On October 25, 2012, Dr. Eleonora Bergman, a leading authority in the conservation of Jewish monuments in Poland and Director Emerita of the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, was awarded the Order of the Knight of the French Legion of Honor. In a moving ceremony at the French Embassy in Warsaw, Ambassador Pierre Buhler stressed that the monuments saved by Dr. Bergman belong not only to the Jewish legacy, but also to that of Poland and all of humanity. "So few of the synagogues which once were a common sight all over Poland still stand," Ambassador Buhler remarked.
Accepting the award, Dr. Bergman thanked all those with whom she had worked and quoted Rabbi Tarfon from Pirke Avot : "It is not incumbent upon you to complete the work, but neither are you at liberty to desist from it." Among those in attendance were former Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki, now chief adviser to President Bronislaw Komorowski, Chief Rabbi of Poland Michael Schudrich, Włodzimierz Paszyński, Vice-Mayor of Warsaw, and activist Danuta Kuroń. Dr. Bergman was joined by Director of the Taube Center for the Renewal of Jewish Life in Poland Helise Lieberman, Taube Foundation Scholar-in-Residence Konstanty Gebert, and Director of the Jewish Genealogy & Family Heritage Center Yale Reisner.
