Lucy the Elephant supporters apologize for language used in fund-raising letter recalling the Holocaust

Fund-raisers seeking to restore Lucy the Elephant, the Margate seaside attraction, have issued a formal apology for using language long associated with Holocaust remembrance in a fund-raising mailer sent to potential supporters.

The mailer featured a photo of Lucy the Elephant in 1973, when the attraction was threatened with demolition, next to the phrase, “Never forget, never again.”

Susan Klyman, a resident of Margate and Newtown, Bucks County, and a member of the Philadelphia-based Sons & Daughters of Holocaust Survivors, told The Inquirer on Tuesday that she was outraged by the mailer. Sons & Daughters also objected as an organization, noting in a tweet that “words matter!”

On Sunday, the Save Lucy Committee board of directors formally apologized for use of the language, which, the board maintained, was not intended to offend.

In a statement signed by president Davida Ross, the board said that “we now fully understand that saving Lucy did not appear to measure up to using this phrase, no matter how well-intended.”

Richard D. Helfant, chief executive of the Save Lucy Committee, said he sent a copy of the statement directly to Klyman on Sunday afternoon.

“I appreciate the Save Lucy Committee apology for using this language, the sacred language, the language, ‘Never again, never forget’ — it’s sacred language of the Holocaust, and in the universal sense other genocides,” Klyman said Sunday. Although Lucy is “an iconic, beloved landmark in Margate, this is not a living, breathing human that we save this language for. But I definitely appreciate the apology.”

Helfant said the apology was intended as a “blanket apology on behalf of the board of trustees” to “the public at large, of which Mrs. Klyman is a member.”

“It’s a blanket apology for anyone who may have been offended by [the original language]. That’s not like who or what the Save Lucy Committee is about, and I think that the apology that was written was well-written, and it states that,” he said.

Helfant said roughly 10,000 letters were initially sent out. Any follow-ups or future mailers will not contain the offending language, he said. He said there were no plans to send mailers specifically retracting the language. He cited cost.

The phrase alluded to the time in the 1970s when “Lucy was minutes away from the wrecking ball, and we can’t ever let that happen again,” Helfant said. “In retrospect, it probably was not the smartest phraseology to use but there was no malice or ill will intended, of course.”

Lucy dates to 1881 and was once a hotel. She is currently enclosed by scaffolding as a $1.4 million restoration has now grown to about $2.2 million, leaving a roughly $800,000 fund-raising shortfall, Helfant said. About $1.2 million of the project is being financed through grants, he said.

Klyman was extremely upset by the original fund-raising letter.

» READ MORE: Lucy the Elephant embroiled in controversy over ‘Never forget, never again’ fund-raising language

In a letter she wrote in response at the time to board president Ross, Klyman said “using a phrase that represents the Holocaust and other genocides for non-Holocaust fund-raising is both insensitive and demeaning to the catastrophic, historic events of the Holocaust, a genocide where millions of people were slaughtered.”

“I consider this to be an egregious problem,” Klyman said in an interview with The Inquirer on Tuesday. “The Lucy campaign is using Holocaust language in a very cavalier way. They’re co-opting the language.”

It was not language, she said, that should be used to refer to an elephant.

Klyman asked the committee to apologize for the language.

Sunday, she said that “my response to this was never meant to raise big issues or controversy.” Rather, she saw it as an “educational opportunity.”

This was a chance, she said, “to make sure that people understand that these words matter. They should not be co-opted for fund-raising.”

The point, she said, “is this is Holocaust language. And universally more genocide-related language. So if there’s been an educational impact here, somehow, somewhere, especially for the Save Lucy Committee, then I feel like we’ve made progress.”

The full text of the Save Lucy Committee apology:

“On behalf of the volunteer board of trustees of the Save Lucy Committee, the board would like to apologize for using the phrase “Never Forget Never Again” in association with saving and repairing Lucy. We were certainly well-intended and never meant to offend anyone. Although the words have been used in association not only with the Holocaust, but other tragic events such as 9/11, we now fully understand that saving Lucy did not appear to measure up to using this phrase, no matter how well-intended. Lucy is a symbol of joy and survival; she is beloved by millions. We are working very hard to renew her for generations to come as she celebrates 141 years. We all want her to represent equity, diversity, inclusion and good will for all.”