|
|
|
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
|
|
WHEREAS, The passing of Martin Donald on February 10, 2007, |
|
at the age of 86, drew to a close the life of a truly remarkable man |
|
who narrowly escaped the Holocaust and went on to become a respected |
|
businessman in America and to help establish the Dallas Holocaust |
|
Museum; and |
|
WHEREAS, Born Martin Dorffmann on May 2, 1920, in Berlin, |
|
Germany, he was raised in an Orthodox Jewish family, the eldest |
|
child of Robert and Freida Dorffmann; as a youth, he had to quit |
|
school to help support his family after Adolf Hitler's rise to |
|
power; although governmental policies became increasingly severe, |
|
Martin's father, a decorated World War I veteran, was reluctant to |
|
leave his homeland, believing the Nazi regime would soon come to an |
|
end; Martin Dorffmann spent several years working under a mentor in |
|
the fur trade before his family applied for immigration documents; |
|
in January 1939, he and his cousin, Leo, the only ones to obtain |
|
papers, were forced to leave their family behind and escape to |
|
England, correctly fearing they would never see them again; at the |
|
age of 19, he had to begin a new life in a strange land; and |
|
WHEREAS, Mr. Dorffmann endured more prejudice in his adopted |
|
home when he and other refugees were shipped to Canada as part of |
|
Britain's anti-German scare; two months later, he was returned to |
|
England with an apology and went on to enlist in the British Army, |
|
becoming a warrant officer in intelligence due to his fluency in |
|
both German and English; it was during this time that, acting on |
|
advice from the army, he changed his last name from Dorffmann to |
|
Donald to avoid further persecution if he were to be captured by the |
|
Germans; and |
|
WHEREAS, Sent to Germany with his military unit, Mr. Donald |
|
was devastated by the atrocities he witnessed, including two |
|
concentration camps; after the war, he traveled to Berlin in search |
|
of his family, only to find that his parents and sister, as well as |
|
many other relatives, had perished in the camps; all told, he lost |
|
more than 40 family members to the Holocaust; and |
|
WHEREAS, During the Allied occupation, Mr. Donald was |
|
assigned to Hamburg, where he was instrumental in locating and |
|
detaining many former Nazi officers, including Foreign Minister |
|
Joachim von Ribbentrop; he was asked to reenlist when his term ended |
|
but instead followed the advice of his good friend, Ann Spiesman, a |
|
fellow German refugee whom he had met in England, and he |
|
subsequently returned to civilian life; drawing on the training he |
|
received as a youth, he started a fur company in London, and on June |
|
15, 1947, he and Ms. Spiesman were married; and |
|
WHEREAS, Later that same year, Mr. and Mrs. Donald immigrated |
|
with her parents to the United States aboard the Queen Mary; in |
|
Brooklyn, he worked for his uncle's fur business before cofounding |
|
his own company; after many years of driving throughout the country |
|
selling furs, he followed the demand to Dallas, where he and his |
|
family relocated in 1960; there, he owned and operated the Elegant |
|
Furs Company and cofounded a costume jewelry business; he later |
|
went on to develop Dallas Woodcraft, a picture frame manufacturing |
|
company that grew to employ some 500 people, and he sold it to Home |
|
Interiors & Gifts before retiring in the early 1980s; and |
|
WHEREAS, In 1984, Mr. Donald cofounded the Dallas Holocaust |
|
Museum, Center for Education and Tolerance, which held great |
|
meaning for him; in retirement, he also shared his time as a |
|
volunteer with SCORE, giving business advice to young entrepreneurs |
|
in the community; and |
|
WHEREAS, Mr. Donald and his wife enjoyed nearly 60 years |
|
together, and they were blessed with a close-knit family, including |
|
two children, Senator Florence Shapiro and Mark Donald, six |
|
grandchildren, Lisa, Todd, Staci, Adam, Max, and Lillie, and six |
|
great-grandchildren, Joshua, Noa, Ari, Ella, Sam, and Zachary, as |
|
well as Howard, Brian, Paul, Esther, and Jori; and |
|
WHEREAS, Affectionately known as "Pappa" by his loved ones, |
|
he was sought after by his children and grandchildren alike for his |
|
keen insights and advice; when his grandchildren were young, he |
|
delighted them with his stories, jokes, and playful nature, and he |
|
remained a steady and supportive presence in their lives as they |
|
grew to adulthood; his bear hugs were famous as was his oft-heard |
|
declaration that one looked "sharp as a matzoh ball"; he went out of |
|
his way to keep in touch with distant relatives all over the world |
|
and did not hesitate to assist those that relocated to the U.S.; and |
|
WHEREAS, Martin Donald lived with passion and zest; |
|
distinctly proud of his heritage, he took great pleasure in hosting |
|
family and friends for celebrations of the Jewish holidays, and he |
|
also enjoyed numerous other pastimes, including tennis, gambling, |
|
horse racing, and swimming; he and his wife took several memorable |
|
trips to places such as Israel, China, and Russia, and not long |
|
before his passing, he treated his family to a vacation in the |
|
Bahamas, where he thrilled a crowd with his success at the gaming |
|
table; and |
|
WHEREAS, Martin Donald persevered through unimaginable |
|
circumstances to carry on his family's legacy and nurture his own |
|
family with courage, joy, and wisdom; although he will be deeply |
|
missed, he leaves behind a legacy of accomplishment that will |
|
continue to resonate not only in the lives of his loved ones, but |
|
also in the lives of countless visitors to the Dallas Holocaust |
|
Museum, who will emerge from the experience both moved and |
|
determined never to forget the lessons learned from the past; now, |
|
therefore, be it |
|
RESOLVED, That the 80th Legislature of the State of Texas |
|
hereby pay tribute to the life of Martin Donald and extend sincere |
|
sympathy to the members of his family: to his wife, Ann Donald; to |
|
his daughter, Senator Florence Shapiro and her husband, Howard; to |
|
his son, Mark Donald, and his wife, Esther; to his grandchildren, |
|
Lisa Strauss and her husband, Brian, Todd Shapiro and his wife, |
|
Jori, Staci Rubin and her husband, Paul, and Adam, Max, and Lillie |
|
Donald; to his great-grandchildren, Joshua, Noa, and Ari Strauss, |
|
Ella and Zachary Shapiro, and Sam Rubin; and to his other relatives |
|
and many friends; and, be it further |
|
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
|
prepared for the members of his family and that when the Texas House |
|
of Representatives and Senate adjourn this day, they do so in memory |
|
of Martin Donald. |
|
|
McCall |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
______________________________ |
|
President of the Senate |
Speaker of the House |
|
|
|
I certify that H.C.R. No. 123 was unanimously adopted by a |
|
rising vote of the House on April 13, 2007. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Chief Clerk of the House |
|
|
|
I certify that H.C.R. No. 123 was unanimously adopted by a |
|
rising vote of the Senate on May 2, 2007. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Secretary of the Senate |
|
APPROVED: __________________ |
|
Date |
|
|
|
__________________ |
|
Governor |