Во врска со нашите “Партнери во грижата” програма финансирана од УЈА-Федерацијата на Њујорк, Y ќе содржи интервјуа од шест локални преживеани за подобро да се разбере приказната на секој поединец. Овие интервјуа ќе бидат прикажани во галеријата Хебрејски Табернакул “Доживување на време на војна и пошироко: Портрети на духовити преживеани од холокаустот”. Галеријата ќе биде отворена во петок на 8 ноември.
Pearl Rosenzveig has been a member of the Y since 1998.
Перл Розенцвејг (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.
On June 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 на Вашингтон Хајтс и Инвуд. Употребата на овој материјал без писмена согласност и од Y и од интервјуираниот е строго забранета. Дознајте повеќе за програмата Партнери во грижата овде: http://ywashhts.org/partners-caring-0
Хебрејски Табернакул Галерија на Златни крила Армин и Естелво гордо партнерство соYM&YWHA на Вашингтон Хајтс и Инвудве поканува на нашатаноември/декември, 2013 Изложба“Доживување на време на војна и пошироко: Портрети на духовити преживеани од холокаустот” со фотографии и скулптура од: ЈАЕЛ БЕН-ЗИОН, ПЕТЕР БУЛОУ и РОЈ РОДРИГЕЗ. Во врска со специјална услуга во меморијаод75Годишнина на Кристалната Нахта - Ноќта на скршеното стаклоУслуги и прием на отворањето на уметникот, Петок, 8-ми ноември, 2013 7:30 п.м..
Изјава од Y : ” Со децении беше Вашингтон Хајтс/Инвуд И, и продолжува да биде, рај за оние кои бараат засолниште, почит и разбирање. Многумина кои влегуваат во нашите врати и учествуваат во нашите програми доживеале искушенија и неволји кои не можеме ни да ги замислиме. За некои, кој ќе биде дел од оваа изложба, еден таков ужас стана познат во светот едноставно како „Холокаустот“ – систематското убиство на шест милиони Евреи од Европа.
Ние во Y се сеќаваме на минатото, чест на оние кои живееле и умреле во тоа време, и чувај ја вистината за идните генерации. За доброто на нас и нашите деца, мора да ги пренесеме приказните на оние кои ги доживеале злата на војната. Има лекции што треба да се научат за иднината. Интервјуата се документирани од Хали Голдберг, супервизор на програмата „Партнери во грижата“.. Оваа витална програма беше овозможена преку дарежлив грант од UJA-Федерацијата на Њујорк, дизајниран да ги подобри односите со синагогите во Вашингтон Хајтс и Инвуд. “
Нашата заедничка уметничка изложба содржи портрети и интервјуа на преживеани од Холокаустот, Хана Ајснер, Чарли и Лили Фридман, Перл Розенцвејг, Фреди Зајдел и Рут Вертхајмер, сите се членови на Хебрејскиот Табернакул, еврејско собрание кое многу германски Евреи бегаат од нацистите и имаат доволно среќа да дојдат во Америка, се приклучи кон крајот на 1930-тите. Дополнително, ќе и оддадеме почит на преживеаната од Холокаустот Жизел Шварц Булоу- мајка на нашиот уметник Питер Булоу и преживеаниот од Втората светска војна Јан Незнански - татко на главниот програмски директор на Y's, Викторија Незнански.
Специјална саботна служба, со звучници, во спомен на 75-годишнината од Кристалната нахта (Ноќта на скршеното стакло) му претходи на отворањето на изложбата Gold Gallery/Y:Услугите започнуваат веднаш во 7:30 попладне. Сите се поканети да присуствуваат.
За работното време на галеријата или за дополнителни информации ве молиме јавете се во синагогата на212-568-8304 или видиhttp://www.hebrewtabernacle.orgИзјава на уметникот: Јаел Бен-Зионwww.yaelbenzion.comЈаел Бен-Зион е роден во Минеаполис, MN и израснат во Израел. Таа е дипломиран на Програмата за општи студии на Меѓународниот центар за фотографија. Бен-Зион е добитник на различни грантови и награди, неодамна од Фондацијата Puffin и од NoMAA, а нејзината работа е изложена во САД и во Европа. Има објавено две монографии од своето творештво. Таа живее во Вашингтон Хајтс со нејзиниот сопруг, и нивните момчиња близнаци.
Изјава на уметникот: Питер Булоу: www.peterbulow.com
Мајка ми како дете, се криел за време на Холокаустот. Преку годините, нејзиното искуство, или она што замислив дека е нејзиното искуство, имаше големо влијание врз мене. Ова влијание се рефлектира и во мојот личен и во мојот уметнички живот. Јас сум роден во Индија, Живеев како мало дете во Берлин и емигрирав во САД со моите родители на возраст 8. Имам магистер по ликовна уметност во скулптура. Добитник сум и на грант кој ќе ми овозможи да направам ограничен број бронзени бисти на преживеаните од Холокаустот. Ве молам известете ми дали сте заинтересирани да бидете дел од овој проект.
Изјава на уметникот :Рој Родригез: www.rojrodriguez.com
Моето тело на работа го одразува моето патување од Хјустон, TX – каде што сум роден и израснат – во Њујорк – каде, изложени на своите етнички, културната и социо-економската разновидност и нејзиниот уникатен поглед на имигрантите– Најдов обновена почит кон сечија култура. Сум учел кај добро етаблирани фотографи, опширно патувал низ светот и соработувал со многу врвни професионалци во областа. Од јануари, 2006, мојата кариера како независен фотограф стана процес на преземање лични фотографски проекти кои произлегуваат од моето сопствено разбирање за начинот на кој го споделуваме светот и ја вежбаме нашата креативност како целина.
