New Fund Honors Legacy of Alexander Lebenstein
Sadly, our dear friend, Alex Lebenstein recently passed away. Many of us know his story. It’s worth repeating.
As a child living in Germany, Alex’s nightmare began on November 11, 1938 when the Nazi’s entered his city of Haltern, Germany on “Kristallnacht” destroying all things Jewish in their path. Along with his parents, he witnessed the Nazis destroying their possessions, their security, and the only home that he had known.
While his story is much like many other Holocaust survivors, Alex’s experience has influenced thousands of young people on both sides of the Atlantic, promoting racial harmony, anti-bias education, and social justice. Sixty years after trying to forget, Alex not only remembered but also shared the messages of the Holocaust with others.
Being encouraged to tell his story to youth, Alex began accepting invitations to speak; first, in his hometown of Haltern, Germany at the request of the students who needed to understand their history, the history of their grandparents and parents. Upon his return, Alex began accepting requests to speak throughout Central Virginia. His story, not only, told the dates and the facts, but it also told of the challenges Alex endured and how he had overcome them.
Alex ultimately learned as much from the youth as they learned from him. The youth wanted to do more. In Germany, they erected monuments, museums (in boxcars), and worked toward and became a school against racism. Most importantly, they inspired the entire town to become involved which led to naming Alex an honorary citizen and renaming the town’s school in his honor, the Alexander Lebenstein Realshule – “School Against Racism; School with Courage.” In Central Virginia, after school presentations or groups led at the Virginia Holocaust Museum, students wrote letters, drew pictures and created a book about Alex. They continued to e-mail him for facts and for encouragement to fight the woes of society and to learn how to live and act civil with others.
To ensure that this important message of tolerance and human rights is told forever, the Alexander Lebenstein Fund for Tolerance and Human Rights has been established at Richmond Jewish Foundation. Alex loved speaking and inspiring us to make the world a better place. When he returned from a speaking engagement, he would drop by the Richmond Jewish Foundation office to proudly deposit the gift donated from the school, business, or congregation into his fund.
If you wish to make a tax deductible donation to the fund so that Alex’s message of tolerance and human rights is never forgotten, please click here or contact Robert Nomberg at 804.545.8656.

After his recent passing, Gerald T. Shor’s family established a new fund to honor his memory. Gerald was raised in Raleigh, NC and had been a resident of Richmond, VA since 2005. He was a member of Keneseth Beth Israel Synagogue in Richmond and Beth Meyer Synagogue in Raleigh. He was a long time member of B’nai B’rith. He is survived by four children; Marcia Shor of Richmond, Barbara McDowell of Raleigh along with her husband, David, Michael of Charlotte and Nathan and his wife Nannette of Richmond. Gerald was the proud grandfather to nine grandchildren; Bryan along with his wife, Meghan, Andrew, Lauren, Marla, Rachel, Katherine, Adam and Jaclyn.
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