Moishy Accepts Award for Sandra

Coinciding with the commemoration of Holocaust Remembrance Day, the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation held a moving ceremony at the Tel Aviv University, on May 6th, 2011.

The ceremony paid tribute to three rescuers: Louise and Joseph Materne, a Belgian couple that saved the life of a Jewish child during the Holocaust, and a contemporary hero – Sandra Samuel, who saved the life of Moshe Holtzberg, in the 2008 terrorist attack at the Chabad House in Mumbai, in which Moshe’s parents, Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg were murdered.

Samuel, who was unable to attend the event, was represented at the ceremony by Moshe’s grandparents, Rabbi Shimon Rosenberg and his wife Yehudit, who came up on stage together with little Moshe, amidst a standing ovation from the audience.

Mr. Guillermo Sverdlin, President of the Spanish-Speaking Friends of the Tel Aviv University and Mr. Danny Rainer, Vice-President of the Wallenberg Foundation, presented the 2011 Raoul Wallenberg Award to little Moshe, and Dr. Zalman Shiffer handed the certificate to his grandfather.

Rabbi Rosenberg asked to say a few spontaneous words and thanked the IRWF for this well-merited tribute, stressing the importance of recognizing the good, regardless of race, nationality or religion.

The mission of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation is to develop educational programs and public awareness campaigns based on the values of solidarity and civic courage, ethical cornerstones of the Saviors of the Holocaust.