SAFE
HAVEN MUSEUM AND EDUCATION CENTER
This site at Fort Ontario in Oswego, N.Y. is the ONLY
place in the U.S. that accepted refugees during the war. President
Roosevelt sent Ruth Gruber on a secret mission to pick out 1000 people to
come to the U.S. to escape the horrors of the Holocaust. She chose 982,
18 (Chai) short of the 1000. The children, grandchildren and succeeding
generations as well as we are the 18, and our mission of education about
tolerance and diversity is an effort to celebrate life.
The entire town of Oswego is working together with
Hillel s Angels and the JMA to make this event one to Remember. We have
met with the Mayor, the local Chabad Rabbi,
Police officials, hotels, the Town Historian, the County Tourism Bureau,
and they are all so excited that we will be there in 2014. Our R2R
coincides with the 70th anniversary of their 1944 arrival. A
member of HA has arranged with the Maritime Museum for have a replica of
the Henry Gibbons, the ship they came over on, to be on display for this
event. Out of the 982, there are only about 100 survivors left and many
we will meet during that weekend. 2014 is also the 10th
Anniversary of Jewish Bikers riding for this cause.
The former residents of America s only refugee camp
for war victims feel an urgency to make sure their story is preserved. Manya Breuer, the refugee married at Fort Ontario
explained, I feel like I was left here, in this world, from the
Holocaust, for a reason. I feel this energy was given to me to fully
develop my life in the United States and live in America as human beings
as everyone else. And being left from such a horror is to be like a
messenger to let the world know what it is like to have faced a world of
hate and prejudice and not letting any other human being live.
The Safe Haven Museum and Education Center, a memorial
to suffering and the triumph of the human spirit needs the help of the
JMA to continue its mission and tell and preserve this unique story.
For different levels of donations made to Safe Haven,
you can have a plaque in honor of or dedicated to a loved one placed
on the Wall of Remembrance at Safe Haven.?
This is a first for the R2R in that everyone who ever visits Safe
Haven will know what an impact the JMA made for this worthwhile cause.
Oswego is located in New York State on the
southeastern shore of Lake Ontario.
Oswego boasts that small town atmosphere in which the
JMA presence will make a difference. Many state and local dignitaries
will be joining us also.
In addition the Ride on Friday, there will be guided
and unguided rides on Saturday as well as walking tours of the city.
The JMA OC, HA and the townspeople are feverishly
working to put together the registration packet which we hope will be out
Aug-Sept. timeframe.
Details will be forthcoming.? Stay Tuned for the 2014 Ride to
Remember, the Ride you will NEVER FORGET.
The Executive Board and MAL of the JMA
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