Í tengslum við okkar “Samstarfsaðilar í Umhyggju” áætlun styrkt af UJA-Federation of New York, Y mun innihalda viðtöl frá sex staðbundnum eftirlifendum til að skilja betur sögu hvers einstaklings. Þessi viðtöl verða sýnd í Hebreska tjaldsalnum “Upplifa stríðstíma og víðar: Andlitsmyndir af lifendum helförarinnar”. Galleríið verður opnað föstudaginn 8. nóvember.
Pearl Rosenzveig has been a member of the Y since 1998.
Perla Rosenzveig (Photograph by Yael Ben-Zion: www.yaelbenzion.com)
Pearl (Friedman) Rosenzveig was born in Simleu Silvania, Romania on February 22, 1919. The Friedman’s were the only Jewish family in Simleu Silvania. Her father owned a liquor, tobacco, and grocery store. She has a sister, Esther, who was born on January 21, 1921. Her mother’s side of the family resided in a town about 3 hours away by train. Pearl remembers her mother as a loving person, who was also a business woman. She described her mother as a conservative Jew.
In Simleu Silvania, there was only one school for all the children to attend, however there was no high school. Pearl recalls attending that school until her 7th year. She was a gifted gymnast and states that gymnastics was her favorite subject in school. When asked if Pearl experienced any anti-Semitism as a child, she remembered a story from her time in school. Pearl and her sister were in a play about Romania and all of the states within the country. Each child was given a state to play, while Esther was given the part of Romania. When the class performed the play for the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister asked the teacher why a Jew was playing the part of Romania.
Even though the Friedman’s were the only Jewish family in Simleu Silvania, they still practiced Judaism. They celebrated every Jewish holiday and they kept kosher. On Friday, Pearl’s father would travel to a nearby Hungarian town where there were more Jews and would attend Shabbat services. On high holy days, Pearl and her mother would travel to a town called Silvaniei to go to synagogue.
When Pearl was 15, the Prime Minister of Romania put restrictions on Jewish owned businesses. The Friedman’s lost their business and was forced to move to Simleu Silvaniei. Pearl attended community college in Simleu Silvaniei, but was told that she failed her classes because she was a Jew. This did not make any sense to Pearl because when the gym teacher was absent, Pearl was called to replace her because she was such a talented gymnast. Even though Pearl tried to fight her way to stay in school, she did not win. By age 17, Pearl left the school. When she realized she had limited opportunities in such a small town, in her early twenties Pearl moved to Budapest where one of her uncles lived. She needed to learn a skill in order to survive so Pearl learned to sew. Pearl wanted to maximize her opportunities to make a living, which is why she decided to move to Budapest. She took great interest in sewing, but wanted to improve so she took a class in pattern making. Pearl remembers that later on that she began sewing yellow stars onto clothing. She recalls, “When we were in the ghetto, we needed yellow stars on each item.” Pearl had been told many times that she did not look like a Jew. When Jews were unable to shop at stores, Pearl made the courageous decision to take off her yellow star and go shopping. One time she was stopped by a Hungarian police officer who asked her why sometimes he sees her with a yellow star and other times without the star. He told her, “You’re not Jewish. Take that star off forever.”
While in Budapest, Pearl was able to correspond with her parents by sending letters. However, she lost touch with her parents in the early 1940’s and Pearl knew that she had lost her parents forever. When reflecting on her feelings about the war, Pearl believes that the Hungarian government is responsible for the deaths of the Jews in Hungary.
After being in the ghetto for about two and half years, Pearl and the rest of the Jews were rounded up. She prepared by packing up her belongings. Pearl was sure to pack her mother’s jewelry and all the valuables that she had. In addition, she bought as much nonperishable food as she could so that she would not go hungry. One morning, the police came to the door and told her that she had five minutes to gather her belongings and leave. The police gathered a few thousand Jews in a lot. Pearl recalls that the police were extremely unorganized and eventually had to send all of the Jews home because they did not know what to do with all of them. She hoped that this would be the end, but it was not. In October 1943, she heard the knock on her door and once again she left the house. This time, it was for good. She remembers walking for what felt like forever. There were several thousand Jews that were forced to march day after day. When they would stop at night, Pearl remembers that they were given very little to eat. They served liquids only and she remembers the food being disgusting. She had no choice but to eat it. The Hungarian police orchestrated the march. Pearl felt disappointed, sad, and weak. She found the strength to carry on each day throughout the march. On the march, Pearl saw a woman coming out of her house. Pearl ran over to the woman and offered to give her the sweater she was wearing in exchange for any food. Pearl did not care that winter was coming. She was so hungry; all she could think about was getting food. The woman went into her house and came out with a lot of food for Pearl and she took the sweater.
