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Harvey ‘Bud’ Meyerhoff, chair of US Holocaust Memorial Museum at its founding, dies at 96
(JTA) — In 1986, eight years after Jimmy Carter established the President’s Commission on the Holocaust with Elie Weisel as its chairman, little progress had been made on the Washington, D.C. memorial it was tasked to create.
The Holocaust survivor, memoirist and newly crowned Nobel Peace Prize laureate recognized he lacked the management and fundraising experience to build the museum and submitted his resignation.
His successor, Harvey “Bud” Meyerhoff, knew about buildings and philanthropy. Prominent in the Baltimore real estate business and philanthropies started by his father Joseph, Meyerhoff went on to raise the $150 million in private funds that built the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum on federal land on the southwest edge of the Mall in Washington.
“By its very existence at the heart of our great democracy, this museum will teach generations to come not only about the awful events of the past, but about the awful consequences of bigotry, oppression, hatred and intolerance,” Meyerhoff said at the dedication ceremonies on April 22, 1993, in the presence of Wiesel and President Bill Clinton. “And about the responsibilities that each of us has as citizens of a democratic society.”
Meyerhoff, a home builder and prominent supporter of the arts, culture and education in Baltimore and Israel, died Sunday at his Baltimore County home. He was 96.
“As chair for over 6 years — he succeeded Elie Wiesel — Bud guided the design, and oversaw the construction and fundraising that allowed the museum to open on time and on budget in 1993 — a task many considered impossible until he assumed the chair role,” his daughter, Lee Hendler, told the Baltimore Sun.
Although he may have achieved the impossible, Meyerhoff couldn’t withstand the internal political winds that swirled around the Holocaust museum and its fractious commission. Even as finishing touches were being put on the museum, its stakeholders debated its mission, with some charging that Meyerhoff’s vision was too universal for a memorial they felt should focus squarely on the genocide of the Jews. Just weeks before the museum’s dedication, and before Meyerhoff could lead the search for the open executive director position, the Reagan administration announced its decision to replace him.
Meyerhoff’s allies decried the abrupt timing of the decision, but Meyerhoff, who himself donated $6 million to the museum, sought to remain above the fray. “We will continue to work with the White House and the new leadership to ensure a smooth transition and successful start-up of museum operations,” he said in a statement.
Harvey Meyerhoff was born in Baltimore on April 6, 1927. His father immigrated to Baltimore from Russia in 1906 as a young boy. The elder Meyerhoff built a successful real estate business that he would later run with Harvey and Joseph’s son-in-law Jack Pearlstone. Joseph Meyerhoff was also a prominent philanthropist; the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s concert hall bears his name.
Harvey earned a degree at the University of Wisconsin and served in the Navy near the end of World War II, returning home to join the family business, eventually becoming CEO of Monumental Properties, Inc. and president of Magna Properties, Inc.
In 1948, Harvey married Lyn Pancoe, and together they helped found the National Aquarium in Baltimore and the Harvey M. and Lyn P. Meyerhoff Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at Johns Hopkins Hospital. They were also supporters of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the National Aquarium, the National Zoo, Baltimore Museum of Art, the Walters Art Museum and the Maryland Institute College of Art. Meyerhoff also had a minority stake in the Baltimore Orioles.
Prior to her death in 1988, Lyn, a prominent Republican donor, lobbied President Ronald Reagan to obtain the land for what would become the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Harvey directed the Joseph and Harvey Meyerhoff Family Charitable Funds’ grantmaking until early 2000. Its giving in Israel focuses on civil and shared society, developing communities in the geographic periphery and capital projects that include daycare centers, playgrounds, sports facilities and libraries.
The Meyerhoff New Jewish Family Innovation Fund, run through Baltimore’s Jewish federation, promotes programs that engage people of color, adoptees, single parents and LGBTQ parents and children.
The fund is also a benefactor of 70 Faces Media, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency’s parent company.
Although detractors asked why the federal government would support the creation of and give pride of place to a privately funded museum dedicated to a historical tragedy perpetrated an ocean away, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has since become a fixture in Washington and an important institution for remembering the Holocaust and its lessons.
