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Leadership Spotlight: Marion and Lou Lipofsky

  • March 16, 2021

Although their experiences are vastly different, for Marion and Lou Lipofsky, the fight against antisemitism is deeply personal.  When Lou was eight years old, his family moved to West Orange, New Jersey, and he found himself to be the only Jewish child in school. For the first time, he found himself shunned, threatened, physically attacked, and called out as a “Dirty Jew.” His parents, who could ill-afford it, eventually enrolled him in private school to ensure his safety.

Marion grew up in Stockholm, Sweden, a community mostly free from antisemitic sentiment, but only because her German grandparents fled from Germany in 1935—a narrow escape from Hitler’s rise to power in Nazi Germany.

When Lou’s parents moved to Los Angeles in 1947, he escaped the trauma of antisemitism.  Years later, he met Marion, who had vacationed in Los Angeles to see her grandparents, who could not tolerate the Swedish weather and had migrated to Los Angeles by way of Japan in 1941 just before Pearl Harbor.

Lou and Marion married in 1963 and had the privilege of raising their family in a loving Jewish environment in Los Angeles. Still, neither Marion nor Lou forgot their experiences and the ever-present threat of antisemitism.

“We have always been involved in Jewish life: we belong to two synagogues, we’re former board members of Jewish National Fund, and Marion is a past Hadassah President.  When Judge Jack Newman arranged for an introduction to ADL, we found that ADL offered more, as it brought Jewish values into our everyday life, secular as well as religious.  While the fight against antisemitism remains our primary focus, CEO Jonathan Greenblatt’s outreach to those targeted by hatemongers—the Muslim, Black, Asian, LGBTQ+ and other marginalized communities—really impressed us.”

The Lipofskys credit many of their friends who are long-time supporters for bringing them into the ADL family.  Since joining, they have hosted events in their home for ADL and currently sit on several committees, including LA’s regional board and the national Global Advisory Committee.

They are so grateful that their family has taken to heart Jewish values, which were handed down from generation to generation, “L’Dor V’Dor.” This year, their 16-year-old grandchildren decided to profile their family’s experience of antisemitism in Europe by producing the video below for a school project.  The grandchildren, who attend a nonsectarian school, were not prompted to create this video; it was their idea.

Marion and Lou are thrilled that the values by which their parents and grandparents have lived are enduring and that their grandchildren appreciate the importance of educating their fellow students on the tragic treatment of European Jewry in the early 20th century.  “During these critical times when bigotry has gripped too many of our neighbors, we remain immensely hopeful knowing that ADL is also conducting some of the most effective anti-bias and Holocaust education in schools that ensures the next generation is inoculated against such hatred.”