The Founders

Meet Our Founders

Jack and Ernestine Burstyn

Jack Burstyn was born in 1921 in Chelm, Poland. In the early 1940s, Germans invaded Chelm and Jack was sent to Auschwitz concentration camp. In 1945, Russians were close to liberating Auschwitz; however, Jack and other prisoners were forced into the death march to Gross Rosen camp, roughly 276.9 kilometers in length. He survived by hiding in the forests of Poland and eastern Russia. In 1949, he married his wife, Ernestine Burstyn (née Ernestine Sobel). She was also born in Poland in 1925. A year later, they migrated to the United States and had their daughter and three grandchildren. Once they settled in New Jersey, Ernestine opened up a bakery called Cake Masters Bakery in Elizabeth. Jack joined another survivor, Joseph Wilf in the real estate business, and in 1959, he founded the Burstyn Group and is run by his daughter today.

After losing his whole family to the Holocaust, Jack with the help of his wife, dedicated his life to rebuilding the Jewish lives around him, never forgetting what he experienced. Jack was the founder of Congressional Israel in Springfield, served as former president of the Jewish Education Center in Elizabeth, and was on the board of the Rabbinical College of America. In the mid-80s, Jack was not only a leading member in saving the YM YWHA of Union, but he helped raise half of the campaign’s funding in 1985. In addition, the Burstyn’s dedicated and sponsored the Yaakov Agam sculpture in Jerusalem to the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust.

Leonard and Beatrice Diener

Leonard and Beatrice Diener were born in small towns in Poland. They both came to Elizabeth prior to the war — Beatrice with her family as a young girl and Leonard in 1932. Leonard’s mother, sisters, and, their families in Europe did not survive the Holocaust. After the war, the Diener’s connected with Leonard’s cousins and a nephew in Elizabeth until they were able to support themselves. Until his death in 1987, Leonard played an imperative role in the continuous growth of his community, welcoming other Holocaust survivors who settled in Elizabeth and helping many of them become leaders. The Diener’s had two children, Majorie and Lawrence, a daughter-in-law, Adele; six grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.

Leonard and Beatrice were partners in everything they did. They were actively engaged with the Jewish Educational Center and the Holocaust Resource Foundation and were strong Zionists and advocates of the state of Israel. As supporters of Israel Bonds and Boys Town Jerusalem, Beatrice endowed the Bea and Leonard Diener Torah Science Academy in memory of Leonard after his death. Together, as the benefactors of Yeshiva University, they endowed the Bea and Leonard Diener Institute of Torah Law at the Benjamin M. Cardoza School of Law.

In addition, their daughter Marjorie Diener Blenden (née Marjorie Diener) is an active leader and member throughout the Jewish community and has served as the chair of the American Committee for Shaare Zedek’s National Women’s Division, the Academic Affairs Committee, and the Emeritus of the Board of Overseers of Stern College for Women. She was the secretary of the Israel Bonds and Boys Town Jerusalem and continues to support them today. Currently, she is a trustee at Yeshiva University and assists in various school programs such as the arts.

Erwin and Lynn Fisch

Erwin Fisch was born in 1934 in Lvov, Poland. The Fisch family is said to have been the only intact family to survive from the ghetto of Lvov. Because of his mother’s resourcefulness and ingenuity, the family left the Lvov ghetto and found refuge on an isolated farm for two years before the Russians liberated them. As the family started migrating from Poland to Germany, they ultimately left Europe and came to the United States in 1950. In 1957, they settled in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and Erwin met his wife, Lynn, while building homes in Hillside. They were married in 1960 and now have two sons and seven grandchildren.

Erwin is the immediate past president of the Holocaust Resource Foundation and continues to be a dedicated member of the Holocaust Resource Center. He is also passionately involved and committed to the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey, the Jewish Educational Center in Elizabeth, and Jewish Family Services.