Meyerhoff laid out that vision in his dedication speech. “This building tells the story of events that human eyes should never have seen even once; but having been seen, must never be forgotten,” he said. “Through this museum, our eyes will always see; our hearts will always feel.”
Meyerhoff is survived by his second wife, Phyllis Cahn Meyerhoff; daughters Terry Rubenstein, Lee Hendler and Zoh Hieronimus; a son, Joe Meyerhoff II; 10 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren.
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‘Child Killers’: Jewish Activists Doused With Red Paint in Germany While Hanging Up Hostage Posters
i24 News – Masked attackers doused with red paint and shoved German Jewish activists hanging up posters of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza in Frankfurt on Friday. The assailants shouted “child killers” and “free Palestine.”
Sacha Stawski, a German-Jewish activist who heads the media watchdog NGO Honestly Concerned, who’s spent decades combating antisemitism, spoke to local media about the incident.
“We attached posters with photos of the 50 hostages still in Hamas’s captivity to a fence in the Frankfurt Grüneburgpark,” Stawski told the Bild outlet. “We were branded ‘child killers,’ and I constantly heard ‘Free Palestine,’ and ‘genocide’ calls.”
The paint also poured over my glasses, making it difficult for me to identify the perpetrator,” he added.
Germany’s ambassador to Israel condemned the incident.
The small pro-hostage rally took place near an anarchist encampment housing several anti-Israel organizations. Stawski said this was announced to the camp organizers.
Meanwhile a German government spokesman said on Friday that Berlin currently has no plans to recognize a Palestinian state because that would undermine any efforts to reach a negotiated solution with Israel.
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Hegseth Fires Head of Intel Agency Whose Assessment of Damage from Iran Strikes Angered Trump
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on US President Donald Trump’s budget request for the Department of Defense, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
i24 News – US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired a general whose agency’s initial intelligence assessment of damage to Iranian nuclear sites from US strikes sparked the ire of President Donald Trump.
Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse will no longer serve as head of the US Defense Intelligence Agency, US media reported, citing sources speaking on condition of anonymity.
The sacking is the latest upheaval in military leadership and in the country’s intelligence agencies, and comes a few months after details of the preliminary assessment leaked to the media.
The assessment found that Iran’s nuclear program has been set back only a few months by the bombings, contradicting assertions from Trump and from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Republican president, who had pronounced the Iranian program “completely and fully obliterated,” rejected the report.
n June, Israel launched a devastating bombing campaign against Iran’s nuclear program, missile production and military leadership, saying the operation was necessary to prevent the mullah regime from realizing its oft-stated plan to annihilate the Jewish state.
During the ensuing 12-day war, the US joined in, striking key Iranian nuclear sites.
Following the June strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites, Hegseth lambasted the press for focusing on the preliminary assessment but did not offer any direct evidence of the destruction of the facilities.
“You want to call it destroyed, you want to call it defeated, you want to call it obliterated — choose your word. This was a historically successful attack,” Hegseth said at a news conference at the time.
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Amid Rising Antisemitism, American Jews Make Aliyah to Israel Seeking Safety, Community, Impact
Olim gather at JFK Airport in New York, preparing to board Nefesh B’Nefesh’s 65th charter flight to Israel. Photo: The Algemeiner
NEW YORK/TEL AVIV — Confronted with rising antisemitism and unease in the United States, a growing number of American Jews are choosing to make aliyah, embracing the risks of war in the Middle East for the chance to build new lives and foster meaningful communities.
On Wednesday, 225 new olim arrived in Tel Aviv on the first charter aliyah flight since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Aliyah refers to the process of Jews immigrating to Israel, and olim refers to those who make this journey.
Nefesh B’Nefesh (NBN) — a nonprofit that promotes and facilitates aliyah from the US and Canada — brought its 65th charter flight from New York, which The Algemeiner joined.
Founded in 2002, NBN helps olim become fully integrated members of Israeli society, simplifying the aliyah process and providing essential resources and guidance.
