Full Text of SR1452 100th General Assembly
SR1452 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | 3 | | learn of the death of Margot Schlesinger, who passed away on | 4 | | February 7, 2018; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Margot Schlesinger was born in Germany to Yaakov | 6 | | and Sabine Wind on July 24, 1918; she was a member of the | 7 | | dwindling group of people, known as the Schindlerjuden, who | 8 | | survived the Holocaust because they were on Schindler's List; | 9 | | she was one of the last of that group living in the Chicago | 10 | | area; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, In 1938, when her father was arrested on | 12 | | Kristallnacht, she charmed one of the guards into letting him | 13 | | go; by 1939, her four brothers and a sister had fled Germany | 14 | | and headed to the United States, Shanghai, and Palestine; she | 15 | | had a visa to go to England, but she did not want to leave her | 16 | | parents; they were expelled to Poland, and without papers, were | 17 | | "stateless Jews"; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, As deportation rumors swirled in mid-1942, Margot | 19 | | Schlesinger urged her parents to go into hiding with her, but | 20 | | they refused; she later returned for them, but found their | 21 | | apartment empty, sealed with Gestapo tape; a month later, she | 22 | | married Chaskel Schlesinger, whom she met in Tarnow; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, In 1944, Margot Schlesinger was among the | 2 | | approximately 300 female workers of Schindler who were | 3 | | mistakenly sent to Auschwitz; before Schindler was able to get | 4 | | the women back, she survived a selection process by Josef | 5 | | Mengele; when he sent her to the line for execution, she spoke | 6 | | up about her ability to work and was sent back; while at | 7 | | Auschwitz, she saved the life of her cousin's fiance by asking | 8 | | to have the woman's name added to Schindler's list; she forever | 9 | | remembered the relief she felt when she was returned to | 10 | | Schindler's custody and the kindness of his wife; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, After liberation, Margot Schlesinger's husband | 12 | | sold bolts of fabric he had hidden under his old home to help | 13 | | fund their emigration first to France, and eventually to | 14 | | Chicago; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Margot Schlesinger credited her survival to near | 16 | | misses, lucky breaks, and miracles; she was active with | 17 | | Congregation Ezras Israel and worked as an election judge; she | 18 | | and her husband spoke about the Holocaust to school and civic | 19 | | groups; after his death, she continued her public speaking; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, Margot Schlesinger greeted the births of each of | 21 | | her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren with | 22 | | love, gratitude, and a touch of glee; she was a fabulous cook |
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| 1 | | and baker; she lived her life with the following philosophy: | 2 | | "Everybody's born as a human being. There's no place in the | 3 | | world for bigotry and for race hating"; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Margot Schlesinger was the loving wife of the late | 5 | | Chaskel Schlesinger; the devoted mother of Aline (the late | 6 | | Rabbi Morton) Yolkut, Dr. Sabine (Dr. Harold) Himmelfarb, and | 7 | | Regine (Stuart) Meisel; the proud grandmother of Rabbi Daniel | 8 | | (Anna), David (Rachel), Dr. Yonit (Dr. Raphi), Elana (Yossi), | 9 | | Elie (Ronit), Jeremy (Rena), Dr. Rachel (Ariel), and Ariella | 10 | | (Yaakov); the cherished great-grandmother of many; and the dear | 11 | | sister of the late Edward (the late Tania) Wind, Hy (the late | 12 | | Rita) Wind, Willi (the late Pnina) Wind, Julius (the late | 13 | | Sonya) Wind, and Shoshana (the late Zvi) Tannenbaum; therefore, | 14 | | be it
| 15 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL | 16 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | 17 | | Margot Schlesinger and extend our sincere condolences to her | 18 | | family, friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it | 19 | | further
| 20 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 21 | | presented to the family of Margot Schlesinger as an expression | 22 | | of our deepest sympathy.
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