Simon Wiesenthal Junior High-School Inaugurated in France

October 25, 2006

CENTRE SIMON WIESENTHAL - SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTRE - CENTRO SIMON WIESENTHAL 64, avenue Marceau - 75008 Paris - Tel. +33 (0) 1 47 23 76 37 - Fax: +33
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E-mail: csweurope@compuserve.com 

"Simon Wiesenthal Junior High-School" Inaugurated in France

Paris

At the initiative of French Minister for Infrastructure, Christian Estrosi, the Saint-Vallier-de Thiey Junior High School, which opened on 23 September 2005, the date of Simon Wiesenthal's funeral, has now been inaugurated in his name.

The school, built for 600 pupils, is located in the perfume-capital of Grasse near Nice. Mr Wiesenthal was eulogized at the unveiling ceremony by his grand-daughter, Dr Racheli Kreisberg Zakarin, who described her grandfather as "accomplishing his mission and leaving a heritage that would be a model for many others... He threw a stone into the water that has made numerous waves."

The President of the Centre Simon Wiesenthal - France, Richard Odier, offered the school's Principal, Charles Dufour, the Centre's pedagogical resources "so that the school might serve as a focal point for Tolerance Education throughout the South of France".

Minister Estrosi addressed the student body and parents, noting that "everyday, upon entering their school, they have a special responsibility to imbue the lessons of Mr Wiesenthal's work and inculcate them beyond its walls". He added, "The mission of Mr Wiesenthal is perpetuated throughout the world by the Simon Wiesenthal Centre."

The ceremony continued at the Sardes Palace of Nice with a seminar co-organized by the City Council and the CRIF (Jewish Federation) of South-Eastern France, on "Simon Wiesenthal: Antisemitism - A Timeless and Universal Combat".

CRIF Regional President, Martine Ouaknine, who inspired the inauguration ceremony and the seminar, welcomed the Wiesenthal Centre as a partner in educational programming through the new Simon Wiesenthal School.

The Centre's Director for International Relations, Dr Shimon Samuels, spoke of "Wiesenthal's contemporary legacy" by presenting the current challenges in containing resurgent antisemitism.

Celebrated writer Marek Halter provided vivid cases illustrating Wiesenthal's maxim that "what starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews..."

For further information, please contact Shimon Samuels at +33 609.77.01.58.