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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 Margot Schlesinger, who passed away on | ||||||
4 | February 7, 2018; and
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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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