Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan in the United States

Yad Vashem Chairman Amb. Dani Dayan and UN Secretary-General António Guterres meeting at the United Nations Headquarters in New York
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29 November 2021

Dani Dayan recently traveled to the United States for his inaugural visit since assuming the role of Chairman of Yad Vashem. There, Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan met UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Governor of New Jersey Phil Murphy, as well as friends and supporters of Yad Vashem, including members of the American Society for Yad Vashem, co-chaired by Adina Burian and Mark Moskowitz. Additionally, Dayan convened with colleagues from leading Holocaust remembrance organizations and institutions in Washington, DC and New York.

During his trip, Dayan participated in the American Society’s online "Art of Remembrance" Gala Dinner Watch Event together with the Ettingen family, honorees of the Dinner. He was honored to talk with Holocaust survivors, including Ed Mosberg, a well-known advocate of Holocaust remembrance and combatting antisemitism, and was also interviewed by several major Jewish American media outlets.

Placing an emphasis on speaking to colleagues from other Holocaust institutions and organizations, Dayan visited the United Stated Holocaust Memorial Museum where he spoke with USHMM Director Sara Bloomfield. He also visited the museum's archives located right outside Washington DC. In New York, he met with Jack Kliger, President and CEO of the Museum of Jewish Heritage, and Gideon Taylor, President of the Conference of Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference).

As part of Yad Vashem's ongoing connection to the Jewish community in the United States, Dayan was invited to participate in a Kristallnacht commemoration at the Hampton Synagogue on Long Island, NY, spoke at New York's Park East Synagogue about the timely topic of Holocaust denial, distortion and trivialization, and addressed the congregation of the Central Synagogue also located in Manhattan, where he talked about contemporary antisemitism and the importance of Holocaust remembrance. Dayan stated in his address that due to the Holocaust, the Jewish people are well aware that racism, antisemitism, bigotry and xenophobia can grow to monstrous dimensions if they are not stopped in their tracks.

“And that is the lesson of Yad Vashem to the world. That is the lesson we try to convey to every single world leader. If it’s only for that reason that Yad Vashem exists and educates and researches and collects archival data, and only for that, dayenu (it is enough). And if we can save the life of one person, of one Jew, who otherwise would be victim to antisemitism, racism, bigotry and xenophobia, dayenu.”

Chairman of Yad Vashem Dani Dayan and the Director of Yad Vashem's International Relations Division Dr. Haim Gertner tour the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives

Yad Vashem