En conxunto co noso “Socios en Caring” programa financiado pola UJA-Federation of New York, o Y contará con entrevistas de seis superviventes locais para comprender mellor a historia de cada individuo. Estas entrevistas serán mostradas na galería Hebrew Tabernacle “Experimentando un tempo de guerra e máis aló: Retratos de sobreviventes do Holocausto”. A galería abrirase o venres 8 de novembro.
Hannah Eisner worked at the Y for 18 anos, as an office manager for Project Hope and then as a program director in the senior center. She retired in 1987, but currently is the chair of the chesed committee, attends the Partner in Caring weekly discussion group, and on occasion teaches an origami class here at the Y once a week.
Hannah Eisner(sculpture by Peter Bulow: www.peterbulow.com)
Hannah Eisner was born in Offenbach, Germany on November 12, 1924. She grew up in Offenbach with both of her parents. Her father worked as the vice president of a Jewish owned private bank and her mother was a stay at home mom. After 1934, Jewish children were not allowed to go to public schools, so they were taught by the Jewish teachers who were also not welcome in public schools. This is how the Jewish school in Offenbach came about. Hannah describes, “I did not feel so deprived. We had our own community.” She remembers that Jews were not allowed to go anywhere in town. There were signs outside movie theaters and businesses that said “Jews not wanted.” She explained the treatment of the Jews: “they were treated like nothings. Like vermin.”
Before Kristallnacht, the super intendant of the building that Hannah’s dad worked in asked him for a favor, which Hannah’s father was able to help with. , Hannah and her parents believe that the reason that her father was not taken to a concentration camp and that her apartment was not demolished was because the super intendant paid this favor back. He protected Hannah’s family. Hannah recalls, “I felt almost embarrassed when everyone else’s father was taken, but he was safe. Still, whenever the doorbell rang, one was afraid one would be taken away. One lived in utter fear.” Hannah remembers mostly how much fear she and her family lived in. She states that there was no justice for Jews.
There was a small Jewish population in Offenbach, and during Kristallnacht, almost all of the apartments were ransacked and the synagogue was set on fire. After Kristallnacht, Hannah remembers the devastation that took place and how it affected her and her community. She remembers getting ready to go to school the next day and being told by one of her classmates to go home because there is no school left. Later on, she and one of her friends walked to the school, “we looked into the broken windows, we saw it all black and burned.” Jewish businesses were greatly affected. Their stores were empty, and no gentile dared to go in. She also describes that her father was pushed out of his position at the bank as the bank was taken over by someone else who was not Jewish. “After Kristallnacht, we knew we had to get out if we could.”
After the events of Kristallnacht, Hannah and her family waited their number to be called in order to come to America. She feared that their number would not be called because the American consulate closed over the summer; however, their number was called before the consulate closed. While waiting for their number to get called, Hannah and her family prepared for their journey by taking the little money that they had left and buying clothes so that when they reached America, they would have clothes and shoes. Hannah remembers that each day she waited to leave for America, she watched as the Jewish community shrunk.
One of Hannah’s most vivid memories involves her friend Lisel Strauss. When one would receive an affidavit to leave the country, often times the affidavit was not big enough to cover the whole family. The Strauss family did not have an affidavit that would cover all four of them. So the family split up. The father and younger sister, Ellen, went to American first. Lisel and her mother stayed behind with the hope that the father would soon be able to get an affidavit for the two of them. But Lisel and her mother never got out. Ellen married a man who was in the leather business, specifically handbags. The handbags that they made were called the Lisette, which was named after Lisel. (Hannah still has her original handbag, pictured above).
Many of Hannah’s relatives perished in Nazi death camps. She had a cousin who was imprisoned in one of the camps. Her cousin found a boyfriend at the camp. The boyfriend had an opportunity to leave the camp, but he decided to stay with Hannah’s cousin. They both ended up being murdered in the camp together.
The Eisner’s came to America in April 1939. Hannah had relatives in New York who rented a room for her family for a short period of time. She remembers, “to my surprise, the freedom here, the abundance…after relatives had picked us up, they rented a room for us until our few belongings did come…they wanted me to buy things in the grocery store. So with my best English I went down and I said ‘can I have an egg or two?’ They said ‘what? Why don’t you take a dozen?’ These were the surprises of an immigrant.” Hannah’s family would rent five bedroom apartments, which was bigger than what they needed in order to rent out rooms to other refugees who could not afford their own apartments. Hannah remembers, “I never had a room of my own. For a long, long time because we rented out two rooms. But I’m glad to be alive.” When they first arrived, Hannah’s father took a job as a door-to-door salesman. This was a tremendous step down from his position at the bank, but it was the only work he was able to get. Eventually, he was fortunate enough to get a job as a shipping clerk. Hannah’s mother worked very little from home; she stitched slippers together.
Hannah was 14 years old when she came to America. She attended junior high school and then George Washington High School. She was a bright student, but did not want to go to college because she would have to go to classes a night. After graduation, Hannah worked as a billing clerk in a slipper manufacturer.
Living through the devastation of Kristallnacht and the Holocaust affected Hannah in many ways throughout her life, but especially when it came to raising her children. She explains, “I was stricter with them because I felt that the others were killed and we survived so [my children] shouldn’t be so silly. So I was stricter on my boys, which I regret now.”
