Gov. Andrew Cuomo joined religious leaders and officials from the Museum of Jewish Heritage on March 6 to dedicate the museum’s newest memorial, which honors European non-Jews who helped to save potential Holocaust victims. The simple but powerful memorial wall, pictured at right, will now make be part of the historical tours given to tens of thousands of school children, among others, who visit the Battery Park City museum at 36 Battery Pl. “This memorial speaks to the commonality of humanity, and how that commonality demands action,” Cuomo said at the ceremony inside the museum, which is also a Holocaust memorial. “It’s about never saying no to those in need.” The memorial was made possible by a donation from Peter Kalikow, a museum trustee, and his wife Mary. Along with providing support that helped the museum to open in 1997, Kalikow is a former chairperson of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, a former commissioner of the Port Authority and a former owner and publisher of the New York Post. “Back when we started this, I made it clear that my one condition was that, even though there are a lot of villains to go around when we talk about the Holocaust, we needed to remember that there were some good people,” said Kalikow, who currently runs the H.J. Kalikow & Company real estate firm.
