This historic class-action lawsuit brought about a $1.25 billion settlement to survivors and relatives, and gave stark evidence about how the Nazi regime persecuted not only Jews, but Jehovah’s Witnesses, Gypsies, gays, disabled people, and others. “A comparison of needy survivors is by definition an odious process,” he wrote in one decision in the case. “All individuals who survived the Holocaust bear scars, and all merit relief.”

Judge Korman, 63, grew up in East New York and went to school in Flatbush. After earning a degree in political science at Brooklyn College he attended Brooklyn Law School and graduated in 1966. In public service and in private practice, he has earned a reputation for independence and integrity. He was the U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn from 1978 to 1982 and in 1985, after several years in private practice, President Ronald Reagan appointed Korman a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. In 1989, he ordered the extradition of a member of the Abu Nidal Organization to Israel to stand trial for a terrorist attack on a bus traveling between the West Bank and Tel Aviv. In 1996, he found that the New York State Republican Party’s presidential primary election access rules imposed an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote and ordered that the Republican Party put Steve Forbes and other candidates on the Republican primary presidential ballot statewide.

Page …….5                 The “1939” Club E-Mail Newsletter 

Save the Date

Friday

March 10, 2006

7^th Annual

Art & Writing

Contest

Award Ceremony

Chapman

University

11 AM

Memorial

Auditorium

Moments of Decision: Perpetrators, Witnesses, Rescuers

Create an essay, poem or work of art that connects the historical moment of decision you have researched and your own moment of decision.  In your work, capture how these moments “illuminate or darken” life.

Page …….6               The “1939” Club E-Mail Newsletter  

Donate Your

Books

Donate your books relating to the Holocaust to the Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Memorial Library and dedicate them to family members who perished in the Holocaust.

 Call (310) 491-7802

Become a Member

You don’t have to be a Survivor; you don’t even have to be Jewish!

Membership Form

Click Here