Appointment of Zvi Kestenbaum as a Member of the Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad

The President today announced his intention to reappoint Zvi Kestenbaum to be a member of the Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad for a term of 3 years.

Zvi Kestenbaum has served as the leader of the Opportunity Development Association to assist the Hasidic community with the social and economic disadvantages suffered by this group. Rabbi Kestenbaum was born in Uyfeherto, Hungary in 1922. He studied as a rabbinical student until World War II, surviving a Nazi concentration camp. He served as chairman of the economic planning board in Azor, Israel, and chairman of the city council. He then immigrated to the United States in 1955 from Israel. He has also been involved in the preservation of the Jewish cemeteries and holy sites both in Eastern Europe and throughout the world, and served as a member of the Presidential Commission to Preserve America's Heritage Abroad.

Mr. Kestenbaum has received the U.S. Small Business Administration Advocate of the Year Award, 1984; the Presidential Recognition Award, 1985; and the U.S. Secretary of Commerce William C. Verity Award for outstanding efforts on behalf of the Hasidic community in 1988.