“We survived through the terrible suffering of our people… And it is because of our sense of gratitude to Hashem that we give back. We love the opportunity to offer our time, energy, and fund to help people. Perhaps our activity will show the Hitlers… the haters… the destroyers… that they didn’t defeat us. We have put our efforts into building schools, shuls, and other communal institutions that we hope will help preserve us as a people”

– Erwin Fisch

Arie and Eva Halpern

Arie Halpern was born in 1918 and Eva Halpern (née Eva Krenkel) was born in 1923, both in Chorostkow, Poland. Arie and Eva Halpern knew each other as children, and of the 2,000 Jewish families who lived in Chorostkow, Poland, a town near Lvov in Galicia, they were among only 20 people who survived. After spending the war years in ghettos, labor concentration camps, and in hiding, they had lost most of their families and friends in the Shoah. After the war, Arie and Eva married their first spouses, Frieda Halpern (née Frieda Geller) and Bernard Stein; both died prematurely. Arie and Eva then married and became a blended family with five children, sixteen grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. They rebuilt their lives with tremendous energy and optimism and made key contributions to their community in the United States. In addition, they and their first spouses were strong Zionists and were always very involved with supporting Israel.

Arie and Eva always emphasized the utmost importance of Holocaust remembrance and education, saying: “The world must know and remember what happened!” They proudly became founders and supporters of the Holocaust Resource Center and its mission to bring knowledge of the Holocaust and its lessons for humanity to the community at large via teacher training and commemoration.

Dr. Charles and Rella Feldman

Charles “Chuck” Feldman and his wife Rella Feldman (nèe Rella Levenstein) are well-known leaders throughout the Jewish community in New Jersey. Charles was a physician who dedicated his life to his family and the imperative need for human compassion and effort to be shared. Charles and Rella have five children, as well as grandchildren.

The Feldmans were active members of Jewish organizations, especially with the desire to promote Holocaust education spanning from the Jewish communities in America to those in Israel. Charles served as past-president of The Frisch School, a board member of Yad Vashem, and the vice-president of Drisha Institute. After Charles’ passing, Rella continues playing an active role within the Jewish community and inspires the people around her. She was a past-president of The Moriah School in Englewood, NJ, and the Women’s Division of the UJA Federation of Northern New Jersey.

Sam and Gladys Halpern

Sam Halpern was born in 1920 in Chorostkow, Poland. After three years of Russian domination, in June 1941, the reality of the Holocaust hit when Germans invaded Chorostkow, and bombing began in July. The Germans established a ghetto, Jewish police, antisemitic decrees, and Sam witnessed and experienced the brutal treatment of Jews by Nazi Germany. Russian liberation did not reach Sam until March 22, 1944, after his attempted escape in 1943 from Kamionka camp. Gladys Halpern (née Gladys Landau) was born in a small town in 1928 in Zólkiew, Poland. From 1939-1941, Gladys town was in the Russian war zone. In June 1941, the Germans invaded Zólkiew, and mass murders against Jews began immediately. Gladys’ father made arrangements for the family to hide in Lwow, but the family had to leave one by one. Everyone escaped except Gladys’ father, who was murdered on March 25, 1943, during the last Aktion in Zólkiew. After hiding for 18 months and Lwow becoming increasingly dangerous, Russians liberated the town in July 1944. Gladys and Sam met in Poland and were married in 1949 in Bayreuth, Germany. After losing most of their families in the Shoah, they came to America in 1949 to start a new life. Sam dedicated himself to building a business, and Gladys dedicated herself to raising a Jewish family within an Orthodox Jewish community. As longtime residents of Hillside, Sam and Gladys moved to Livingston to be surrounded by their family of four sons, nine grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren.