“Hitler made me proud to be a Jew. Hitler made me Jewish.” Hannah was married in 1950 to an Austrian man that she met in America. She has two sons and three grandchildren. Her middle grandson was just accepted into the Israeli Army. She is tremendously proud ofhim.
Esta entrevista foi realizada por Halley Goldberg da iniciativa Y's Partners in Caring e pertence ao YM&YWHA de Washington Heights e Inwood. Queda terminantemente prohibido o uso deste material sen o consentimento por escrito tanto do Y como do entrevistado. Máis información sobre o programa Partners in Caring aquí: http://ywashhts.org/partners-caring-0
Tabernáculo hebreo Galería Armin e Estelle Gold Wingen orgullosa colaboración cono YM&YWHA de Washington Heights e Inwoodconvídavos ao nosonovembro/decembro, 2013 Exposición“Experimentando un tempo de guerra e máis aló: Retratos de sobreviventes do Holocausto” con fotografías e esculturas de: YAEL BEN-ZION, PETER BULOW e ROJ RODRIGUEZ. En conxunto cun Servizo especial en memoriada75th Aniversario da Kristallnacht -A noite dos cristais rotosServizos e recepción inaugural do artista, Venres, 8 de novembro, 2013 7:30 p.m.
Unha declaración de Y : ” Durante décadas o Washington Heights/Inwood Y foi, e segue sendo, un paraíso para os que buscan refuxio, respecto e comprensión. Moitos dos que entran nas nosas portas e participan nos nosos programas viviron probas e tribulacións que nin sequera comezamos a imaxinar.. Para algúns, que formarán parte desta exposición, un destes horrores pasou a ser coñecido polo mundo simplemente como "O Holocausto" – o asasinato sistemático de seis millóns de xudeus de Europa.
Nós no Y lembramos o pasado, honrar aos que viviron e morreron durante ese tempo, e salvagardar a verdade para as xeracións futuras. Polo ben de nós mesmos e dos nosos fillos, debemos transmitir as historias dos que viviron os males da guerra. Hai leccións que aprender para o futuro. As entrevistas están documentadas por Halley Goldberg, un supervisor do programa “Partners in Caring”.. Este programa vital foi posible grazas a unha xenerosa subvención da UJA-Federation of New York, deseñado para mellorar as relacións coas sinagogas de Washington Heights e Inwood. “
A nosa exposición de arte conxunta presenta retratos e entrevistas de sobreviventes do Holocausto, Hannah Eisner, Charlie e Lilli Friedman, Pearl Rosenzveig, Fredy Seidel e Ruth Wertheimer, todos eles membros do Tabernáculo Hebreo, unha congregación xudía que moitos xudeus alemáns fuxen dos nazis e teñen a sorte de vir a América, uniuse a finais da década de 1930. Ademais tamén homenaxearemos á sobrevivente do Holocausto Gizelle Schwartz Bulow- nai do noso artista Peter Bulow e do supervivente da Segunda Guerra Mundial Yan Neznanskiy - pai do director do programa Y's, Victoria Neznansky.
Un servizo especial do sábado, con altofalantes, en lembranza do 75 Aniversario da Kristallnacht (a Noite dos Vidros Rotos) precede á inauguración da exposición Gold Gallery/Y:Os servizos comezan pronto ás 7:30 pm. Están todos convidados a asistir.
Para consultar o horario de apertura da galería ou para obter máis información, chame á sinagoga212-568-8304 ou verhttp://www.hebrewtabernacle.orgDeclaración do artista: Yael Ben-Zionwww.yaelbenzion.comYael Ben-Zion naceu en Minneapolis, MN e criado en Israel. É graduada no Programa de Estudos Xerais do Centro Internacional de Fotografía. Ben-Zion é o destinatario de varias subvencións e premios, máis recentemente da Fundación Puffin e da NoMAA, e a súa obra foi exposta nos Estados Unidos e en Europa. Publicou dúas monografías da súa obra. Vive en Washington Heights co seu marido, e os seus xemelgos.
Declaración do artista: Peter Bulow: www.peterbulow.com
Miña nai de nena, estivo agochado durante o Holocausto. Ao longo dos anos, a súa experiencia, ou o que imaxinei que fora a súa experiencia, tivo unha gran influencia en min. Esta influencia reflíctese tanto na miña vida persoal como na miña vida artística. Nacín na India, Viviu de neno en Berlín e emigrei aos Estados Unidos cos meus pais á idade 8. Teño un máster en Belas Artes en escultura. Tamén son o destinatario dunha subvención que me permitirá facer un número limitado de bustos de bronce de sobreviventes do Holocausto. Avísame se estás interesado en formar parte deste proxecto.
Declaración do artista :Rojo Rodríguez: www.rojrodriguez.com
O meu traballo reflicte a miña viaxe desde Houston, TX - onde nacín e criei - a Nova York - onde, exposto á súa etnia, diversidade cultural e socioeconómica e a súa visión única sobre os inmigrantes– Atopei un renovado respecto pola cultura de todos. Eu fun aprendiz de fotógrafos ben establecidos, viaxou moito polo mundo e colaborou con moitos profesionais de primeira liña na materia. Dende xaneiro, 2006, A miña carreira como fotógrafa independente converteuse nun proceso de asumir proxectos de fotografía persoal que xorden da miña propia comprensión da forma en que compartimos o mundo e exercemos a nosa creatividade no seu conxunto.
