DECEMBER 14 • 2023 | 35
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he Zekelman Holocaust 
Center (The HC) celebrated 
its 39th Anniversary Benefit 
last month at Detroit’s Huntington 
Place. Lifelong Detroiters Cynthia 
and Marvin Zucker were honored 
for their unwavering support of 
Holocaust education as an antidote 
to counter rising antisemitism.
Against the backdrop of the hor-
rors of Oct. 7, the center’s flagship 
fundraising event brought together 
a diverse community united in 
solidarity, including Holocaust sur-
vivors and their families, business 
and educational leaders, philan-
thropists and war veterans. 
Over the course of the evening, 
attendees remembered the past, 
celebrated achievements and 
looked toward a hopeful future. 
In January 2024, The Center’s new 
permanent exhibit opens with 
updated scholarship and technolo-
gy, further centering personal sto-
ries of those who experienced the 
Holocaust to humanize history’s 
darkest period. 
“The danger of hate is palpable,” 
Cynthia Zucker, a past president 
of the Highland Lakes campus 
of Oakland Community College, 
told the crowd. “No other entity in 
Detroit does a better job teaching 
the public where hate can lead than 
The Zekelman Holocaust Center.
“By hearing the personal stories 
of Holocaust survivors,” she con-

tinued, “we come to understand 
the power of a human being’s 
individual choice to commit acts 
of good or evil, [and gain] deeper 
understanding of — and commit-
ment to — civic engagement and 
to becoming active participants in 
our democracy.” 
During the evening, The HC 
announced a major gift from the 
William Davidson Foundation in 
support of the exhibit renovation.
“The William Davidson 
Foundation gift supports our 
Center as a premier destination 
in Southeast Michigan where 
people can learn the lessons of 
the Holocaust in a meaningful 
and relevant way,” said Rabbi Eli 
Mayerfeld, CEO of The Zekelman 
Holocaust Center. “We are so 
fortunate for the support of our 
incredible community to advance 
work that has been shown to influ-
ence communities to resist acts of 
hate and discrimination.” 

For more information about The Zekelman 

Holocaust Center, visit www.holocaustcenter.

org.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE HC

The Zekelman 
Holocaust Center’s 39th 
Anniversary Benefit

Rabbi Eli Mayerfeld, Gary Karp, Marvin Zucker, Cynthia 
Zucker, Dr. Stephen Grant and Alan Zekelman

Ben Sasse during the 
keynote address

Holocaust 
Survivor 
and Board 
Member Ed 
Malinowski

Jewish War 
Veterans Steve Haas 
and Marc Manson

Rabbi Eli 
Mayerfeld, 
CEO of The 
Zekelman 
Holocaust 
Center

