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MARCH INTO LIFE A MEMOIR BY MAX ZILBERMAN MARCH INTO LIFE WITH BRAHAM ZILBERMAN AND RHONDA NORICH MARCH INTO LIFE © Braham Zilberman and Rhonda Norich 2017 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the publisher. ISBN: 978 0 9808460 8 9 Layout and production: [email protected] Cover illustration: The music to the song March into Life, which Max hummed to composer Peter Lager, 5th April, 1947 and chose as the title for this book. iv DEDICATION If Max were here he would dedicate this book to his loving parents and brothers who all perished in the Holocaust, and to his twin sister who died shortly thereafter. He would have also dedicated this book to his dear wife Dora and his two children Rhonda and Braham and their spouses Leo and Andrea. His hope would be that his grandchildren, great grandchildren and future generations would draw inspiration from his story. v MARCH INTO LIFE FOREWORD I t’s a very unusual situation in which I find myself having to write an introduction to my father’s autobiography. After all, it was his story, he did all the work and he deserves all the kudos. However, his death in July 2014, before he had even seen the finished product of his literary labour, necessitates that another describes the motivation and background to his extraordinary story. This role falls to me. That Max Zilberman (February 13th 1926 – July 24th 2014) was a Holocaust survivor is true. Yet he was so much more and he refused to be defined by this six-year period of his life. I believe that this book shows almost the full extent of his life, a life well lived. When writing an autobiography, the first question an author would ask is, ‘Why am I doing this?’ I will attempt to answer this on Dad’s behalf. Dad believed he had a story that was worthwhile and one that he wanted to share. Originally, he wanted to write his story for his children, grandchildren and extended family, but ostensibly he felt his story had meaning for a wider readership. He had a healthy ego and a belief in his own ability and wanted to give it a try. This, coupled with his genealogical interest and computer nous, was enough to get him started. He began slowly two-finger typing on his old computer in 2009, researching everything himself. Some days he worked for five or six hours; then for weeks as the effort became more draining, he would do nothing at all. Then he would go back and get stuck into it again. All this against a backdrop of him having to care for his beloved wife Dora who was suffering major health issues. vi FOREWORD He never sought help from any outside sources and besides his immediate family, he never told anyone he was writing his story. Dad enjoyed writing about his childhood in pre-war Poland and I believe the reader will sense his love for his parents and siblings which shines through the pages. He tackled the period in the Lodz Ghetto with an attention to detail and the minutia of life that really illustrates the bleakness of the time. I particularly admired this chapter as many know the historical details of what occurred in the Lodz Ghetto, but to learn of the day-to-day experiences of one family and their struggle to keep the family unit together under the most horrific of circumstances, makes it come alive for us and is, I believe, of great historical significance. Dad’s chapters about his experiences in Auschwitz and Buchenwald are a credit to his great memory and his resolve to tell all about this period. Again, his attention to detail is remarkable as is his steely resolve to survive under the harshest of conditions. Recuperating in Switzerland is like a breath of fresh air for Dad and changes the tone of the book. Dad goes from a boy to a man, from a prisoner to a free man, and his spiritual and physical awakening and renewal is almost palpable. Here he comes to learn that he has lost virtually his whole family, yet he is determined to push on with his life and look forward. It is also here that he becomes part of a group of like-minded boys, most with similar yet different stories behind them, that becomes known as the Buchenwald Boys. This group, so aptly described by Rhonda in her chapter A New Life, nourishes Dad as it gives him a social group with which to identify at a crucial time in his life. Many of the Buchenwald Boys became his lifelong friends and deserve mention by name. Moniek Rose, Chaim Jason, Charlie Spicer, Szaja Chaskiel, Henry Salter, Jack Alterwein, Joe Swarczberg and Simon Michalowicz were some of Dad’s closest friends. But he was also deeply involved with the group as a whole — of about 66 boys who made their lives in Australia — and was very proud to be its vii MARCH INTO LIFE president for many years, officiating at functions, including the legendary Buchenwald Ball that still continues every year. Sadly, many group members have passed away, but there are still quite a few kicking up their heels on April 11th each year. Long may they continue to dance. It would be remiss if I didn’t also mention Dad’s two Buchenwald mates who live overseas and thankfully are both fit and well. Elias Zylberberg in Tel Aviv was a great friend of Dad’s and became like family to me and I visit him every time I am in Israel. Aron Schlomowicz in Zurich, the lone Buchenwald Boy who remained in Switzerland, kept in contact with Dad all through the years and visited him in Melbourne many times. As Dad’s health started to deteriorate in mid-2014, Daniel, Rhonda’s youngest son, returned from overseas to spend some final quality time with his grandfather. Dad was getting too frail to work on the computer himself, so Daniel went to see Dad every day with his laptop computer, and as Dad dictated his final chapters, Daniel faithfully recorded it all. He always was under Dad’s instructions to change ‘not one word’. Our family very much appreciates Daniel’s efforts, without which much of this book would not have been written. Dad died only a few days after his final dictation session with Daniel. Possibly he felt his final chapter had been written. Rhonda and I decided that Dad’s story was not quite finished, even though he stopped his story at the end of Chapter 6, Leaving for Australia. We believed that several events in Dad’s later life were worthy of inclusion in this book and that Dad would have wanted them included. Chapter 7, A New Life, was written by Rhonda. This chapter tells of Dad’s business and professional life, his family and of course the Buchenwald Boys. Chapters 8 and 9 were written by me and tell of Dad searching and finding lost family and his March of the Living experience. Chapter 10 contains heartfelt tributes by his grandchildren. viii