A Gala for a Museum to Remember

For the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Sunday’s gala was a memorable evening to salute a museum dedicated to remembrance.

*

The black-tie dinner at the Beverly Hilton celebrated the opening of the $50-million, eight-story Beit Hashoah Museum of Tolerance in West Los Angeles. It also honored the legendary Nazi hunter for whom the center is named.

Like most guests who had toured it, the honoree was markedly affected by Beit Hashoah, which focuses on the Holocaust as well as on racism and prejudice. “Believe me, I’ve seen many museums,” said the 84-year-old Wiesenthal, who came from Austria for the opening. “But the way this combination has been arranged with the present and the past is unique.”

What impressed patrons who had been given previews was the museum’s use of sophisticated multimedia presentations. Dinner co-chair Arnold Schwarzenegger called Beit Hashoah “fantastic” and said it works because “the trick, if you want to teach people, is you have to first grab their attention, then teach them, then make sure it lasts. And this museum does all three of those things.”

Co-chair Jeffrey Katzenberg said he wished “every single high school student in Los Angles would have an opportunity to go through this museum as part of graduating. I think the message is that powerful and the lessons to be learned that remarkable.”

Although the museum relies on complex electronics to communicate, the gala relied primarily on the spoken word. Or in the case of Patti LuPone, the sung word. She performed a galvanizing 25-minute set that included one dig at Meryl Streep (who had sought the role in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s upcoming “Sunset Boulevard” that LuPone will star in) and half a dozen songs that ranged from Broadway hits to Cole Porter. Her performance peaked when, eyes brimming with tears, she sang “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina.”

After the Israeli and American national anthems were sung by David Shapiro, opening remarks came from CBS’ Paula Zahn, followed by a brief, well-made film on the museum, then a video congratulation from President Clinton. Afterward, French Consul General Gerard Coste presented the Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Merite to Wiesenthal Center founder Rabbi Marvin Hier.

UNESCO Director General Federico Mayor spoke on the defense of civilization against ignorance and racial hatred. Then dinner co-chair Merv Adelson introduced dinner vice chairman Ira Lipman, who presented awards of appreciation to two of the driving forces behind the museum--board of trustees chairman Samuel Belzberg and co-chairman Alan Casden--as well as to Hier.

MCA president and dinner co-chair Sid Sheinberg introduced Gov. Pete Wilson, who praised the gala as “an evening of testimony, remembering somber history and hope for the future.” He was followed by newly elected U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who spoke on the importance of international respect for human rights.

The most emotional points of the evening came next. Bella Sitnyakovsky, a Soviet Jewish immigrant, spoke on the heartening effect of knowing of Wiesenthal’s work while she was in Russia. Abraham Secemski, a survivor of eight Nazi concentration camps, described being able to testify against Josef Schwammberger, a camp guard Wiesenthal helped bring to justice.

The final words of the evening came from Wiesenthal, who praised the museum as “resistance to forgetfulness.”

“I hope that the future generation will be happy that we made it,” he had said earlier, “because my generation is the last living witness (to the Holocaust). After us, everything is history.”