Department of Public Information Supports International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation’s “Partners of Hope” Concert at Carnegie Hall
“Honoring Bravery and Humanitarianism: Stories of Rescue During the Holocaust”
The Department of Public Information’s Holocaust and the United Nations outreach programme collaborated with the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation on the “Partners of Hope”
concert at Carnegie Hall on 5 February 2007 at 8:00 p.m. This concert, held in connection with
the United Nations Holocaust Remembrance Week, recognized those who displayed extraordinary
courage to save Jews from genocide during World War II. Shashi Tharoor, United Nations
Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, read an excerpt from
documentation that highlights the actions taken by the then National Assembly of Bulgaria to
prevent the deportation of Bulgarian Jews.
In the darkness of the Holocaust, extraordinary acts of bravery and humanitarianism shed
occasional rays of hope on the lives of European Jews and others persecuted by the Nazis. One
of the most remarkable stories is the rescue of the entire Jewish population of Bulgaria. In
1943, as the Nazi reign of terror spread and Jews throughout Europe were subjected to
deportation and murder in the camps, Bulgaria's Jews were to suffer the same fate. But by
persistence and determination, 48,000 Bulgarian Jews were rescued from certain death. Bulgaria
was the only country Hitler had controlled with more Jews living in it when the war ended than
before the war had begun.
The Holocaust and the United Nations outreach programme, established under United Nations
General Assembly resolution 60/7, and the Raoul Wallenberg Foundation share a common mission to
promote education and public awareness to ensure that the lessons of the Holocaust – those both
of tragedy and of heroism – are passed on to future generations.
Among many other notables taking part in the programme who read excerpts on rescuers is
Ambassador Dan Gillerman, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations who
read biographical excerpts on the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg.
The programme also featured the Westfield Symphony Orchestra conduced by David Wroe who
presented the world premier of the poetry of Hyam Plutzik (1911-1962) which deals extensively with
Jewish themes, antisemitism and humanism set to music by Robert Cohen. The evening’s repertoire
also included Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K.550, excerpts from Giacomo
Puccini's La Boheme Puccini and Gaetano Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor sung by Bulgarian
soprano Anna Veleva and selected songs by Israeli singer David Broza.
International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation’s “Partners of Hope”
Concert at Carnegie Hall,
on 5 February 2008
Participants: Solomon Asser, Abigail Tenembaum, UN Under-Secretary-General Shashi Tharoor, Mrs. Janice Gillerman, Anna Veleva, Ambassador Dan Gillerman, Sheila Abranches.
Holocaust survivors, middle and high school students were offered tickets free of charge. The
full concert programme is available at: http://www.raoulwallenberg.net/especial/partnersofhope.htm.
For more information, please visit www.irwf.org, write to the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation at irwf@irwf.org, or call 212-737-3275.