LEWISTON — They rose for many standing ovations — some even making several attempts to stand beside their walkers — to applaud those honored by the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine at Bates College on Sunday afternoon.

“I don’t like to talk about it,” said Judith (Jutka) Magyar Isaacson, a woman whose son earlier said she took the path of wisdom to escape the evil of Dr. Josef Mengele. Instead, Jutka found herself safe in the arms of Capt. Irving Isaacson of the U.S. Army and from there hasn’t looked back.

Capt. Isaacson was serving with the Office of Strategic Services in Europe, sometimes behind enemy lines, when he met his wife-to-be. Jutka had been recently liberated from Hessisch Lichtenau, a satellite camp of Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany.

Jutka and Irving Isaacson were presented with the Joint Lifetime Achievement Award.

Gerda Haas also was recognized. A Bates graduate at the age of 51 and longtime librarian there, Haas took time to recognize by name the Holocaust survivors gathered there. Their number has been shrinking every year and is now down to seven.

A founding member of the HHRC and noted author, Haas was appointed by Gov. James Longley in the late 1970s to the Maine State Board of Education.

Haas spoke of the need for education, pointing out how education was a right once denied her as a child by the Nazis. Haas promoted Holocaust education in the state when she saw it was largely ignored in public education.

Haas’ work has been so influential that the HHRC has named an award in her honor. This year, the Gerda Haas Award for Excellence in Holocaust and Human Rights Education and Leadership went to Betsy Parsons of Portland.

An English teacher and founding member of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, Parsons helps organize Gay, Straight-Transgender Alliances at middle and high schools throughout Maine.

GSTAs, as they are commonly called, exist in roughly half of Maine’s high schools and some middle schools, creating safer environments for all students and encouraging students of any orientation to call out hate speech when they encounter it.

A longtime English teacher at Portland and Deering high schools, Parsons is GLSEN-Southern Maine’s Gay-Straight Alliance coordinator, working with advisers and faculty.

Parsons told the story of a World War II veteran she encountered while she was working to legalize gay marriage in Maine. The old vet took her by surprise when he said, “What do you think our boys died for at Omaha Beach?”

Parsons asked WWII veterans in the audience to stand and be recognized. She followed by asking for a show of hands of how many present contributed to the campaign for marriage rights. A wave of hands went up around the room.

Mt. Blue High School senior Eli Cohen won the Lawrence Alan Spiegel Remembrance Scholarship for his essay, “What Can I Do?”

In his essay, Cohen interspersed stories from his grandmother’s past, tales of horror, with what he called Judaism’s “legacy of asking.”

The Outstanding Student of the Year award went to Molly Doyle, an eighth-grader from Massabesic Middle School in East Waterboro, for creating a website, “Folks, it’s a Hoax!” that debunks those who still deny the Holocaust.

The Holocaust and Human Rights Educator of the Year Award was presented to Matthew Ryder. Ryder is the One Act Theatre director at Windham High School.

His play, “The Spirit of Life,” brought the personal stories of those who endured the Holocaust to 15 high school communities through competition.

dmcintire@sunjournal.com

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