At the 25th Annual Tribute Dinner to be held this November, Yad Vashem and the American Society for Yad Vashem will be proud to present Chairman of the American Society of Yad Vashem Eli Zborowski with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

One of Eli Zborowski’s most cherished childhood memories is sitting with his father in the comfort of their Zarki home on Shabbat afternoon reading and exploring the pearls of wisdom found in Pirkei Avot (The Ethics of the Fathers). That warm and nurturing weekly interlude came to an abrupt halt in 1942 when the deportations to the death camps began. Soon after, Moshe Zborowski was murdered by the Poles. This thrust Eli, the oldest son, into his first of many lifelong leadership roles. During the war, he was a member of the Jewish Fighters Organization, serving as a liaison between ghettos and non-Jewish partisan units. The family—his mother, sister and younger brother—survived the war in hiding.

Following the war, Eli met and married Diana Wilf z"l, a survivor from Drohobycz, Poland. For 57 years, until she passed from this life in the waning days of 2004, Diana stood by his side and was an equal partner in all his communal endeavors.

An initiator, leader and visionary, Eli can be credited with numerous “firsts” in the field of Holocaust remembrance. In 1963, he organized the first United States Holocaust Remembrance Day commemoration, an event that carried the endorsement of all Jewish organizations and all streams of Judaism. In 1970, he founded the first umbrella organization for all survivors, The American Federation of Jewish Fighters, Camp Inmates and Nazi Victims. In 1974, he founded Martyrdom & Resistance, the oldest, continuous periodical devoted to the Holocaust. That same year, the Diana and Eli Interdisciplinary Chair for Holocaust Studies and Research—the first such academic endeavor—was established by the Zborowskis at Yeshiva University in New York. Under Eli’s dynamic leadership, the Society was the first among Holocaust organizations to develop a Young Leadership Associates, encouraging members of the third generation to become involved in the cause of Holocaust remembrance.

Eli Zborowski founded the American Society for Yad Vashem in 1981 and has served as its chairman since its inauguration. In addition, he serves as a member of the Yad Vashem Directorate, and has played a key role in a range of organizations dedicated to the preservation of Jewish memory. He is Founder and Honorary President of the American Federation of Jewish Fighters, Camp Inmates and Nazi Victims; Vice President, World Federation of Polish Jews; Benefactor, Ephraim Wilf Foundation; Benefactor, Moshe Zborowski Gemilat Chesed Fund-Free Loan Association; Trustee, Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture; and on the Executive Committee of the Claims Conference. He was one of six survivors—and the only American—to greet Pope John Paul II during his historic visit to Yad Vashem in 2000.

His outstanding contributions to the cause of remembrance have led to his appointment by the former Mayor Edward Koch to the New York Permanent Commission on the Holocaust. He was appointed by President Carter and re-appointed by President Reagan to the United States Holocaust Council, which oversees the operation of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. He holds an honorary Doctorate from Yeshiva University.
A lifelong Zionist and communal leader, Eli is Past Chairman of the American Zionist Youth Foundation; Past Chairman, Salute to Israel Parade; and for many years served as National President of the American Israel Chamber of Commerce. He continues to be active in the Young Israel of Forest Hills where he is a past president.

In his professional life, Eli has engaged in numerous entrepreneurial endeavors including serving as president of Sheaffer Latin America Corporation and of All America Telecommunications.

Eli is the proud father of two children and seven grandchildren. This past July, he married Dr. Elizabeth Mundlak, a child survivor from Czestochowa.

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