Brookline Survivor Featured in “Boston Globe”

The longtime president of the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Greater Boston (AAJHSGB),  a friend of Facing History and Ourselves, and frequent classroom speaker, Israel “Izzy” Arbeiter has stepped down from his post, the Boston Globe has reported.

Arbeiter, who helped found the AAJHSGB in 1952, has worked with Facing History students in New England for many years, sharing his own story of survival during the Nazi regime when he was sent to Starachowice labor camp in Poland from 1942 until the camp was liberated in 1945.
 
“He has single-handedly helped to ensure that the lessons learned from the Holocaust are not forgotten or rewritten," Janet Stein, who will succeed Arbeiter as the organization’s new president, told the Globe.
Arbeiter will continue to be an active presence in the Boston survivor community. He participated in the planning and dedication of the New England Holocaust Memorial, has participated in Jewish Community Relations Council Holocaust Remembrance Day programs, and has spoken to the United States Congress on issues of survivors' concerns, which have included restitution payments as well as reparations for insurance policies nullified by the Nazis.

Read “Israel Arbeiter Steps Down as President of Holocaust Survivors Association,” by Laura Franzini in the Boston Globe.

Learn more about survivors who speak on behalf of Facing History.

Learn more about Facing History's work in New England.