Ka kopanelo le rona “Bo-mphato ba Tlhokomelo” lenaneo le tšehelitsoeng ka lichelete ke UJA-Federation of New York, ea Y e tla ba le lipuisano tse tsoang ho baphonyohi ba sebaka ba tšeletseng ho utloisisa pale ea motho ka mong hamolemo. Lipuisano tsena li tla bontšoa setsing sa litšoantšo sa Tabernacle ea Seheberu “Ho ba le Nako ea Ntoa le ho Feta: Litšoantšo tsa Baphonyohi ba Polao e Sehlōhō ea Moea”. Sebaka sa pokello ea litšoantšo se tla buloa ka Labohlano la la 8 Pulungoana.
Hannah Eisner worked at the Y for 18 lilemo, 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.
Puisano ena e entsoe ke Halley Goldberg oa mokhatlo oa Y's Partners in Caring mme ke oa YM.&YWHA ea Washington Heights le Inwood. Tšebeliso ea thepa ena ntle le tumello e ngotsoeng ho tsoa ho Y le mohlahlobuoa e thibetsoe ka thata. Fumana lintlha tse ling mabapi le lenaneo la Partner in Caring mona: http://ywashhts.org/partners-caring-0
Tabernakele ea Seheberu Armin le Estelle Gold Wing Galleryka kopanelo e motlotlo leRe ne re thabetse ho ba le sehlopha se fapaneng se tsoang sechabeng ho kenyelletsa le malapa a tsoang Sekolong sa Y Nursery&YWHA ea Washington Heights le Inwoode u memela ho ronaNovember/December, 2013 Hlahisa“Ho ba le Nako ea Ntoa le ho Feta: Litšoantšo tsa Baphonyohi ba Polao e Sehlōhō ea Moea” ka linepe le setsoantso ka: YAEL BEN-ZION, PETER BULOW le ROJ RODRIGUEZ. Hammoho le Tšebeletso e khethehileng mohopolongtsa75Anivesari ya Kristallnacht -The Night of Broken GlassLitšebeletso le Kamohelo ea ho Bula ea Artist, Labohlano, La 8 November, 2013 7:30 thapama.
Polelo e tsoang ho Y : ” Ka lilemo tse mashome Washington Heights/Inwood Y e bile teng, me e tsoela pele ho ba, setshabelo ho ba batlang setshabelo, tlhompho le kutlwisiso. Ba bangata ba kenang menyakong ea rona le ho nka karolo mananeong a rona ba phetse litekong le matšoenyeho ao re ke keng ra a nahana.. Bakeng sa ba bang, bao e tla ba karolo ea pontšo ena, le leng la tšabo e joalo le se le tsebahala lefatšeng ka bophara e le “Polao e Sehlōhō” – polao e hlophisitsoeng ea Bajode ba limilione tse tšeletseng ba Europe.
Rona ba Y re hopola tse fetileng, tlotla ba ba neng ba tshela le go swa ka nako eo, le ho sireletsa ’nete bakeng sa meloko e tlang. Molemong oa rona le bana ba rona, re tlameha ho fetisa lipale tsa ba kileng ba hlaheloa ke bokhopo ba ntoa. Ho na le lithuto tse lokelang ho ithutoa nakong e tlang. Lipuisano li ngotsoe ke Halley Goldberg, molebeli oa lenaneo la "Partners in Caring".. Lenaneo lena la bohlokoa le ile la khoneha ka thuso ea seatla se bulehileng e tsoang ho UJA-Federation of New York, e etselitsoe ho ntlafatsa likamano le lisynagoge tsa Washington Heights le Inwood. “
Pontšo ea rona e kopanetsoeng ea bonono e na le litšoantšo le lipuisano tsa baphonyohi ba Polao e Sehlōhō, Hannah Eisner, Charlie le Lilli Friedman, Pearl Rosenzveig, Fredy Seidel le Ruth Wertheimer, kaofela ha bona e le litho tsa Tabernakele ea Seheberu, phutheho ea Sejuda eo Bajuda ba bangata ba Majeremane ba balehang Manazi le lehlohonolo la ho tla Amerika, e ile ea kopanela bofelong ba lilemo tsa bo-1930. Ho feta moo, re tla hlompha le mophonyohi oa Polao e Sehlōhō Gizelle Schwartz Bulow- mme oa sebini sa rona Peter Bulow le mophonyohi oa WWII Yan Neznanskiy - ntate oa Ofisiri e ka Sehloohong ea Lenaneo la Y., ka ho keteka Letsatsi la Boipuso.
