Flares of Memory: Stories of Childhood During the Holocaust

385 Pages·2001·2.95 MB·English

by  Anita Brostoff

Flares of Memory:
Stories of Childhood
during the Holocaust
Anita Brostoff
Sheila Chamovitz,
Editors
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Flares of Memory
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Flares of Memory
Stories of Childhood
during the Holocaust
Edited by Anita Brostoff
with Sheila Chamovitz
1
2001
1
Oxford New York
Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogotá Buenos Aires Calcutta
Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul
Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai
Nairobi Paris São Paulo Shanghai Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw
and associated companies in
Berlin Ibadan
Copyright © 1998 by the Holocaust Center ofthe United Jewish Federation ofGreater Pittsburgh
Published by Oxford University Press,Inc.
198 Madison Avenue,New York,New York 10016
Oxford is a registered trademark ofOxford University Press
All rights reserved.No part ofthis publication may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted,in any form or by any means,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,
or otherwise,without the prior permission ofOxford University Press.
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Flares ofmemory :stories ofchildhood during the Holocaust / edited by Anita Brostoff
with Sheila Chamovitz.
p.cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 0–19–513871-6
1. Holocaust,Jewish (1939–1945)—Personal narratives.2.Jewish children in the Holocaust—Biography.
I.Brostoff,Anita.II.Chamovitz,Sheila.
D804.195 .F53 2001
940.53'18—dc21
00-044583
The publisher is grateful for permission to quote the epigraphs on the following page from:
Elie Wiesel,Memoirs: All Rivers Run to the Sea(New York:Alfred A.Knopf,Inc.,1995),p.339;
and Lawrence L.Langer,Holocaust Testimonies: The Ruins ofMemory(New Haven:Yale University Press,1991),p.69.
The map on page [xvii] is from:Charles Messenger,The Chronological Atlas ofWorld War II(New York:Macmillan
Publishing Co.,© 1989 by Bloomsbury Publishing Ltd.),p.97.Reprinted with permission ofMacmillan Publishing
Company.
Copyright ofall photographs (except pages 334–35) is retained by the photographer.© 1998 by Joy Berenfield.
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States ofAmerica
on acid-free paper
I
n truth,my concern has always been the survivors....Did I strive to
speak for them,in their name? I strove to make them speak.
For they have lived in isolation for a long time,locked away,remaining
aloofso as not to wound those close to them....It was impossible to get
them to let go,to touch wounds that would never heal.They had reasons to
be suspicious,to think that no one was interested in what they had to say,and
that in any case they would not be understood ...I shared with them my
conviction that it is incumbent upon the survivors not only to remember
every detail but to record it,even the silence.
—Elie Wiesel,Memoirs: All Rivers Run to the Sea
T
he irony ofthis revival,however,is the discovery that memory is not
only a spring,flowing from the well ofthe past,but also a tomb,whose con-
tents cling like withered ivy to the mind.
—Lawrence L.Langer,Holocaust Testimonies: The Ruins ofMemory
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Contents
Foreword,Professor Yaffa Eliach xiii
Timeline ofthe Holocaust xv
Map ofConcentration Camps in Europe xxviii
Preface,Sheila Chamovitz xxix
Introduction,Anita Brostoff xxxiii
i. snapshots:jewish life before the holocaust 1
Snapshots Malka Baran 2
War Arrives in Lithuania Leon Brett 3
A German Family Marga Randall 7
A Short Walk to Paradise
Opa
My Place in the Park
Betrayal Cyna Glatstein 11
Parting Dora Zuer Iwler 13
ii. the destruction of a society 15
Herr B. Fritz Ottenheimer 17
A Kristallnacht Journey Herbert Silberman 18
An Action against the Jews Arnold Blum 20
Kristallnacht:November 9–10,1938
The Arrest
The Sandwich
Leaving Germany,Leaving Home Gertrude Newman 24
Escape to England Marianne Silberman 26
The Best-Laid Plans Frederick Forscher 28
A Life-Defining Impression Ruth Lieberman Drescher 30
The Harbinger ofWhat? Cyna Glatstein 32
vii
flares ofmemory
The Beginning and the End Jacob Wolhendler 33
A Family Gone,One by One Simon Gelernter 34
The Abandonment ofMielec Jack Sittsamer 36
A Shtetl’s Life Is Ended Moshe Baran 37
What Ever Happened to the Jews ofSkudvil? Leon Brett 40
iii. ruthlessness as a system 43
In the Dark Ernest Light 45
Theresienstadt George Lauer 47
A Professional “Career”
To the East
Dachau Arnold Blum 50
Auschwitz,1944 Jolene Mallinger 55
The Tenth Woman on Block Ten Esther Haas 56
The Means to Survive Ruth Weitz 58
The Gypsies Ilona Weiss 60
Nazi Murderers Violet Weinberger 61
The Killings
The Selections
How Many Made It? Ernest Light 63
The Law in Lithuania Leon Brett 64
The Jail on Traku Street
Traku Ghetto
Horrors ofWar Rubin Udler 70
The Image ofTerror
Strength ofPrayer
A Road ofDeath
Death at Domanyevka
The Ghetto in the Vine Garden
Scars
iv. the lottery of death and life 81
German Roulette Fritz Ottenheimer 83
My Sister Rieke Esther Haas 84
A Definition ofSurvival Walter Boninger 86
An Unforgettable Passover Seder Ernest Light 89
viii
flares ofmemory
Trying to Go Home David Katz 90
Bar Mitzvah Boy Sam Weinreb 93
The Skull with the Golden Braid Rubin Udler 95
The Concentration Camp Lottery Ilona Weiss 96
The Filbert Nuts
The Girl Who Was Selected
Taken to the Smoke
A BriefRespite
Happy Christmas,Sir
Bread
Fancsy
The Girl with Wooden Shoes Irene Berkowitz 101
The Wagon Dora Zuer Iwler 102
The Child Malka Baran 103
v. disguise as a way of hiding 105
In Constant Terror Cyna Glatstein 107
The Escape from Warsaw Ghetto
An Incurable Problem
The Inspector
Christmas,1942
Janek
The Epidemic
The Encounter
Accused
The Bike
The One-Eyed Monster
Posing as a Christian Dora Zuer Iwler 114
I Choose Life Libby Stern 116
Convert! Convert!
The Bridge
Lost Families Sara Reichman 119
Beyond Memory Shulamit Bastacky 121
A Hidden Child in Greece Yolanda Avram Willis 123
Prologue:Memories Reclaimed
Pack the Suitcases,Karolla
ix