Sam and Gladys Halpern built their post-Holocaust lives in America with a sense of purpose, a sense of vision, and a sense of Yiddishkeit. After being successful in business, Sam, together with his brother, Arie, re-established their childhood Zionistic dreams by venturing to fulfill the mitzvah of building in the state of Israel. The Halperns saw Israel as the guarantee of “Never Again.” To ensure that Israel would be strong and prosperous, Same invested time, money, forethought, and heart in its future. In addition, Sam was one of the founders of the Holocaust Resource Center at Kean University and a member of the board of trustees of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. The Halperns are recognized leaders, and Gladys continues to play an imperative role in Jewish communities, both locally and internationally for the both of them.

Sol and Clara Kramer

Sol Kramer was born in 1920 in Dobromil, Poland, and when the war broke out, his family escaped to Russia. Sol used his skills as a dental technician and as a merchant-trader to support his family until liberation. After the war, Sol’s family returned to Poland, only to discover that there was no place left for Jews. They then made their way to the displaced person camps in Austria. Clara Kramer (née Clara Schwarz) was born on April 9, 1927, in Zolkiew, Poland. After the Germans overran her town, Clara and her family went underground in hiding for 20 months by a Polish family in a dirt bunker under a home. Since German soldiers occasionally lived above their bunker, Clara’s mother commanded her to keep a diary, which is currently at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Everyone in Clara’s family survived except her sister. Clara and her parents made their way to the displaced person camps in Austria in 1946, where she met Sol in 1948. They married on January 9, 1949, and settled in Kfar Saba, Israel, where their sons, Philip and Eli, were born in 1950 and 1954.

In 1957, Sol and Clara moved the family to the United States to join Sol’s parents and brothers in Brooklyn, NYC. Immediately, Sol spoke with Sam Halpern, who gave him a job in his supermarket. This opportunity paved the way for Sol to buy Sam’s store, and in 1965, Sol joined Sam in his building business. Sol worked in many Jewish organizations and became president of the Central Jersey Jewish Federation. Clara served as the president of the Holocaust Resource Center at Kean University and provided lectures to teachers and students about her story. The long-lasting impact of the Kramers continues to further the success of their Jewish community and aid those around them today.

Joseph and Rae Kushner

Joseph Kushner (né Berkowitz) was born in 1922, in the small village of Korelitz in eastern Poland. He was the youngest out of eight children and a twin. He became an apprentice carpenter at a young age to help after the passing of his father in 1937. In 1939, Korelitz became part of the Soviet Union and was occupied by Nazi Germany in June 1941. After witnessing the murder of several members of his family, including his mother, three of his six sisters, and their families, he was sent to work in the labor camp of Voritz. Later, he escaped to the forest with several of his siblings where they lived for more than a year. Joseph survived in the forest by hiding in a grave that he dug for himself and eventually joined the Jewish Partisans. Reichel “Rae” Kushner was born in 1923 in Novogrodek, Poland, to a middle-class family and was the second of four children. In 1939, Novogrodek was annexed into the Soviet Union, and it wasn’t until 1941 that the Nazis invaded and established a ghetto in the town. In the ghetto, Rae witnessed the murder of her mother, sister, and other family members. By 1943, Rae escaped the ghettos with her father and younger sister through an underground tunnel; her brother did not survive.

Rae and Joseph married in Hungary and spent some time at a displacement camp in Italy. They came to the United States in 1949, eventually settling in New Jersey in 1955, and had four children. Joseph continued his work as a carpenter and went into the building business in 1954. By working together, Rae and Joseph grew a successful real estate business and sought to move forward, creating homes and becoming builders of life.

