Dorothy & Paul Wachter

In 1939, my immediate family and I escaped the Holocaust by emigrating from Czechoslovakia to Canada in the weeks before the beginning of the Second World War. Almost our entire extended family perished. As a result, I grew up with a deep awareness of the Jewish struggle for survival and the need for a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

We then lived through the thrilling years of the founding of the State of Israel. We took great pride in its ideals and achievements, and its subsequent scientific and cultural contributions to the world. Our many visits to family in Israel over the years gave us the opportunity to observe the maturation and evolution of Israeli society, in both positive and negative ways. Over the years, we felt increasing concern over the erosion of the Jewish values and ideals upon which the state was originally founded.

We were introduced to the New Israel Fund in the 1990s by friends who were original supporters. We were impressed with NIF's commitment to addressing the very problems such as social justice, human rights, and religious pluralism that concerned us.

Being very active supporters for many years (I serve on the Regional and International Councils), we have been very gratified to see the hard-fought achievements of NIF over these years. Through seed funding and the organizational support of Shatil, NIF almost single-handedly built the infrastructure of the many organizations that fight for the principles of social justice and civil society in Israel. In today's political and social climate, this work is even more critical.

In committing to the NIF Legacy Society, we want to ensure that our support for this most worthy of causes will continue.