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| | SR0719 | | LRB100 13379 MST 27979 r |
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1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
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2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to |
3 | | learn of the death of Charles Lipshitz; and
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4 | | WHEREAS, Charles Lipshitz was born in Lodz, Poland; in |
5 | | 1939, the Germans incarcerated the Jewish community in the |
6 | | ghetto, ending his formal education at five years; in 1942, his |
7 | | bar mitzvah year, he hid in an attic as the Germans deported |
8 | | most of the children and elderly from the ghetto; his father |
9 | | was sent to Auschwitz; in 1944, Charles, along with the rest of |
10 | | his family, was also sent there when the ghetto was liquidated; |
11 | | and
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12 | | WHEREAS, Charles Lipshitz and his brother survived three |
13 | | concentration camps, a death march, starvation, and sickness, |
14 | | to be liberated on April 15, 1945; out of a family numbering |
15 | | more than 200 people, only his brother and a cousin survived; |
16 | | and |
17 | | WHEREAS, Charles Lipshitz spent the next five years working |
18 | | in Hanover, Germany; he then moved to Chicago to join his |
19 | | brother; and |
20 | | WHEREAS, Charles Lipshitz married Rene, also an Auschwitz |
21 | | survivor, in 1952; and |
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1 | | WHEREAS, Charles Lipshitz founded Lipshitz Sales and then |
2 | | R&L Specialty, an industrial linen supply service; and |
3 | | WHEREAS, Charles Lipshitz became active in his community; |
4 | | he was honored in 1968 by Israel Bonds; he became a leader in |
5 | | the fight to prevent neo-Nazis from marching in Skokie in 1977; |
6 | | he chaired the committee to create a Holocaust Memorial in |
7 | | Skokie, which was dedicated in 1987 on the Skokie Village Green |
8 | | on land donated by the village and with funds donated by |
9 | | individuals, synagogues, and the Jewish United Fund; and
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10 | | WHEREAS, Charles Lipshitz dedicated much of his life to |
11 | | preserving the memory of the Holocaust, its victims, its |
12 | | survivors, and its lesson; he founded Sheerit HaPleitah |
13 | | (Remnants of the Destruction), the umbrella organization of |
14 | | Chicago-area Holocaust survivors groups, which he ran for many |
15 | | years; in 2008, his family commissioned a Torah and dedicated |
16 | | it at a local synagogue in memory of his and his wife's |
17 | | parents, who perished in the Holocaust; and
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18 | | WHEREAS, Charles Lipshitz was predeceased by his wife, |
19 | | Rene; and
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20 | | WHEREAS, Charles Lipshitz is survived by his children, |
21 | | Debbie Katz and Leon Lipshitz; many grandchildren; and many |
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1 | | great-grandchildren; therefore, be it
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2 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL |
3 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of |
4 | | Charles Lipshitz, and extend our sincere condolences to his |
5 | | family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it |
6 | | further
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7 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be |
8 | | presented to the family of Charles Lipshitz as an expression of |
9 | | our deepest sympathy.
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