What It Means to Be a Citizen

Citizenship Counts
What It Means to Be a Citizen
All of her family and friends murdered…a
series of slave labor camps…a death march
that started with 4,000 people and ended with
less than 120…six years of abject misery,
terror and sorrow. Gerda Weissmann Klein
endured all of this before she turned 21.
Gerda survived the Holocaust, but just barely.
When she was finally liberated, she weighed
68 pounds and her hair had turned white.
At this dark moment, a light appeared in the
form of her liberator, U.S. Army intelligence
officer Kurt Klein – a German Jew who had
been sent to the U.S. by his parents and then
joined the effort to fight the Nazis.
Gerda felt a deep sense of gratitude for the
freedoms and opportunities available in the
U.S., her adopted country. In 2004, she was
asked to deliver a keynote speech at a schoolbased naturalization ceremony that was held
in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Photo courtesy of Citizenship Counts
Impressed with Kurt’s respect and concern
for her, Gerda developed a friendship that
eventually led to them marrying and settling
in Buffalo, New York. Gerda came to the U.S.
knowing no English and having no friends
other than her new husband. But she began
volunteering in the Jewish community and
sharing her story of survival. In 1957, she
published her autobiography, All But My
Life, which is now in its 65th printing and
was later the subject of an Academy Awardand Emmy-winning HBO documentary, One
Survivor Remembers.
Students are excited to welcome newly naturalized citizens.
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ROSE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER | FALL 2011
The event resonated with Gerda and
inspired her to create Citizenship Counts, an
organization dedicated to promoting pride in
the United States. She remembered well the
joy and excitement she felt when she became
a naturalized citizen, and she wanted students
across the country to have the opportunity to
participate in this type of event.
ever could – e pluribus unum…from many,
one. We really are just one people.”
“Gerda’s vision is to help youth appreciate and
celebrate the freedoms we have here in the
United States,” says Alysa Ullman, executive
director and cofounder of Citizenship Counts.
“Our hope is to inspire pride in them while
they are young so they become engaged and
socially just citizens.”
In addition to educating students, Citizenship
Counts also challenges new citizens to
recognize their responsibility to be engaged
citizens – to vote, to participate in jury duty,
and to volunteer.
Giving back to the community has been an
important component throughout Gerda’s life.
So much so that in February 2011, President
Barack Obama awarded Gerda with the 2010
Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest
civilian honor.
Photo by Joel Zolondek
Citizenship Counts works with middle
and high schools across the country. The
organization provides free civics lesson plans,
as well as resources and support for schools
to host naturalization ceremonies or participate
in service-learning projects. Paula Rumsey,
who teaches American history at O’Connell
Middle School in Lakewood, held a ceremony
in May 2011. “Our students loved it,” she
says. “Somebody else said it better than I
Rumsey plans to repeat the curriculum this
year and in the future. “We have a very
diverse school. We hope that someday one of
the parents in our school community will be
naturalized at one of our events.”
Gerda Weissmann Klein receives
the 2010 Medal of Freedom
from President Barack Obama.
2011 is the first year that a Rose Community
Foundation donor has directed funds to
Citizenship Counts. Learn more about the
organization at citizenshipcounts.org.
Community Updates
Colorado Latino Age Wave Launches
A new initiative has launched to advocate for and fund services and
programs that promote the well-being of the state’s Latino older
adults. Colorado Latino Age Wave is being developed in response
to research by the national organization Hispanics in Philanthropy
(HIP) that projects a rising “wave” of Latinos entering la tercera
edad (the third stage of life). The study identified a unique set of
needs for this growing population.
Colorado Latino Age Wave is being managed by Cec Ortiz and will include a community assessment, a grants program and
a fellowship program. The project is a collaboration between HIP, the Latino Community Foundation of Colorado and Rose
Community Foundation. Metro Denver was selected as the inaugural community to begin developing innovative programs
in conjunction with this initiative. Learn more at rcfdenver.org/agewave.
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