IN MEMORIAM: We have lost our crown. Benjamin Meed
To view the memorial for Benjamin Meed at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in DC, click HERE.
Nafla Ateret Rosheynu
The Crown Has Fallen from our Heads
The American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants announces with deep regret and sadness the passing of our beloved and devoted, indefatigable founding president, Benjamin Meed–a man who empowered the American Jewish Holocaust survivors and their descendants and gave them the voice to speak with moral authority to the highest elites of international society–from the ivory tower to the halls of global power. His dedication to our cause was complete. We express our deepest heartfelt condolences to his beloved wife, Vladka, who has worked, like him, tirelessly and devotedly for the cause of Holocaust education and commemoration, and to his children Anna and Steve and their spouses, his sister Genia and his grandchildren.
MORE TO FOLLOW.
The Funeral Service is to be held on Friday, October 27 at 9:30 a.m. at the Park East Synagogue in Manhattan.
Park East Synagogue
163 East 67th Street
New York, NY 10021
Tel. 212.737.6900
Internment will take place at Cedar Park Cemetary in Paramus, NJ.
Please check www.americangathering.com for any updates.
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My deepest sympathy to Vladka and the family of Ben Meed. I will always remember Ben after the being part of the teachers’ program in 2000. I was touched by the depth of his humanity! And, I will always recall his love for sharing ice cream with Vladka. My prayers and thoughts are with you Vladka.
It saddens me to think that another wonderful survivor of the Holocaust has slipped away from our midst. Ben was an exceptional person. Vladka and Ben are like family to those of us who have been fortunate enough to travel with them to Poland and Israel and to celebrate our “homecoming” events in Washington, D.C. every two years.
My deepest sympathies go to Vladka and their children.
Ben, we will miss you greatly, but your inspiration and goodness will always be with us!
Travis F. Baldwin
Sissonville High School
Charleston, WV
(Vladka, 2001)
The Holocaust Resource Center of Kean University extends its condolences to Vladka and family at the loss of Ben. He was an inspirational leader, a driving force, a compelling spokesman for Holocaust victims, survivors and education, and a “mensch” in the fullest sense of the term. Those that knew Ben were richer for the experience. He will be missed but his legacy will endure.
In February of 2006, it was my privilege as a guest to attend the Washington D.C. conference of the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors & Their Descendants. There I had the honor of meeting Vladka Meed. While Mr. Meed sadly could not be present, his name was often mentioned and his spirit animated and uplifted the proceedings. This experience changed my life. Despite what the world often says, I now know that real heroes exist, for there in the hallways and conference rooms of the Mayflower Hotel I saw them with my own eyes. Men and women who embody all that is best in humanity; men and women who are examples of – and testaments to- moral, physical, and spiritual courage. Women and men like Vladka and Benjamin Meed. At this sad time, I send many, many heartfelt condolences to the Meed family. May G-d bless them now and always.
Frank McMillan
The World has lost a great man. With his kind and gentle spirit, he made strangers feel like immediate friends. Ben was one of the first people I met when I was a part of the Holocaust study back in 1993. He was a support for his wife Vladka and all the speakers who joined us in both Poland and Israel. Vladka, I love you and pray for a peace to fill your heart. The void will always be present; but his spirit is always present.
Sharon
TO MRS. VLADKA, MEED, HER CHILDREN, GRANDCHILDREN AND FAMILY
WITH DEEP SORROW OUR CONDOLENCE.
ERNEST AND ELLY GROSS
I was in great shock when I learned of the passing of the beloved founding president of your eminent organization Benjamin Meed z.l.may his memory be for a blessing. No one could have put it better than you “The Crown Has fallen from our Heads”
Ben was a man of action, a leader of extraordinary vision. a man dedicated to the promotion of remembering the victims of the Holocaust. The annual observance of the commemoration remembering the heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising that he initiated became a pathfinder for other survivor organizations including our organization the New Cracow friendship Society.
I was privileged to be counted among his friends. I will miss him very much and will never forget his contribution to the cause of remembrance
Roman Weingarten President
the New Cracow friendship Society
As a Holocaust survivor, I mourn the passing of a man who touched thousands of lives and dedicated his time and energy to advocate tirelessly for us and for our causes. My deepest sympathy goes to the family. The entire Holocaust survivor community has lost a leader, a friend and a pioneer in Holocaust remembrance activities.
It is with great sadness that I note the passing of Ben Meed. What a remarkable individual he was. I remember sitting at breakfast with him in Poland when he asked me how I had come to be interested in teaching about the Holocaust. We had a great conversation that morning and I came away more determined than ever before to work with my students. He was an inspiration.
