Mark Talisman

Born and raised in Cleveland Ohio, Mark Talisman became President of the International Junior Red Cross at the age of 14. With offices in Washington DC and Brussels, Mark moved far beyond the confines of his hometown. He attended Harvard University thanks to a full scholarship, graduating in 1963 with a Bachelors Degreein European History. Talisman became the youngest person ever appointed a chief of staff to a member of Congress when he led the office of Ohio Congressmen Charles Vanik beginning in 1963. He chaired the association of Chiefs of Staff in the House for 10 years.

Mark was deeply committed to education He had a particular passion for educating the public about the legislative process, democracy and the federal government. During his junior year at Harvard, he met the newly elected President. When asked by President Kennedy what he hoped to do upon graduation, Talisman told him that he wanted to create a program to introduce young people to the federal government. Impressed by this precocious young man, Kennedy invited him to work in the West Wing over the summer. Talisman worked with Sargent Shriver to create the federal government internship program, which continues to this day.

While working in the House of Representatives, Talisman served as a senior staff member on the Banking and Ways and Means Committees. In addition, he was a primary author of what came to be know as the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, a 1974 provision in United States federal law intended to affect U.S. trade relations with countries with non-market economies (originally, countries of the Communist bloc) that restrict freedom of emigration and other human rights. The amendment was targeted directly at the Soviet Union and its persecution of Jews and other members of marginalized groups who were neither allowed to practice their religion nor leave the country.

While serving in the House, he produced a television series on the history and operations of the federal government and how the 3 branches of government interact with each other. The series, comprised of 40 ½ hour episodes, was shown for many years in all television markets across the country. The series, Operation Government, was widely acclaimed and received numerous awards. In 1971 and again in ’72 Mr. Talisman was appointed a Fellow at the John F. Kennedy Institute of Politics at Harvard where he created the Newly Elected Members of Congress program, which continues to this day and has been taken by most sitting members of the House of Representatives.

After nearly 15 years serving Congressman Vanik, Talisman founded the Washington Action Office for the Council of Jewish Federations where he served for 18 years. In that capacity he represented all 220 Jewish Federations from across the country to the Congress, the Executive Branch and to other national institutions. During his tenure he created the Matching Grants Program to resettle Soviet Jews in the United States and Israel; the National Emergency Food and Shelter Program; the National Fuel Assistance Program and the National Creative Arts Program amongst many others. Many of these programs were adopted widely through interfaith activities and the Conference of Mayors and the Governors Association. His humanitarian efforts were founded in his deep commitment to advocacy and his principled dedication to basic human rights.

In 1979 President Jimmy Carter appointed Talisman Founding Vice Chairman of the United States Holocaust Council, with the mission of creating a National Holocaust Memorial Museum. Working alongside his dear friend Elie Wiesel, he was instrumental in raising the funds and guiding the vision of the Holocaust Memorial Museum. It was Talisman who initially identified the site on the Washington Mall that became the permanent home of the Museum. He served on the board of the Museum for over 25 years. He also served on the Committee of Conscience, the Committee on Education, and on the Foreign Relations Committee for over 25 years. He was very active in assisting in developing and teaching Jewish history and Holocaust studies in Prague, Cracow and other cities in Eastern Europe, to preserve the memory of so many communities that once were. . Talisman was the co-founder and Vice Chair of the Centre for Jewish History and Culture of the Jagellonian University in Cracow. Upon learning of Talisman’s passing on Friday, the National Holocaust Memorial Museum lowered its flags at half-staff.

In 1983, Talisman and his wife, Jill, created the Project Judaica Foundation, a nonprofit supporting efforts to rescue and exhibit historic or threatened Judaica. Talisman was instrumental in bringing a landmark exhibit of Judaica to the Smithsonian Institution and other U.S. museums in 1983. “Precious Legacy: Judaic Treasures from the Czechoslovak State Collections” represented Judaica stolen by the Nazis and shipped to Prague. Known as ‘The Paris of the East’ during WWII the contents of the warehouses served as the basis for a Museum to the Extinct Race.

Following his departure from the Holocaust Museum, Talisman began to work with several emerging democracies throughout the world. As an expert in parliamentary systems and democratic institutions, he counseled Corazon Aquino as the country created its constitution and built its initial democratic institutions during the Yellow Revolution. In Namibia, he played a crucial role in creating a two tiered government structure, allowing for both the centralization of some powers and the dispersion of others. This country is one of the most stable and prosperous on the continent. In Czechoslovakia, he developed a close friendship with poet and philosopher Vaclav Havel and played a critical role in assisting Havel with the creation of the first constitution of the new democracy. His friendship with Havel continued until Havel’s death.

During his time as a consultant the Hopi Indians approached Talisman and asked for assistance. They desperately needed a hospital on their reservation so that they could improve overall healthcare and assist in the daily medical needs of their people. Talisman took a leading role in raising the funds necessary to build the hospital. In addition, he worked to connect the Mayo Clinic to the new hospital on the reservation. The Hopi’s had one of the first satellite locations that was directly connected to specialists in Cleveland, guaranteeing the highest level of health care for its people. In addition, Talisman developed a grant-based program to join Israeli farmers with Hopi farmers to learn about arid land agriculture through an exchange program.

Talisman’s commitment to Holocaust remembrance, and seeking justice for survivors, was reinforced by his deep relationships with Cleveland’s substantial Holocaust survivor community dating back to the 1950s. In 2000 Talisman worked with elected survivor leaders to create the Holocaust Survivors Foundation USA, www.hsf-usa.org (HSF), a national coalition of survivors and survivor groups. He was an invaluable advisor to them until the day he passed away. Making good on his commitment to “speak truth to power,” Talisman spared no opportunity, in private conversations, in national Jewish organization meetings, in the media, and to public officials, to hold recalcitrant governments, banks and insurance companies accountable for their failures to fully disgorge the proceeds of their Holocaust looting and full recovery for survivors and their families.

Talisman and the Holocaust Survivors Foundation USA were principally responsible for bringing public, and Jewish community attention, to the tragedy that half of all survivors throughout the world, including in the United States, live in or near poverty, and were not receiving the medical care, emergency, and long-term care they desperately needed. In 2016, their work led to unanimous Resolutions in the U.S. House and Senate calling on Germany to provide for all Holocaust survivors’ unmet needs; however, to this day Germany has failed to comply with that moral obligation. Upon learning of Talisman’s passing, HSF issued the following statement: “Mark’s contributions to the Jewish world are incomparable. He was a teacher who softly but powerfully guided misconceptions out of the dark, and into the sunlight. The survivor community had no more effective or more honorable friend and advocate. Mark’s pursuit of truth was incomparable, especially when it came to advocating for justice and dignity for Holocaust survivors.”

Mr. Talisman was a master photographer, sculptor in wood and clay, and a master gardener. He was also an extraordinary chef and baker. His 400 plus year family Challah recipe and Bagel recipe was enjoyed and shared my many. As a father, grandfather, husband and friend, Mark Talisman shared his love for beauty and life through celebrating community – from breaking bread to sharing his passion for gardening.

Mark Talisman is survived by his beloved wife of 57 years, Jill Dworkin Talisman, children Jessica and Raphael, grandchildren Colby, Gus and Sacha.