Pearl recalls the march lasting from October to December. The weather got so cold, Pearl is glad that she did not lose her fingers on the march. She knew that she was walking to Germany, but she did not realize that she was walking to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. She reached Bergen-Belsen in January 1944. When she got to the concentration camp, all of Pearl’s jewelry including her earrings and watch were confiscated. She was stripped of everything; including her clothes. She was given clothing that was full of lice. On the days that it would snow, Pearl would strip herself down to nothing and wash herself with soap in the snow. When she was done, she had to put her dirty clothes back on and go back to the barracks. When more people would come to the camp, Pearl would do what she could to make room for people in the barracks. This would leave her without a place to sleep. She stayed in the cold corridor and became very ill.
When the camp was liberated, Pearl saw British soldiers coming to the camp. She recalls them intimidating the German soldiers. After a week, Pearl was moved from Bergen-Belsen to a better facility in Germany. She remembers being fed a little better. Everyone was still very sick from the filth of the camp. A nurse came to help the refugees including Pearl who had come down with shingles. Eventually the Swedish came and opened their borders to the refugees and offered assistance to them. In 1945, Pearl decided that she wanted to go to Sweden. She was taken there along with other refugees. The refugees were taken care of by doctors and admitted to hospitals if they needed extra medical attention.
The refugees were put into Swedish summer homes outside of Stockholm. She recalls being placed with Czech, Hungarian, and Romanian refugees. She stayed there for two years. Pearl was very happy when she was there. She was given new clothes every season so she could be comfortable. After several years in Sweden, Pearl wrote to an uncle she found in New York. Her uncle immediately sent her $100. She used this money to buy herself a watch and to get her teeth fixed since they had been damaged from the war. Once she got herself fixed up, Pearl asked her uncle to help her come to America. Even though Pearl loved her life in Sweden, she wanted to be in New York with her family. She thought she would have to wait years to get to America because the Romanian quota was so small, but she and her uncle were able to work out a way to get Pearl to America as quickly as possible. The first affidavit that her uncle was able to get for her was not enough to get her into the country so her uncle asked a friend of his for help. This friend helped get Pearl an adequate affidavit to come to America.
Þann júní 14, 1948, Pearl arrived in New York City. Her aunt was at the harbor waiting for her. She recognized Pearl by the pictures she had sent. She then lived with her aunt and uncle, and worked as a seamstress.
Pearl never imagined that she would marry an American man. She recalls that she met her husband when she was visiting a friend. She married Max Rosenzveig and they had 2 daughters. Pearl has six grandchildren.
This interview was transcribed (from a previoulsy recorded interview) by Halley Goldberg of the Y’s Partners in Caring initiative and belongs to the YM&YWHA í Washington Heights og Inwood. Notkun þessa efnis án skriflegs samþykkis bæði Y og viðmælanda er stranglega bönnuð. Sjáðu meira um Partners in Caring áætlunina hér: http://ywashhts.org/partners-caring-0
Hebreska tjaldbúðin Armin og Estelle Gold Wing galleríiðí stoltu samstarfi viðYM&YWHA í Washington Heights og Inwoodbýður þér til okkarnóvember/desember, 2013 Sýning“Upplifa stríðstíma og víðar: Andlitsmyndir af lifendum helförarinnar” með ljósmyndum og skúlptúrum eftir: YAEL BEN-ZION, PETER BULOW og ROJ RODRIGUEZ. Í tengslum við sérstaka minningarþjónustuaf75ára afmæli Kristallnóttar - Nótt glerbrotsinsÞjónusta og opnunarmóttaka listamanna, Föstudag, 8. nóvember, 2013 7:30 kl.
Yfirlýsing frá Y : ” Í áratugi hefur Washington Heights/Inwood Y verið, og heldur áfram að vera, griðastaður fyrir þá sem leita skjóls, virðingu og skilning. Margir sem ganga inn fyrir dyr okkar og taka þátt í áætlunum okkar hafa lifað í gegnum raunir og þrengingar sem við getum ekki einu sinni ímyndað okkur. Fyrir suma, hverjir verða hluti af þessari sýningu, Einn slíkur hryllingur hefur verið þekktur í heiminum einfaldlega sem „helförin“ – kerfisbundið morð á sex milljónum gyðinga í Evrópu.
