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Guma Aguiar Gives Major Gift To March Of The Living
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The International March of the Living announced one of the largest private donations in the organization’s 21-year history, a $500,000 gift from Guma and Jamie Aguiar. The 2009 March of the Living at Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest of Nazi Germany’s concentration camps, will be held on April 21, marking the 70th year since the Third Reich launched the Second World War.
The MOL’s Board of Directors unanimously proclaimed “with pride and honor we announce that for the first time in the history of the March, an individual’s name will be associated as leading this dramatic global event under the auspices of Guma and Jamie Aguiar, Honorary Co-Chairs in 2009.”
Only one week earlier, Mr. Aguiar stirred international headlines through an historic $8 million donation to the aliyah organization, Nefesh B’Nefesh, instantly establishing him as one of the Jewish world’s leading philanthropists.
“On behalf of the thousands of people who will benefit from Mr. Aguiar’s generosity, we sincerely thank him,” said Dr. Shmuel Rosenman, chairman of the International MOL. “This support will enable us to forge ahead with our work of educating the next generation about the horrific realities of the Holocaust while effectively combating anti-Semitism and hate.”
The gift will support the organization’s scholarship funds and its educational opportunities. It will enable students without sufficient financial means to take part in this invaluable, life-changing experience.
“It is urgent and vital for our youth to witness and understand the magnitude of the Holocaust firsthand and grasp the astonishing miracle of the rebirth of the State of Israel from the ashes of the Shoah,” said Aguiar. “I am extremely moved to be a part of the 2009 International March of the Living. This outstanding organization is on the forefront in enlightening the next generation both about our people’s history and heritage.”
“With the rising wave of anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial spreading worldwide,” he continued, “the three-kilometer March from Auschwitz to Birkenau will act as a powerful unifying experience helping to inspire the future leaders of the Jewish people.”
The Aguiar family will march shoulder to shoulder with Israeli and other leaders who plan to take part this year, along with nearly 10,000 young people. “I cannot begin to imagine what we all will feel when we sing ‘Hatikva’ together at the gates of Auschwitz,” Guma Augiar said. “Israel’s existence is the answer to the horrors of the Holocaust, and we, in honor of the 6 million Jews who were murdered by the Nazis, will proudly accompany the marchers when they immediately continue their journey on to Israel to commemorate its Remembrance and Independence Days. It is in honor of those who were murdered that we have chosen to make this gift.”
Aguiar, founder of Leor Energy in 2003, was lauded worldwide for his stunning success in identifying one of the largest North American natural gas deposits discovered in decades. He was proclaimed by Oil and Gas Investor Magazine in 2008 as the “top executive in the world.” Since that time, he has devoted his resources to Jewish causes across the world.
“Mr. Aguiar has a prophetic sense of vision and purpose, demonstrated precisely at a time when philanthropy is facing serious challenges,” said Dr. David Machlis, vice chair of the International MOL. “This historic gift which the Aguiars made is not only a vitally important demonstration of support for our organization, their remarkable generosity sends a loud signal on the importance of Jewish continuity.”
Since 1988, the March of the Living has brought over 120,000 students to Poland to participate in educational missions aimed at better understanding the horrors of the Holocaust. Attracting the participation of youth from over 40 nations around the world, the organization has been recognized as an international leader in furthering Holocaust education. The program works to ensure that the lessons gained while on the March are then channeled towards strongly combating acts of anti-Semitism and intolerance and promoting a heightened sense of communal responsibility and Jewish identity.
The upcoming March of the Living, with an expected attendance of over 10,000 young people from around the world, will take place on Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, April 21, 2009, and will include the three-kilometer march from Auschwitz to the death camp at Birkenau where over 1.5 million Jews perished. Most of the participants will then visit Israel during the week of its Memorial Day and Independence Day. |
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