Tshebeletso e ikgethang ya Sabatha, ka dibui, sehopotsong sa Sehopotso sa bo75 sa Kristallnacht (Bosiu ba Khalase e Senyehileng) e etella pele ho buloa ha Gold Gallery/Y pontšo:Litšebeletso li qala hang ka 7:30 thapama. Bohle ba memeloa ho ba teng.
Bakeng sa lihora tse bulehileng tsa gallery kapa bakeng sa tlhaiso-leseling e batsi ka kopo letsetsa synagoge ho212-568-8304 kapa bonahttp://www.hebrewtabernacle.orgPolelo ea Moetsi: Yael Ben-Zionwww.yaelbenzion.comYael Ben-Zion o hlahetse Minneapolis, MN mme o holetse Iseraele. Ke seithuti sa Setsi sa Machaba sa Lithuto tsa Kakaretso tsa Setsi sa Litšoantšo. Ben-Zion ke moamoheli oa lithuso le likhau tse fapaneng, haufinyane tjena ho tsoa ho Puffin Foundation le ho tsoa ho NoMAA, ’me mosebetsi oa hae o ’nile oa bontšoa United States le Europe. O hatisitse monograph tse peli tsa mosebetsi oa hae. O lula Washington Heights le monna oa hae, le mafahla a bona a bashanyana.
Polelo ea Moetsi: Peter Bulow: www.peterbulow.com
'Mè ha ke sa le ngoana, ba ne ba ipatile nakong ea Polao e Sehlōhō. Ho theosa le lilemo, phihlelo ea hae, kapa seo ke neng ke nahana hore e bile phihlelo ea hae, e bile le tšusumetso e kholo ho 'na. Tšusumetso ena e bonahala bophelong ba ka ba botho le ba bonono. Ke hlahetse India, o ne a lula Berlin ke sa le ngoana 'me a fallela US le batsoali ba ka ha a le lilemong 8. Ke na le Masters in Fine Arts ho betliloeng. Hape ke moamoheli oa thuso e tla ntumella ho etsa palo e lekanyelitsoeng ea baphonyohi ba Polao e Sehlōhō.. Ke kopa u ntsebise haeba u thahasella ho ba karolo ea morero ona.
Polelo ea Moetsi :Roj Rodriguez: www.rojrodriguez.com
Mosebetsi oa ka o bontša leeto la ka ho tloha Houston, TX - moo ke hlahetseng le ho holela teng - ho ea New York - moo, e pepesehetseng morabe wa yona, mefuta-futa ea setso le moruo oa sechaba le pono ea eona e ikhethang ho bajaki– Ke ile ka fumana tlhompho e nchafalitsoeng bakeng sa setso sa motho e mong le e mong. Ke ithutile le baetsi ba lifoto ba hloahloa, o ile a tsamaea lefatšeng ka bophara 'me a sebelisana le litsebi tse ngata tse phahameng tšimong. Ho tloha ka Pherekhong, 2006, mosebetsi oa ka oa ho ba ralitšoantšo ea ikemetseng e se e le mokhoa oa ho nka merero ea ho nka lifoto ea botho e hlahang kutloisisong ea ka ea tsela eo re arolelanang lefatše ka eona le ho sebelisa boqapi ba rona ka kakaretso.