Kathy Dowd Ulrich 1998 Teacher Program
Ben was a great teacher…his stories and his optimism that teachers could help change the world stays with me and inspires me today in my classroom…long after our trip to Poland and Israel in 1999. My condolences to Vladka and his family. Theresa McAbee
I extend the heartiest and sincerest condolescence on the passing o”f a person who made a difference in his lifetime, a true “Mensch.” It is incumbent on me as the moderator/manager of the http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Remember_The_Holocaust/ to associate our worldwide mebership group (members are from all five continents)to the thousands who will mourn the passing of that great man. Our group as a feature selects a Site of the Week for the members, and thus it was as a tribute that your web site was chosen as the Site of the Week.
In tribute to the late Benjamin Meed, your website is the Site of the Week: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Remember_The_Holocaust/
Ben Meed was many things: a fighter, a leader, a husband, a father. To me, he was the warmest, sweetest man I ever knew. His smile was his ultimate triumph over the Nazis.
My heartfelt sympathy goes out to Vladka, his children and gradnchildren, and all those whose lives Ben touched. I will never forget his infectious smile and his genuine love for us — his and Vladka’s teachers. He tirelessly devoted himself to his passion and mission and in doing so created a legacy that will last for generations. Although his physical presence only touched my life in the summer of 1996 and the subsequent reunions, his spirit touches my life each and every day as I walk into my classroom with a passion to educate future generations that the promise of “Never Again” may some day be fulfilled.
Emily Andrews Taylor
Swansea High School
Swansea, South Carolina
1996 Teacher Program
Se ha muerto un testigo de la historia.Confieso que esto si es un hombre.Condolencias a la humanidad.
The NAHOS organization joins the entire Survivor community in mourning the passing of Benjamin Meed zâ?l, founder and president of the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Their Descendants. Thanks to his vision and indefatigable efforts, the annual commemorations of the victims of the Shoah became an established fact. He devoted countless hours and persistent determination to this objective. He campaigned for the establishment of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.; was a major participant in the fundraising effort and then served on the memorial?s governing council for over 24 years. He was instrumental in creating a unique registry of 180,000 names of Survivors which helped many to reunite with family or friends.
He met and obtained honors from the elite of international society, including several presidents of the United States and other nations.
All Survivors owe Ben a debt of gratitude for the annual public remembrance of their dear departed. A great visionary and enabler of Holocaust memorialization has been taken from us.
To his wife Vladka, his children Anna and Steve and their spouses, his sister Genia, his grandchildren, to all his friends and to the Survivor community we wish to convey: We share in your pain and sorrow.
Dearest Vladka and Family:
Our hearts and prayers are with you all. May G-d bless you.
Love from Charleston,SC cousins,
Lolly & Kenny Fox
laurelfox@aol.com
Our deepest sympathy to Vladka and the family of Ben Meed on his sad passing. We will cherish the guidance and inspiration that he shared with the World even to us down under in Australia. We wish the family long life and we are in awe of His achievements.
From Ursula Flicker OAM and the team in the Archives Department of the Jewish Holocaust Centre, ELsternwick, Australia. Thank you for the inspiration and dedication!
Monday
I’d been reading all morning
your elegy for Ben Meed – O’L.
At noon I stepped away from
the computer, my heart ached,
not so much for Ben, he is gone,
but for Vladke, his life companion.
The two forged a partnership that
lasted more than a half century,
I sat with Vladke, opposite Ben,
when he spoke at the Kotel, in
Jerusalem at the “World Gathering”,
She said: Thank God, We are Here.
Vladke and Ben emerged from Warsaw,
at the last possible moment , eluding
the Nazis and reaching America,
devoting their lives to ‘Shoa Memory’,
making the wails of Ghetto victims
reach humanity all over the world.
Their voices reached amazing distances,
they revived the memory of Warsaw Ghetto,
the martyrs and heroes of the resistance,
“We must erase indifference from our society,
We can’t allow the forces of evil to win”
This was Ben and Vladke’s motto all their lives.
With Ben Meed abruptly gone, I lost a friend,
I myself stay at the cliff edge of my years,
wedged between irregular, rapid heart beat
and clutching to hold on to past memories.
But I think of Ben’s addressing audiences:
“Jews, Do Not Respire! Mir Zenen Do!…”
Herman Taube
I was sadddened to hear of Ben’s death. My deepest sympathy to Vladka and family.