Holocaust activist Robert (Mendy) Klein of Cleveland is the featured speaker and the theme is “Never Again : Heeding the Warning Signs” at the Governor’s 33rd Annual Holocaust Commemoration at the Ohio Statehouse on April 9, 2013. Rabbi Binyamin Blau offers the benediction. (Video below along with comments and listing of speakers. Mr Klein at 30:50.)
A child of Holocaust survivors, Robert Klein arrived in the United States in 1956 with his parents and two siblings. His late father, Armin Klein, lost his first wife and three children after a Nazi deportation action in their hometown in Hungary. Armin spent several years in Hungarian forced labor camps before being sent to Auschwitz. Mr. Klein’s late mother, Jolan, survived Auschwitz’s gas chambers twice: once due to a mechanical malfunction and once because of a surprise Red Cross visit. Armin and Jolan met in a Displaced Person camp subsequent to their liberation, married, and rebuilt their lives in Budapest. They later fled to the United States on the night of the Soviet invasion of Hungary. Armin and Jolan Klein’s three children and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren serve as a rebuke to the Nazi’s genocidal plans for the Jews.
Josh Mandel, Ohio Treasurer of State
Bonnie Kantor-Burman, Director, Ohio Department of Aging
Introduction of Governor: David Goodman, Director, Ohio Development Services Agency
Remarks and Presentation of Governor’s Proclamation:
The Honorable John R. Kasich, Governor of Ohio
Accepting: Bradley R. Kastan, President, Columbus Jewish Foundation
Presentation of House Resolution:
The Honorable Matt Huffman, Speaker Pro Tempore, Ohio House of Representatives
Accepting: Beth Wain Brandon, Ohio Jewish Communities Board
Presentation of Senate Resolution:
The Honorable Keith Faber, President, Ohio Senate
Accepting: Martin H. Belsky, Vice President, Ohio Jewish Communities Board
Presentation by Ohio Legislative Black Caucus:
The Honorable Alicia Reece, Ohio Legislative Black Caucus
Accepting: John Neyer, President, Center for Holocaust & Humanity Education, Cincinnati
Holocaust Testimony: Robert Klein
Candle Lighting Ceremony:
Governor John R. Kasich
Robert Klein
Honorable Yaron Sideman, Consul General of Israel, Mid-Atlantic Region of the United States
House Minority Leader Armond Budish
Representative Stephen Slesnick
PUCO Commissioner Steve Lesser
Benediction: Rabbi Binyamin Blau, Green Road Synagogue, Beachwood, OH
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