Switzerland: Henry Dunant Lodge – Geneva.... Report by Raoul Beck, Secretary General

Tribute is paid on 28th September to Dr. Alexandre Safran z’l Chief Rabbi of Geneva

Attended by many important guests, David Nahmany had called upon high level speakers: David Banon, Professor of Philosophy, Carol Iancu, Professor, writer and historian and the son of the Chief Rabbi Avinoam Safran, medical professor.

Other personalities were called upon to bring their testimony on an exceptional person – Chief Rabbi of Romania at the age of 29, then Chief Rabbi of Geneva after having been expelled from his native country.

By way of a discussion led by David Nahmany, the public discovered the courage and political action what was termed “one of the last representatives of Eastern Judaism that never stopped nourishing and invigorating Judaism in the Occident”

Emphasis was placed on his first years, from 1930 to 1948, the year he was expelled from Romania and his arrival in Geneva. It is during those years that he proved his capacity as a politician and as a “Lohem”, warrior in the respectable sense of the word

He stood up to the allies, here to Nazism, there to Communism, to protect his community and therefore manage to save over half of the Jewish population in Romania.

The arm of this LOHEM, was his word, words pronounced at times when Jews were victims of hatred and were tracked down to be sent to extermination camps. He himself, more than once, almost got arrested.

Later, he influenced the changes of the Church towards Jews by meeting Pope Jean Paul II at the Vatican to whom he dared to say “yes, Judaism and Jews are still waiting for their identity to be completely recognized”.

Among those present at the evening were: Gabriel Tamman, the lawyer Alain Köstenbaum, Minister Marc Faessler, Joël Herzog, Daniel Fradkoff, André Klopmann and Professor Alexandru Singer who came from Romania especially to attend this event.

Their testimonies were far more than a presentation of a strict historical record, they were full of emotions. The main emphasis made by all was that he was a man with an innate kindness combined with extreme rigour, and the great modesty of a great man with a political will transformed into concrete action with a great deal  of courage; a man who influenced history.

A man who’s actions favored Harmony in the Jewish populations. He was a man who inspired respect and admiration.

Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Dayan closed the evening at a very late hour.

David Nahmany, former President of B’nai B’rith and member of our Lodge, spoke about the times he met Alexandre Safran when he was a student with B’nai B’rith, and his first meeting with Sigmund Freud, then in the Lodge in Vienna and about the creation of the Henri Dunant Lodge in Geneva in 1950 that he founded together with Jean Brunschwig, René Brunschwig, Gaston Gutmann, Charles Kostenbaum, Moïse Engelson, Maurice Adatto, Marc Habib and Max Klopmann

During the evening, Armand Azoulai, Life Honorary Senior Vice President of B’nai B’rith Europe and member of the Henri Dunant Lodge, addressed the guests on behalf of the President of B’nai B’rith Europe, Graham Weinberg and of the Executive Committee, as well as on behalf of the Board of Governors of B’nai B’rith International. In his speech he paid tribute to Chief Rabbi Dr. Alexandre Safran z’l, and praised the Henri Dunant Lodge to which he wished many more years of prosperity, success, union, fraternity and happiness.

We wish to thank all the speakers for the quality of their contribution and the emotion they conveyed to those attending. We also want to thank the Israeli Community of Geneva, its President Roger Chartiel and Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Dayan who contributed to the success of the evening, as well as the Committee of the Henri Dunant Lodge and its President Michel Benveniste.

Our special thanks are due to David Nahmany, initiator and organizer of this exemplary event, who was able to assemble for this important occasion, high level speakers, witnesses and participants in big and small events.