Stefan Weinberg, Founder of AMHAC Passes Away at 93
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Former Edgemont resident Stefan Weinberg passed away at the age of 93 in Aventura Florida on January 11, 2015. Founder of AMHAC with his wife Anna, Weinberg was well-known in Westchester for his air conditioning and heating company, which is now run by his three sons, Saul, Bill and Ted.
Stefan Weinberg was born in Krakow, Poland in 1923. He enjoyed a normal childhood until the age of 16, when the Germans invaded Krakow and stripped the family of their home and belongings, confining them to the ghetto. They were not given food and struggled daily to find something to eat. According to an article about Weinberg in Westchester Magazine, initially there were 65,000 Jews in Krakow and only 2,000 survived the war. In 1943, after two years in the ghetto, Weinberg and his mother were moved to Plaszow concentration camp. Eight days after they arrived, his 47 year-old mother died of typhus and Weinberg buried her in a mass grave in the camp.
For the following two years, Weinberg dug mass graves, retrieved corpses and burned bodies –and then was moved to two more concentration camps Gross-Rose and ultimately Buchenwald where he worked in the camps stone quarry. He was fed so little that his 5'11" frame shrunk to just 76 pounds.
As the war came to a close, the prisoners were forced to march without food or water to 
railway stations, only to be stuffed into train cars and shipped off elsewhere. Weinberg recalled that about a third of prisoners were shot because they could not walk. Weinberg escaped, hiding out in empty barns and eating raw food until he was captured again by the German police. After denying being Jewish, they let him go. He was then picked up by American soldiers who gave him food and a place to sleep. From there, he made his way to Prague where he was reunited with Anna Unger, a young woman he met at the Plaszow camp. They were married until her death in 2012.
Stefan and his wife Anna made their way to the United States, settling in Lancaster, PA. Stefan took a job with Holland Furnace Company cleaning furnaces for a modest weekly wage. He applied himself and rose through the ranks of the company and was offered the Presidency of Holland Furnace, but turned it down and opened a new company.
The family moved to Edgemont and started AMHAC, one of the premiere HVAC companies in the New York/Metropolitan area. Today, their sons continue to run the business.
Weinberg lived with memories of the concentration camps until his own death on January 11, 2015. He was a founding member of the Holocaust and Human Right Education Center of Westchester and spoke throughout the County to audiences young and old about his experiences during the war, educating them to "never forget."
Weinberg's funeral was held at 9:30 am on January 15 at Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale. He is survived by He is survived by his threesons Saul, Bill and Ted; daughters-in-law Audrey and Franne. He was the devoted grandfather of Blake, Jordan, Taylor and Adam.
Donations may be made to The Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center, 4 West Red Oak Lane, White Plains, NY 10604.
Applications Now Being Accepted for Students Inside Albany Program
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For the fourth consecutive year, the League of Women Voters of Scarsdale will select two high school students to send to the annual Students Inside Albany conference, to be held May 17-20, 2015. All Sophomore, Junior and Senior students who attend Scarsdale High School or who reside in the school district are eligible to apply.
The cost of the conference, including hotel and meals, will be co-sponsored by the LWVS New York State Education Foundation, Inc. and our Scarsdale League.
Applications can found at the Scarsdale LWV's website (LWVS.org) and are due by February 3, 2015.
Students Inside Albany is an intensive four-day conference designed to immerse students in the process by which public policy is proposed, revised and enacted in New York State, and to educate them about the ways in which they can influence and affect this process. Scarsdale students who attended this conference in the past were unanimous in their enthusiasm about the program, which allowed them to interact with students from all over the state, learn about their state government and meet state legislators.
For more information visit the website for the League of Women Voters of New York State and go to Youth Programs tab.
Last year's Scarsdale attendees are happy to answer questions from interested students. Contact Matt Drescher or Daniel Wasserman at SIA@lwvs.org.
Please contact Joan Frankle (914-713-1250 or jagfrankle@aol.com,) or Janet Korins (914-725-0859 or janet.korins@verizon.net) for more information or if you know someone who would like to apply for this opportunity.
Get Ready to Change at the Scarsdale Library
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The first of three hands-on interactive workshops in the Wellness Series "Get Ready to Change – Make it about YES," led by Dr. Caren Baruch-Feldman will be held on Friday, January 9, from 12 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. at the Scarsdale Public Library.
The series will focus on making change, increasing resilience and decreasing stress by having a positive outlook, setting realistic and obtainable goals, having a positive long-term view and making plans to confront obstacles.
The first session, "It's Not about Willpower: Make it a Habit," reviews the latest research in making effective habits and willpower. Attendees will learn to develop their own positive new habits enabling them to make New Year's resolutions that will stick. There will be a special emphasis on weight loss.
Dr. Baruch-Feldman is a licensed psychologist and certified school psychologist. She has a private practice in Scarsdale and works part-time as a school psychologist in Westchester. She focuses on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for children and adults and Psycho-Educational Evaluations. She has authored numerous articles, led various workshops and trained hundreds of teachers, administrators and healthcare professionals. She is a graduate of Barnard College and received her doctorate in Clinical-Child Psychology and a School Psychology Certificate from St. John's University. Dr. Baruch-Feldman did her internship and post-doctoral training at Long Island Jewish Medical Center.
Registration is required on the library website www.scarsdalelibrary.org or by calling the reference desk at 722-1302. There is a list of suggested books that participants are encouraged, but not required, to read that will be the basis of the lecture.
Subsequent sessions will be held on March 27 on the topic "Got Grit, Got Growth, Got Marshmallows? – Increasing self-control and resilience in our lives and the lives of our children," and on May 1 "Helping Decrease Stress and Worry – In our children and our own lives." Each session may be attended individually.
CNC Seeks Nominations for Village Mayor and Trustee
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The Scarsdale Citizens Nominating Committee is currently meeting to seek candidates for village offices. This year the Citizens Nominating Committee (CNC) will be selecting a candidate for Mayor as well as three people to serve as Village Trustee. Mayor Bob Steves will complete his two-year term in March and Trustee Stacey Brodsky will complete two, two-year terms as Village Trustee. Trustees Bill Stern and Tom Martin have now served for 2-years and can be re-nominated to serve second two-year terms.
The committee encourages Scarsdale residents to consider running for these positions. Suggestions for candidates are also welcome. The considerable efforts of the Village Board have ensured the continuation of the Village throughout the years
The CNC looks forward to your participation.
To submit nominations or for further information, contact a member of the CNC listed here at or email CNC Chair Robert Berg at robertbergesq@aol.com.
Scarsdale Bowl Committee Seeks Nominations
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he Scarsdale Bowl Committee wishes to remind the community that the Committee is seeking input from residents on candidates for consideration as the honoree for the 2015 Scarsdale Bowl.
Nominations can be submitted to the Committee electronically on a confidential basis using the on-line nomination form accessible on the the Scarsdale Foundation website.
Those not wishing to use the form may email their recommendations to the Committee at scarbowl@gmail.com.