Isak and Sally Levenstein

Isak Levenstein was born in 1906 in Opole, Poland, and Sally Levenstein (née Sally Banach) was born in 1909 in Kazimierza, Poland. In 1931, they were married and created a successful textile business in Krakow, where they lived with their two children, Esther and Shmuel Menahem when the war began. They were forced into the Krakow ghetto in 1942 and were able to work outside the ghetto until 1943, when it was liquidated and Isak was sent to Plaszow. He was able to smuggle Sally and the children into hiding for 14 months, until May 14, 1944, when the three were sent to Auschwitz and the children separated from their mother permanently. Isak was sent to Brinnlitz, Czechoslovakia, on Schindler’s List, protected by an identity card that said he was a “metal-sheet worker.” Upon his liberation, he made his way back to Krakow and reunited with Sally, who survived both Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. They spent time in the Bindermichl Refugee Camp in Linz, Austria, and had their daughter Rella in 1948, symbolizing their courageous commencement of life anew. They arrived in New York in September 1949 and then moved to Hillside because of the Jewish Education Center. As Isak and his business partners – two other Schindler List survivors – constructed homes throughout New Jersey, this was another courageous affirmation of life, continuing to live as Jews and transmitting Judaism to children. Baba and Zeddie, as they were called, adored their five grandchildren, who they considered miracles. Those five grandchildren are all married. The fourth generation of survivors includes eleven great-grandchildren.

Sally and Isak were involved with and committed to the Jewish Education Center, its community, and the state of Israel, a country they visited more than 30 times. They were leaders in charitable giving and “elder statesmen” in their community of survivors, filling a somewhat parental role for other younger survivors. Although they enjoyed their life after the war and were grateful for it, they never forgot their stories before. They vivaciously enjoyed celebrating simchas, which always seemed to be infused with an element of the miraculous that they were present to witness yet another simchas and the Jewish community.

Murray and Louise Pantirer

Murray Pantirer was born in 1925 in Krakow, Poland. Among his nine immediate family members, he was the only survivor. In 1944, Murray was transferred from Plaszów to Gross-Rosen concentration during its liquidation. As he was confronted with death, everything changed when he heard his name called from Oskar Schindler’s List as a sheet-metal worker, number 205. He spent the remainder of the war under Schindler’s protection and eventually ended up in a displaced person camp, Bindermichl. Louise “Lucy” Pantirer was born in Rozwadow, Poland, and spent the war years in Russian labor camps with her mother and sister. After liberation, they lived in the Bindermichl displaced camp where she met Murray, and they married in 1947. They then moved to the United States in 1949 and had three children. Once they settled in New Jersey, Murray started a construction company with his childhood friend and fellow survivor, Abraham Zuckerman.

The Pantirers devoted their lives to their family, every Jewish community in the world, and the State of Israel. Murray received a long list of honors and awards for his civic activities and contributions. He also was appointed a member of the United States Holocaust Council by President Ronald Reagan and reappointed by President George Bush until 1988. Murray was also a founding member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Among participation with organizations such as Yad Vashem and the New Jersey Advisory Council on Holocaust Education, he served as a chairman of the Holocaust Resource Center at Kean University. Like so many Holocaust survivors, the Pantirers achieved success in fulfilling their mission to live their lives with a purpose. Today, Lucy continues to be leading member and advocate of Holocaust Education in New Jersey, and throughout the world.

Meyer and Pepa Gold

Julius Sommer was born in 1918 in Tluste, Poland. Julius worked hard throughout his youth to excel in his studies, and in 1941, his studies won him acceptance into medical school. However, in June 1941, Germany began to invade eastern Poland and Russia, ending any chance of Julius furthering his education. Out of his four immediate family members, Julius was the only survivor. Adela “Ulka” Sommer (née Adela Spitzer) was born in 1923 in Tluste, Poland. Tluste was a primarily Jewish town and home to various levels of Judaism. On May 27, 1943, Germans created the Tluste ghetto, and Ulka lived there from 1942 until 1944 when Russians liberated the town. She managed to escape the Aktion killings by hiding in a bunker with over thirty-two other Jews. After the war, Ulka worked as a bookkeeper to avoid being arrested, and then in 1945, she moved to Katowice. There, she met Julius, and they married and lived in the Ulm displaced persons camp for three years. Initially, they had dreams of moving to Palestine and made their way through Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary. In 1951, they migrated to the United States with their two daughters and eventually had five grandchildren.

