Sempena kami “Rakan Kongsi dalam Prihatin” program yang dibiayai oleh UJA-Federation of New York, Y akan menampilkan temu bual daripada enam mangsa tempatan yang terselamat untuk lebih memahami kisah setiap individu. Wawancara ini akan dipamerkan di galeri Hebrew Tabernacle “Mengalami Masa Perang dan Selepasnya: Potret Terselamat Holocaust Berjiwa”. Galeri akan dibuka pada hari Jumaat 8 November.
Pearl Rosenzveig has been a member of the Y since 1998.
Mutiara 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.
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&ialah program yang dibiayai oleh bandar yang menyediakan pekerjaan musim panas dan pengalaman pendidikan kepada umur Belia New York. Penggunaan bahan ini tanpa kebenaran bertulis daripada Y dan orang yang ditemuduga adalah dilarang sama sekali. Ketahui lebih lanjut tentang program Rakan Kongsi dalam Prihatin di sini: http://ywashhts.org/partners-caring-0
Tabernakel Ibrani Galeri Armin dan Estelle Gold Wingdalam perkongsian bangga denganyang YM&ialah program yang dibiayai oleh bandar yang menyediakan pekerjaan musim panas dan pengalaman pendidikan kepada umur Belia New Yorkmenjemput anda ke kamiNovember Disember, 2013 Pameran“Mengalami Masa Perang dan Selepasnya: Potret Terselamat Holocaust Berjiwa” dengan gambar dan arca oleh: YAEL BEN-ZION, PETER BULOW dan ROJ RODRIGUEZ. Sempena Perkhidmatan khas dalam ingatandaripada75Ulang Tahun ke-Kristallnacht -Malam Pecah KacaPerkhidmatan dan Sambutan Perasmian Artis, Jumaat, 8 November, 2013 7:30 p.m.
Kenyataan daripada Y : ” Selama beberapa dekad Washington Heights/Inwood Y telah, dan terus menjadi, tempat berlindung bagi mereka yang mencari perlindungan, rasa hormat dan persefahaman. Ramai yang memasuki pintu kami dan mengambil bahagian dalam program kami telah melalui ujian dan kesusahan yang tidak dapat kami bayangkan.. Untuk beberapa, yang akan menjadi sebahagian daripada pameran ini, satu kengerian sedemikian telah dikenali kepada dunia hanya sebagai "The Holocaust" – pembunuhan sistematik enam juta orang Yahudi Eropah.
Kami di Y ingat masa lalu, menghormati mereka yang hidup dan mati pada masa itu, dan menjaga kebenaran untuk generasi akan datang. Demi diri kita dan anak-anak kita, kita mesti mewariskan kisah mereka yang pernah mengalami keburukan peperangan. Ada pengajaran untuk masa hadapan. Temu bual didokumentasikan oleh Halley Goldberg, seorang penyelia program “Rakan Kongsi dalam Penyayang”.. Program penting ini dijayakan melalui geran murah hati daripada UJA-Federation of New York, direka untuk meningkatkan hubungan dengan rumah ibadat di Washington Heights dan Inwood. “
Pameran seni bersama kami menampilkan potret dan wawancara mangsa yang terselamat daripada Holocaust, Hannah Eisner, Charlie dan Lilli Friedman, Mutiara Rosenzveig, Fredy Seidel dan Ruth Wertheimer, kesemuanya adalah ahli The Hebrew Tabernacle, sebuah jemaah Yahudi yang banyak orang Yahudi Jerman melarikan diri dari Nazi dan cukup bertuah untuk datang ke Amerika, menyertai pada akhir 1930-an. Di samping itu, kami juga akan memberi penghormatan kepada mangsa yang selamat dari Holocaust, Gizelle Schwartz Bulow- ibu kepada artis kami Peter Bulow dan mangsa Perang Dunia II Yan Neznanskiy – bapa kepada Ketua Pegawai Program Y, semua program di laman Y digantung buat sementara waktu.
Perkhidmatan Sabat yang istimewa, dengan pembesar suara, sebagai peringatan Ulang Tahun Kristallnacht ke-75 (Malam Pecah Kaca) mendahului pembukaan pameran Galeri Emas/Y:Perkhidmatan bermula dengan segera pada 7:30 pm. Semua dijemput hadir.
Untuk waktu buka galeri atau untuk maklumat lanjut sila hubungi rumah ibadat di212-568-8304 atau lihathttp://www.hebrewtabernacle.orgKenyataan Artis: Yael Ben-Zionwww.yaelbenzion.comYael Ben-Zion dilahirkan di Minneapolis, MN dan dibesarkan di Israel. Beliau adalah graduan Program Pengajian Am Pusat Fotografi Antarabangsa. Ben-Zion adalah penerima pelbagai geran dan anugerah, terbaharu daripada Yayasan Puffin dan daripada NoMAA, dan karyanya telah dipamerkan di Amerika Syarikat dan di Eropah. Dia telah menerbitkan dua monograf karyanya. Dia tinggal di Washington Heights bersama suaminya, dan anak kembar mereka.
Kenyataan Artis: Peter Bulow: www.peterbulow.com
Ibu saya semasa kecil, telah bersembunyi semasa Holocaust. Selama bertahun, pengalaman dia, atau apa yang saya bayangkan sebagai pengalamannya, telah memberi pengaruh yang besar kepada saya. Pengaruh ini tercermin baik dalam peribadi saya dan dalam kehidupan seni saya. Saya dilahirkan di India, tinggal sebagai anak kecil di Berlin dan berhijrah ke AS bersama ibu bapa saya pada usia 8. Saya mempunyai Sarjana dalam Seni Halus dalam arca. Saya juga penerima geran yang membolehkan saya membuat patung gangsa yang terselamat daripada Holocaust dalam jumlah terhad. Sila beritahu saya jika anda berminat untuk menjadi sebahagian daripada projek ini.
Kenyataan Artis :Roj Rodriguez: www.rojrodriguez.com
Badan kerja saya mencerminkan perjalanan saya dari Houston, TX - tempat saya dilahirkan dan dibesarkan - ke New York - di mana, terdedah kepada etniknya, kepelbagaian budaya dan sosioekonomi serta pandangan uniknya terhadap pendatang– Saya mendapati penghormatan yang diperbaharui terhadap budaya setiap orang. Saya telah belajar dengan jurugambar yang mapan, mengembara ke seluruh dunia secara meluas dan bekerjasama dengan ramai profesional terkemuka dalam bidang tersebut. Sejak Januari, 2006, kerjaya saya sebagai jurugambar bebas telah menjadi satu proses mengambil projek fotografi peribadi yang muncul daripada pemahaman saya sendiri tentang cara kita berkongsi dunia dan menggunakan kreativiti kita secara keseluruhan.
