Israeli President Reuven Rivlin is planning to visit New York City as a special representative of the State of Israel for the United Nations International Holocaust Remembrance Day, marking 70th Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, on Sunday, January 27th.
President Rivlin will speak before the General Assembly and also have a personal meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. The two have met before when Ban Ki-Moon was Rivlin’s guest in his Sukkah, just before Rivlin left for his only other presidential road-trip to Poland, to participate in the official opening of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw.
The new traveling exhibition will be titled, “Shoah: How Was It Humanly Possible?” . The exhibition, which uses texts, images, and video clips to recount a comprehensive history of the Holocaust from 1933-1945, will remain on display at the United Nations through February 2015. The evening will be held in conjunction with UNESCO. Many diplomats will be in attendance, as will Thomas Geve, one of the survivor-artists. The exhibit comprises works from the Yad Vashem Art Collection, features some 30 pieces produced at the time of liberation or in its immediate aftermath by 17artists: 15 survivors, one liberator and one witness.
The president is also scheduled to visit the US Military Academy at West Point and while there, he will participate in a ceremony and lay a wreath at the grave of Mickey Marcus, whose real name was David Daniel Marcus. A colonel in the US Army, Marcus went to Israel to help the Hagganah during the War of Independence. He was killed by an errant Israeli guard because he did not speak Hebrew and could not say the password. Marcus was considered the IDF’s first general and is regarded as a hero. Colonel Marcus was considered Israel’s first “lone soldier”, a program that is still active today in the IDF and one which President Rivlin will be addressing later in his visit.
While in New York City, Rivlin will lay a wreath at the site of Ground Zero. He is expected to speak, calling for all peace loving people to join forces in the struggle against terrorism.
Rivlin will meet with leaders of New York’s African-American community, and later in the visit is set to have meetings with leaders of the Hispanic and Jewish communities.
In addition, he will meet with bereaved parents of American lone soldiers who fell in battle while serving as volunteers in the IDF. The parents will be Rivlin’s guests when he addresses the UN. Lone soldiers are an essential part of the IDF with an average of 2,800 serving at any given time, 40% in combat units During the last war in Gaza, two American lone soldiers were killed while serving in the IDF, and one French lone soldier.
