American businessman, the Museum’s first Distinguished Benefactor, co-founder of the North American Council of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews and member of the Museum Council since 2008. Wiktor Markowicz was born in 1944 beyond the Baikal where his parents were interned in Stalinist labor camps. After the war, he returned to Poland with his family. He studied mathematics at the University of Warsaw, continuing his studies at the Technion Institute in Haifa following his departure for Israel in 1964. He created the software for the first Israeli commercial computer ELBIT-100. In 1970, he emigrated to the United States, where he designed the first American state lottery in New Jersey. Co-founder of GTECH Corporation – a company which designs lottery systems for most state lotteries in the United States and across the globe in 40 countries on five continents. He has also owned race horses and produced films. He currently lives in New York and Florida with his wife Monika, and is an active investor. A bridge champion, he has captured several medals at the world bridge championships as a member of the Polish Seniors team. Honored with the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, awarded to immigrants who have made an outstanding contribution to America, and with the Commander’s Cross of the Order of the Republic of Poland.
Victor Markowicz: “The memory of the radiant Jewish world that was heinously decimated by the Nazis has to be preserved for future generations. I feel it is my duty to support the Museum as an important step toward this goal. I owe it to my family, to all those who perished and to all the people who care.”