Welcome at the site of the 2014 Berlin Conference of the
World Federation of Jewish Child Survivors of the Holocaust & Descendants

Welcome Letter

Dear Friends, Brothers and Sisters, our Survivor Family,

All these many years (yes, a quarter century!) that we have been meeting for our annual conferences we never imagined that we would be going to Berlin in 2014 for our annual gathering. Yet it has become a reality.

It is a very significant event for us. I am sure our workshops participation, and our interactions will reflect the emotional impact of our having come to and being in Germany.

This conference, even more than our previous meetings, has required a lot more than the usual amount of planning, communicating and coordinating.  We hope that you will all experience the positive, enriching, stimulating environment that is the reality of Berlin in the year 2014 we are hoping for. Yes, we are the Child Survivors.  I think that being in Germany will have brought us Child Survivors to yet another aspect of dealing with the shadows of our past.

We want to thank our Vice President, Max Arpels Lezer, for his most active role in the planning for this conference. Max had to travel to Berlin a number of times to meet with Philipp Sonntag, our Berlin Child Survivor contact, and both of them met with governmental leaders, representatives of numerous organizations, and with the former American Ambassador to Germany, Philip Murphy and present Ambassador John B. Emerson, Max also negotiated a favourable contract for our attendees with the Berlin Hilton Hotel.
We also want to thank Roman Kent for initiating contact on our behalf with organizations and political figures in Germany.

Herzlich Willkommen! Hearty welcome and greetings to all!

Stefanie Seltzer, President
World Federation of Jewish Child Survivors of the Holocaust & Descendants