HUMANITARIAN OF THE YEAR AWARD
PRESENTED TO
NINA KATZ
PRESENTED BY IRA A. LIPMAN
NATIONAL CHAIRMAN
N.C.C.J.
CHAIRMAN AND PRESIDENT
GUARDSMARK, INC.
PEABODY HOTEL
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
APRIL 19, 1990

FROM GERMANY WITH HIS FAMILY IN 1936. THEY SETTLED IN MEMPHIS, AND DAVID WAS LATER INDUCTED INTO THE U.S. ARMY. HE WAS AMONG THE FIRST AMERICANS TO CROSS THE RHINE, AND AFTER THE WAR HE WAS STATIONED WITH THE OCCUPATION FORCES.
ON A SPRING DAY IN 1946, CAPTAIN SILBERBERG WENT TO A DISPLACED PERSONS CAMP IN BAVARIA IN SEARCH OF MORRIS KATZ, WHOSE UNCLE IN MEMPHIS HAD WRITTEN TO CAPTAIN SILBERBERG AND ASKED HIM TO FIND MORRIS.
NINA WAS WORKING IN THE CAMP FOR THE UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND REHABILITATION ADMINISTRATION, AND YOU CAN IMAGINE HER EXCITEMENT WHEN FRIENDS CAME INTO THE OFFICE TO TELL HER THAT A U.S. ARMY OFFICER WAS LOOKING FOR HER FIANCE. SHE CAN STILL REMEMBER THE CAPTAIN’S BIG SMILE WHEN THEY MET. SHE CAN STILL REMEMBER HER WHITE BLOUSE AND LIGHT GRAY JACKET-BOTH MADE FROM MEN’S CLOTHES – AND HER NAVY BLUE SKIRT, MADE FROM A BLANKET.
WITH HER LIFE, UNLESS WE UNDERSTAND WHAT SHE WENT THROUGH.
THE HOLOCAUST.
NINA SURVIVED THE HOLOCAUST.
DIGNITY, AND SELF-RESPECT? YOUR BELIEF IN GOD? YOUR HOPE?
SOMEHOW, NINA ALTMAN KATZ DID JUST THAT. MORE THAN THREE YEARS IN A SLAVE LABOR CAMP AND TWO MORE IN A CONCENTRATION CAME AND SHE SURVIVED.
BUT SHE DID MORE THAN SURVIVE. HOW EASY IT WOULD HAVE BEEN TO BECOME A SPIRITUAL CORPSE, TO YIELD TO THE DARKNESS WITHIN, TO REJOIN THE LIVING ONLY TO WAIT FOR A DEATH THAT HAD BEEN DELAYED. SHE MIGHT HAVE BEEN CONSUMED WITH HATRED AND VENGEANCE. BUT WHEN THE RUSSIANS LIBERATED THE CAMP AND TOLD THE INMATES TO KILL THOSE WHO HAD TREATED THEM SO SAVAGELY, NINA SIMPLY WALKED AWAY AND CRIED.
GREATER VOICE THESE MUTE MEMBERS OF SOCIETY WILL HAVE IN THEIR OWN AFFAIRS.
OUT OF THE TORMENT OF HER YOUTH, NINA HAS FASHIONED A WAY TO BRING PEACE. OUT OF THE HOLOCAUST OF HER EXPERIENCE, SHE HAS MADE AN OFFERING THAT IS SURELY AS PLEASING TO GOD AS IT IS TO ALL OF US HERE TONIGHT.
IN HER WORDS AND ACTIONS, NINA HAS SHOWN US HOW GREAT IS THE HUMAN POTENTIAL FOR LEAVING BEHIND OUR BITTERNESS AND BIGOTRY. WE DO NOT HAVE TO CONTINUE MAN’S HISTORY OF INHUMANITY TO MAN. INSTEAD, WE CAN REACH OUT ACROSS THE BOUNDARIES THAT SEPARATE US- PROTESTANT, CATHOLIC, JEW, MUSLIM, HINDU, OR BUDDHIST; WHITE, BLACK, ASIAN, OR HISPANIC-AND COME TOGETHER ON COMMON GROUND TO FOCUS ON WHAT UNITES US.
HATRED AND PREJUDICE OVERWHELMED THE LIGHT. AND HER PRESENCE IS A REMINDER THAT OUR VIGILANCE MUST BE ETERNAL IN OPPOSING BIGOTRY WHENEVER AND WHEREVER IT APPEARS, WHETHER IN NATION, CITY, OR COMMUNITY.
BUT ABOVE ALL, HER SURVIVAL AND HER TRIUMPH—HER STRENGTH OF SOUL, HER CHARITY, AND HER CONTINUING HUMANITY—SYMBOLIZE OUR SURVIVAL AND OUR TRIUMPH, THE VALIDITY OF OUR HOPE AND THE ENDURANCE OF OUR FAITH THAT THE SHADOWS OF THE PAST WILL NOT DARKEN OUR FUTURE.
GOD BLESS YOU, NINA KATZ! WE ARE THRILLED AND HONORED TO PRESENT TO YOU NCCJ’s HUMANITARIAN OF THE YEAR AWARD.