Við hjá Y minnumst fortíðarinnar, heiðra þá sem lifðu og dóu á þeim tíma, og standa vörð um sannleikann fyrir komandi kynslóðir. Í þágu okkar sjálfra og barna okkar, við verðum að miðla sögum þeirra sem hafa upplifað illsku stríðsins. Það er hægt að draga lærdóma fyrir framtíðina. Viðtölin eru skjalfest af Halley Goldberg, umsjónarmaður „Partners in Caring“ áætlunarinnar. Þessi mikilvæga áætlun var gerð möguleg með rausnarlegum styrk frá UJA-sambandi New York, hannað til að auka tengsl við samkunduhús í Washington Heights og Inwood. “
Sameiginleg listasýning okkar sýnir andlitsmyndir og viðtöl við eftirlifendur helförarinnar, Hanna Eisner, Charlie og Lilli Friedman, Perla Rosenzveig, Fredy Seidel og Ruth Wertheimer, sem allir eru meðlimir Hebresku tjaldbúðarinnar, gyðingur söfnuður sem margir þýskir gyðingar flýja nasista og heppnir að koma til Ameríku, gekk til liðs við seint á þriðja áratugnum. Að auki munum við einnig heiðra Gizelle Schwartz Bulow, sem lifði helförina af- móðir listamannsins Peter Bulow og Yan Neznanskiy, sem lifði af seinni heimstyrjöldina, - faðir yfirmanns Y's., með einhverfu sem eru ekki að fá þjónustu sem styrkt er af Þroskaháskólastofu.
Sérstök hvíldardagsþjónusta, með hátölurum, til minningar um 75 ára afmæli Kristallsnóttar (Nótt glerbrotsins) á undan opnun Gold Gallery/Y sýningarinnar:Guðsþjónusta hefst stundvíslega 7:30 kl. Öllum er boðið að mæta.
Fyrir opnunartíma gallerísins eða fyrir frekari upplýsingar vinsamlega hringið í samkunduna í kl212-568-8304 eða sjáhttp://www.hebrewtabernacle.orgYfirlýsing listamanns: Yael Ben-Zionwww.yaelbenzion.comYael Ben-Zion fæddist í Minneapolis, MN og uppalinn í Ísrael. Hún er útskrifaður af Alþjóðlegu miðstöðinni í ljósmyndun í almennu námi. Ben-Zion er handhafi ýmissa styrkja og verðlauna, síðast frá Puffin Foundation og frá NoMAA, og verk hennar hafa verið sýnd í Bandaríkjunum og í Evrópu. Hún hefur gefið út tvær einrit af verkum sínum. Hún býr í Washington Heights ásamt eiginmanni sínum, og tvíburastrákana þeirra.
Yfirlýsing listamanns: Pétur Bulow: www.peterbulow.com
Móðir mín sem barn, hafði verið í felum í helförinni. Í gegnum árin, reynslu hennar, eða það sem ég ímyndaði mér að hefði verið reynsla hennar, hefur haft mikil áhrif á mig. Þessi áhrif endurspeglast bæði í persónulegu lífi mínu og í listalífi mínu. Ég fæddist á Indlandi, bjó sem ungt barn í Berlín og flutti til Bandaríkjanna með foreldrum mínum á aldursbili 8. Ég er með meistaragráðu í myndlist í skúlptúr. Ég er líka styrkþegi sem gerir mér kleift að búa til takmarkaðan fjölda bronsbrjóstmynda af eftirlifendum helförarinnar. Endilega látið mig vita ef þið hafið áhuga á að vera með í þessu verkefni.
Yfirlýsing listamanns :Roj Rodriguez: www.rojrodriguez.com
Verk mitt endurspeglar ferðalag mitt frá Houston, TX - þar sem ég fæddist og ólst upp - til New York - þar sem, verða fyrir þjóðerni sínu, menningar- og félagshagfræðilegan fjölbreytileika og einstaka sýn hans á innflytjendur– Ég fann endurnýjaða virðingu fyrir menningu allra. Ég hef lært hjá rótgrónum ljósmyndurum, ferðaðist mikið um heiminn og var í samstarfi við marga fremstu fagmenn á þessu sviði. Síðan í janúar, 2006, Ferill minn sem sjálfstæður ljósmyndari er orðinn ferli þar sem ég tek að mér persónuleg ljósmyndaverkefni sem koma fram af mínum eigin skilningi á því hvernig við deilum heiminum og beitum sköpunargáfu okkar í heild.
