Son of Holocaust Survivors Supports Museum to Ensure Stories Are Told

Profile from Fall 2022 issue of the Museum’s Planned Giving newsletter Generations

“For me, it’s simple. [Supporting the Museum] is a necessary thing for me. It’s my duty. I can’t emphasize it more.”
—Legacy of Light Guardian Paul Berkman
Fullerton, California
Photo credit: Svetlana Drobyshevskaya, Photo Boutique, Newport Beach, CA

Paul Berkman of Fullerton, California, considers himself an unofficial United States Holocaust Memorial Museum ambassador. He believes in the Museum’s work and the vital importance of telling Holocaust survival stories, including those of his parents.

“There’s so much going on in this world right now,” Paul says. “This story can go away one day because people don’t want to hear it, but there’s something at the Museum that they can see.”

Paul’s parents both lost their first spouse and first child during the Holocaust. After the war, his parents met, married, and in 1949, immigrated to the United States. Paul is their only child together.

“As a child growing up, their stories were hard to believe,” Paul says.

The Holocaust Museum has been important to the Berkman family since its opening, an event Paul’s mother, Marsha, attended, along with other subsequent Museum gatherings. For her, the existence of the Museum was a relief, Paul remembered. She felt its prominent location in Washington, D.C., would enable many people to experience its contents. The Museum brought her some small comfort to know the many stories contained within its walls would not be forgotten.

For the Museum’s 20th anniversary in 2013, Paul donated roughly 100 of his parents’ documents to be preserved as part of the Museum’s collection. Additionally, Paul has set up a Charitable Gift Annuity to provide himself with reliable income now and a meaningful gift to the Museum after his lifetime.

Join Paul in preserving Holocaust memory by establishing your own planned gift to the Museum. Contact the Planned Giving & Endowments team at 202.488.6591 or planned_giving@ushmm.org to learn more.