In partnership with Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth, and the Jewish National Fund, NBN has helped nearly 100,000 olim build thriving new lives in Israel.
Shawn Fink is one of the 225 people who embarked on the life-changing journey earlier this week, leaving Cleveland, Ohio, with his wife, Liz, and their son.
For Fink and his family, making aliyah was driven not only by their love for Israel and desire to build a new community, but also by the escalating threats and uncertainties facing Jewish communities abroad since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
“Mostly, we were frustrated with the direction the United States is taking, and the rise in antisemitism was a major concern for us,” Fink told The Algemeiner.
Like many countries around the world, the US has seen an alarming rise in antisemitic incidents and anti-Israel sentiment since the Oct. 7 atrocities.
According to the latest data issued by the FBI, hate crimes perpetrated against Jews increased by 5.8 percent in 2024 to 1,938, the largest total recorded in over 30 years of the federal agency’s counting them.
A striking 69 percent of all religion-based hate crimes that were reported to the FBI in 2024 targeted Jews, who constitute just 2 percent of the US population, with 2,041 out of 2,942 total such incidents being antisemitic in nature. Muslims were targeted the next highest amount as the victims of 256 offenses, or about 9 percent of the total.
Fink explained that the increasing costs of living a Jewish life in the US — from education to kosher food — weighed heavily on his family’s decision to make the move to Israel.
While they first considered making aliyah five years ago, Fink and his family had to put the plans on hold for personal reasons — returning to the idea only in the past few months when the timing finally worked in their favor.
“We started planning it seriously in November and began the entire process with Nefesh B’Nefesh,” Fink told The Algemeiner. “It’s been a nonstop whirlwind ever since.”
For them, the current war did not stop their plans, but it did influence the cities they explored for their new home.
“The war really reinforced for us the importance of supporting Israel and our community,” Fink said. “By making aliyah, we felt we could do even more to help.”
Even though it is difficult to leave behind family and close friends, they look forward to reconnecting with friends in Israel, making new connections, and building a vibrant new community.
“Making aliyah in less than six months has been a whirlwind. I’d encourage anyone considering it to give themselves at least twice as much time, double the budget, and be prepared for plenty of unexpected starts and stops along the way,” Fink told The Algemeiner.
Nefesh B’Nefesh provides assistance to families throughout their entire aliyah journey, offering guidance before relocating and continued support once in Israel.
The Israeli government also complements these efforts with resources and financial incentives to help newcomers settle and ease their transition into their new lives.
“Once the ticket is finally in your hand and you’re waiting to board the plane, you realize that all the challenges and obstacles along the way were worth it,” Fink said.
Veronica Zaragovia was also one of the 225 olim who joined the flight earlier this week.
Similarly to Fink and his family, Zaragovia decided to make aliyah, driven not just by her love for Israel, but also by the increasing challenges of being Jewish abroad and the hope of making a meaningful impact by serving her community.
From Florida, she embarked on the journey alone, excited for all the new opportunities and possibilities that awaited her in her new home.
“I want to take pride in being Jewish and in Israel — that’s why I’m making aliyah,” she told The Algemeiner, reflecting on the move she has been planning for the past two years.
“It’s a huge concern for me that in some places in the US, I can’t — or maybe shouldn’t — wear my Star of David necklace,” she said. “I don’t feel that Jews can be fully safe anywhere in the country. The rise in antisemitism has been truly shocking and deeply concerning.”
Zaragovia, who worked as a journalist in the US, said her love for storytelling and uncovering the truth played a key role in her decision to make this move.
“After Oct. 7, I felt that the way my colleagues and other journalists were covering Israel was wrong and unfair,” she said.
“As someone whose career is built on facts and truth, I didn’t see that reflected in their reporting. That’s why I decided to make a difference by being there myself,” she continued.
Rather than deterring her decision to make a change, Zaragovia explained that the current war only reinforced it.
“It became clear that I needed to go, be there with my people, and make a difference through my work,” she said. “I couldn’t have done this without Nefesh B’Nefesh. They’ve been incredible, guiding me every step of the way from start to finish.”