Once they settled from NYC to Elizabeth, NJ, Julius Sommer transitioned from a factory worker to a building developer with the help and partnership of other local Holocaust survivors Sam and Arie Halpern. The Sommers were active leaders in the Jewish community and desired to bring modern Jewish values into the Elizabeth community, and most of all, the love of Israel. Julius and Ulka were proud founders of the Holocaust Resource Center at Kean.

Julius and Adela Sommer

Harry and Judith Wilf

Harry Wilf was born in 1921 in Jaroslaw, Poland. When the war began, Harry Wilf, his parents, brother Joseph, and sister Bella, were deported from their home to a Siberian labor camp. All survived except for Bella. While the Wilfs were determined to return to Jaroslaw following the liberation, the pogroms which erupted in Poland in 1946 caused them to flee to the American-occupied zone of Germany. Judith Wilf (née Judith Jakubowiez) grew up in Tarnow, Poland, in a religious home with seven siblings. After both the Soviet Union and then Nazi Germany occupied Tarnow, life there was untenable. Although reluctant to leave her family, her Zionist youth group Hanar Ha’’zioni encouraged her to escape, and she spent the remaining war years in Uzbekistan and Siberia. After some time, she managed to find her sister, Rose, and eventually met her future husband Harry, his brother Joseph, and their parents.

Harry and Judith were married and emigrated to the United States in 1950. In 1954, Harry and Joseph founded Garden Homes, Inc., one of the largest real estate developments in the United States. Harry and Judith were active participants in the Jewish community and generous benefactors of various Jewish causes, including the United Jewish Appeal and the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey. They also worked with B’nai B’rith and the Jewish Educational Center in Elizabeth, where Harry served as president. Throughout their years, they had a strong and committed dedication to the State of Israel and supported such organizations as Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, Israel Bonds, the Mount Sinai Medical Center. At Yeshiva University, Judith served as the national vice-chairman.

Joseph and Elizabeth Wilf

Elizabeth “Suzie” Wilf (née Elzbieta Fisch) was born in 1932 in Lvov, Poland. Elizabeth’s family was about to escape the ghetto with the help of a friend and her mother’s Aryan papers. This helped secure the family’s refuge working on a peasant farm. For two years, they hid Elizabeth’s father in a bar without the farm owner knowing. Joseph Wilf (born Josef Wilf) was born in 1925 in Jaroslaw, Poland. Growing up, his family, and he endured the hardship of pre-war Nazi years. In 1940, they were deported to a Siberian labor camp where they remained until the end of the war. In 1946, pogroms erupted throughout Poland and they fled to the U.S. zone in Germany. The Wilfs met in Augsburg, Germany in 1948 and married in 1949. A year later they immigrated to the United States and had two children, Zygmunt and Mark, and nine grandchildren.

In 1954, Joseph and his brother Harry founded Garden Homes, Inc. in New Jersey. Business success for the Wilfs was on a parallel course to deepening involvement in philanthropic causes and efforts to better the lives of Jewish people in the U.S. and Israel. Joseph worked with many Jewish organizations such as the board of trustees of the Federations of North America, vice president of the Claims Conference, and was one of the founders of the American Society for Yad Vashem. He also was a trustee of the World Jewish Agency Yeshiva University, and Kean University. In addition, he was a founder of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and the founder of the Wilf Family Foundation that help support social and educational institutions regarding Holocaust education.

Leonard Wilf

Leonard Wilf was born in 1947 in Göggingen, Germany. He was the son of Holocaust survivors Harry Wilf and Judith Wilf. In 1950, his parents moved their family to the United States and settled in New Jersey. Growing up, his parents did not discuss the Holocaust in length. Like many children of survivors, he had to put his family’s history together in little pieces to understand their story. The impact of his parents and other survivors in the community instilled a set of values and principles Leonard desired to uphold throughout his life. His parents taught him the importance of family, their Jewish community, and the state of Israel. He continued, like his father, in construction and real estate and is now the president of the family’s business, Garden Homes Inc. He is married to his wife Beth, and they have four children.

