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20th April, 2020
Tonight, Holocaust Remembrance Day begins in Israel and the Jewish
Communities, the date chosen to commemorate the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.
Incredibly today I learned that the Warsaw Ghetto had a full medical school and
produced fine doctors, yet another example which refutes the theory that the
Jews just went like sheep to the slaughter.
From Dusk to dusk we will be reminded of a fate worse than death for so
many. Israeli television will run non-stop testimonies and all programmes and
movies are related to that ghastly period of history, including the stories of
the defiant ones who fought back.
Survivors. A word with connotations so vast, so enormous that we,
mere mortals, find it hard to define. The dictionary says it is someone who
survived, but what? What did they survive and how?
Why do some people survive horrors beyond even the wildest imagination,
while others fail and die? How can one see the unimaginable and yet emerge as
caring, whole human beings? It surely has nothing to do with physical strength
because during the Holocaust even some of those who suffered physical torture
and starvation survived. How?
I believe it can be summed up in one word - HOPE. The belief that
tomorrow will bring relief; the belief that one will find an extra tiny morsel,
a forgotten potato skin, a tiny crumb of bread that will ensure
survival for another day.
What we commemorate tonight and tomorrow overshadows the whining at
being forced to stay home and only see our children on WhatsApp or Zoom. What
we commemorate today puts a pandemic virus into perspective and forces us to
thank Heaven for what we have. As my son Gideon said "If they could make a
Passover Seder in Auschwitz why are we complaining?"
There are two links this week. One from the Imperial War Museum which
conceivably gives the clearest and fullest picture of the horror found at the
liberation of Bergen Belsen
The late, eminent, Richard Dimbleby was a young correspondent for the BBC
when he was sent to cover the liberation of Bergen Belsen. Sights of
indescribable horror met his eyes, his words can never be forgotten.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP9BLKZENbc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP9BLKZENbc
Many have personal stories which have been recorded and handed down
generations. Here is Zvi's.
Zvi's father Kalman was a policeman for the British Mandate, Policeman
number 81, Policeman of the Kotel (Western Wall). Toward the end of 1938, after
catching a murderer from a known family in the Old City, Captain Silver, Chief
of the Mandate Police in Jerusalem and a religious British Jew, realised that
young Kalman's life was in danger and managed to sneak him out of the country
and sent him to see his family in Poland. Upon seeing the situation through
fresh eyes Kalman tried to persuade his Mother and siblings to pack up
immediately and follow him to the nascent State of Israel. They refused,
claiming the "protektzia" of high social standing and the need to
sell their properties. Kalman returned to Jerusalem, expressing his concern at
what was happening in Poland and his distress for his family.
One of Kalman's brothers, the handsome doctor Josef Rybak, who was also
a footballer in the Polish National Team, was one who did not believe that the
rampant anti-Semitism would amount to anything. My searches through the
archives showed that he became the Doctor of the clinic in Treblinka – the
clinic for the Jewish "workers". There were up to 600
"workers" whose turnover was beyond belief, very few survived more
than weeks. After further research we discovered that only two survivors of
that diabolical camp lived in Israel and we went to meet one of them, Samuel
Willenberg and his wife Ada. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Willenberg
He told us the story of the Doctor of Treblinka who had healed his
wounds after a failed escape from the death camp. "Doctor Rybak succeeded
in acquiring all the medical equipment he needed to tend his Jewish patients
because he was such a fine doctor that the Germans used his skills too. He was
a kind man and after they were healed if a patient said thank you he would
respond "Never thank me for sending you back to hell". He saved my
life" He then told us that Dr Rybak, his wife and daughter were killed just
three days before liberation.
We had no idea that Josef Rybak had married prior to the war, had a
daughter or that both wife and daughter were killed. In Treblinka a young woman
doctor with two children arrived on one of the transports and came to help him
in the clinic. They married with the permission of the Germans and thus were
saved. Sadly Josef Rybak was slaughtered just three days before liberation. It
took a great deal of further investigation to discover Josef's daughter's name,
since it is almost unrecognizable in Polish. When we finally worked out the
name we were stunned – her name was Zviah, the female of Zvi.
Zvi has no close relatives, has never known Grandparents, Uncles, Aunts
or cousins and he treasures the distant cousins he has. His Mother Ala Hendler
also lost everyone. Zvi is not rare, many families did not listen to the
rumblings of hatred which grew to murderous proportions. Rumblings which repeat
themselves today every time a Jew is beaten anywhere in the world or Jews are
blamed for being too powerful or too rich.
There will be no public ceremony at Yad Vashem this year although if you
go to the website https://www.yadvashem.org/
you can join the pre-recorded ceremony and join the virtual name reading.
Please, I beg of you, don't make "NEVER AGAIN" a meaningless
expression, make it a war cry, stand up and stand out. We are too close to 1938
and must heed Kalman's warning.
I was trying to think what music would be appropriate and chose three
renditions of Hatikva – The Hope
The first was recorded on the first Shabbat after the liberation of the
Bergen Belsen Camp https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWOkML4A8sU
The second by the IDF, our incredible young people who defend our
country
Finally a rendition which shows you Israel, today, a thriving,
incredible country, sweet revenge.
With love from Jerusalem, Capital of Israel, the homeland that proved
Hitler wrong.
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