Williamsburg
Assemblyman Joe Lentol (R–Williamsburg), state Sen. Simcha Felder, (D–Borough Park), and Mayor DeBlasio united with Rabbi Shmiel Dovid on International Holocaust Remembrance Day last month to posthumously honor Rabbi Michoel Ber Weissmandl for saving thousands of lives during the Holocaust.
The rabbi — through his organization the Working Group — halted the deportation of Slovkian Jews through negotiations, and alerted the international community in his “Auschwitz Protocols” of the atrocities taking place. Many of those saved found their way to America and settled in Williamsburg, according to Lentol.
“Many families in my district trace their survival to this courageous and wonderful man,” he said.
Felder praised Weissmandl’s courage under fire.
“In the course of his lifetime, he saved many worlds,” said the senator.
Rabbi David Niederman, director of United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn delivered the invocation.
“Thanks to Rabbi Weissmandl’s efforts, many of those rescued settled here, and made New York their home,” he said.
United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn [32 Penn St. and Williamsburg Street East in Williamsburg, (718) 643–9700].