Continuing in his family’s footsteps, Leonard is an active member of the Jewish community and civic causes, both locally and internationally. He is dedicated to helping the lives around him and is a supporter of multiple charities. In January 1997, Leonard was appointed by President Clinton to the council for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Council. He also was the leading force to begin construction of the Metrowest Campus of UJA-Federation in East Hanover. Currently, he is the chairman of the American Society for Yad Vashem and serves as a board member of the New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Allen-Stevenson School.

Abraham and Millie Zuckerman

Abraham “Abe” Zuckerman was born in 1925 and raised in the Polish city of Cracow. He spent time during the war in seven concentration camps until 1943, when he was assigned to a factory in Enamel, run by Oskar Schindler. In 1944, he was shipped to various concentration camps in the Mauthausen region, until he was liberated by Americans in Gusen. Despite all the evil and suffering he experienced during the Holocaust, it had strengthened him rather than weakened his faith. Millie Mark Zuckerman (née Mina Mark) was born in 1925 and lived in a small Polish village called Humniska. After working in several forced labor camps and being moved to the larger village of Brzozow, Millie’s father decided to escape and return to Humniska. For the next two years, they sought refuge in the attic of a Polish friend’s house, Mrs. Kendra until Russian liberation in 1944. Abraham and Millie met and married in a displaced persons camp in Austria, where they had their daughter Ann. The family decided to move to the United States in May 1949, had two other children, and four grandchildren.

After they settled in New Jersey, Abraham reconnected with Schindler in the 1950s and began his career as a real-estate developer in New Jersey with Murray Pantirer. Abrahams’s success in real estate and building business allowed Millie and him to be part of many anthropic institutions, including the Museum of Jewish Heritage, Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Resource Center of Kean University, and many more. In addition, Abraham was a member of the board of the American Gathering of Holocaust survivors, a trustee of the New York Holocaust Heritage Museum, and a founding member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. The Zuckermans and Murray Pantirer committed their lives to the cause of Holocaust education, and constant admiration of the risk Schindler took with them and so many others. The motto that they wanted to ensure and continue propelling was “Never to forget, Never to forgive.”

Dr. Joseph J. Preil

Rabbi Dr. Joseph J. Preil was a multi-dimensional individual. He was a scholar, a consummate educator, an innovator, a humanitarian, and a mensch. Through his vision and foresight, he created and maintained the relationship between the founding families and Kean University to develop and sustain the Holocaust Resource Center. As the founding director, and the architect of the Center’s programs, the HRC has become a center of Holocaust education in the state of New Jersey.

Passionately believing that the story of the Holocaust had to be told, and recognizing that teachers were a conduit for doing so, Dr. Preil created a new course at the University, titled Teaching the Holocaust. The course was successful because of Dr. Preils methodology he used to convey the material to his students. Dr. Preil also provided educators with content knowledge and pedagogical tools while inspiring their passion for teaching the Holocaust. His leadership of the Center increased the number of course offerings, and a companion course was developed, titled Teaching Prejudice Reduction. In addition, he established a repository of Holocaust survivors’ testimonies, books, and audio-visual materials at the University. Under his aegis, the HRC began an annual Scholar-in-Residence Lecture Series which has brought to campus the leading scholars in Holocaust studies.

Throughout his retirement, Dr. Preil remained the consummate professional. His continued scholarly pursuits are a testament to his unrelenting quest for knowledge and understanding. He has raised the bar for all of those in education who seek to not only educate students on the subject matter but also to be more humane in interactions with others. Those who knew him both personally and professionally were enriched by the experience. His vision for the Holocaust Resource Center of Kean University continues to be the inspiration for the work of the Center.