Benjamin Meed, Holocaust survivor and leader of the survivor community, was a founder of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. In his words: “We must tell our story to be worthy of the memory of our six million martyrs who cannot speak for themselves.”
Benjamin Miedzyrzecki (Benjamin Meed), a member of the Jewish underground living in hiding on false papers, poses in Ogrod Saski (Saski Gardens) on the Aryan side of Warsaw. Poland, 1943.
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While living in hiding on the Aryan side of Warsaw, Benjamin Miedzyrzecki (Ben Meed) returns to the site of the Warsaw ghetto, where he poses among the ruins. Warsaw, Poland, 1944.
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False identification card photo of Benjamin Miedzyrzecki (Benjamin Meed) as a member of the Warsaw ghetto underground. Warsaw, Poland, 1943.
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False identification card which Vladka Meed had used from 1940–42 on the Aryan side of Warsaw, smuggling arms to Jewish fighters and helping Jews escape from the ghetto.
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Vladka and Benjamin Meed (center) with President Jimmy Carter at a White House Rose Garden ceremony marking the official presentation of the report of the US Holocaust Commission to the president by commission chairman Elie Wiesel. Washington, DC, September 27, 1979.
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Vladka Meed shakes the hand of President Jimmy Carter at a White House Rose Garden ceremony. The ceremony marked the official presentation of the report of the US Holocaust Commission to the president by commission chairman Elie Wiesel (second from right, with Benjamin Meed, center). Washington, DC, September 27, 1979.
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Members of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council pose with two milkcans containing a Scroll of Remembrance signed by Holocaust survivors at a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Benjamin Meed is second from the left. Washington, DC, April 30, 1984.
During groundbreaking ceremonies in April 1985, the containers were buried on the site of the Museum.
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Benjamin Meed (right) and Harvey Meyerhoff stand next to the cornerstone for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. In October 1988, President Ronald Reagan spoke at a special ceremony held when the cornerstone of the Museum was laid, with construction beginning in July 1989 and ending in April 1993. Washington, DC, 1988.
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Members of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council pose with President George Bush (third from right) on the occasion of the 1989 Days of Remembrance. Benjamin Meed is fourth from the right. Washington, DC, 1989.
Learn more about Days of Remembrance.
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Laura Bush, George Bush, and Benjamin Meed during the Days of Remembrance ceremony in 2001, the theme of which was "Remembering the past for the sake of the future." Days of Remembrance was established by the United States Congress as the United States' annual commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust, just as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum was established as a permanent living memorial to those victims.
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Benjamin Meed (left) with Fred S. Zeidman, Colin L. Powell, Elie Wiesel, and Ruth B. Mandel at the 2003 Days of Remembrance ceremony in the US Capitol Rotunda.
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Ben Meed, President, American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors, standing in front of flags of the liberating divisions. This photograph was taken as he spoke at a ceremony held during the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's Tribute to Holocaust Survivors: Reunion of a Special Family. This was one of the Museum's tenth anniversary events. Washington, DC, November 2003.
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Benjamin Meed joins children in burying a time capsule during the Tribute to Holocaust Survivors: Reunion of a Special Family, one of the Museum's tenth anniversary events. Washington, DC, November 2003.
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Benjamin Meed, Elie Wiesel (second and third from left), and two children bury a time capsule during the Tribute to Holocaust Survivors: Reunion of a Special Family, one of the Museum's tenth anniversary events. Washington, DC, November 2003.
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Portrait of Benjamin Meed, leading advocate for Jewish Holocaust survivors and a founder of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
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We would like to thank Crown Family Philanthropies, Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation, the Claims Conference, EVZ, and BMF for supporting the ongoing work to create content and resources for the Holocaust Encyclopedia. View the list of donor acknowledgement.
