Nyob rau hauv peb cov kev txhaj tshuaj nrog peb “Nrog ib tug neeg nyob hauv Caring” Qhov kev pab cuam nyiaj los ntawm lub UJA-Federation of New York, Tus Y yuav feature sib tham los ntawm rau lub zos survivors kom to taub txhua tus neeg zaj dabneeg. Cov kev sib tham no yuav raug showcased ntawm lub Hebrew Tabernacle gallery “Muaj ib lub sij hawm ua tsov ua rog thiab tshaj ntawd: Portraits ntawm Spirited Holocaust Survivors”. Lub gallery yuav qhib rau hnub Friday kaum ib hlis 8.
Pearl Rosenzveig has been a member of the Y since 1998.
Pearl 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&YWHA ntawm Washington Heights thiab Inwood. Siv cov khoom no tsis sau ntawv tso cai los ntawm ob lub Y thiab lub interviewee yog nruj me ntsis txwv. Xyuas kom paub ntxiv txog cov neeg uas nrog ib tug neeg nyob hauv Caring program ntawm no: http://ywashhts.org/partners-caring-0
Hebrew Tabernacle tus Armin thiab Estelle kub tis Gallerytxaus siab rau kev koom tes nrogntxawg&YWHA ntawm Washington Heights thiab Inwoodcaw koj tuaj caw pebKaum ib hlis/hlis ntuj nqeg, 2013 Exhibit“Muaj ib lub sij hawm ua tsov ua rog thiab tshaj ntawd: Portraits ntawm Spirited Holocaust Survivors” Nrog cov duab thiab sculpture los ntawm: YAEL BEN-ZION, PETER BULOW THIAB ROJ RODRIGUEZ. Conjunction nrog ib qhov kev pab tshwj xeeb tshwj xeeb hauv ncontawm qhov75Th Anniversary ntawm Kristallnacht-hmo ntawm Broken iavCov kev pab thiab artist qhib txais tos, Hnub Tsib, Kaum ib hlis 8, 2013 7:30 .m.
Ib tsab ntawv los ntawm cov Y : ” Xyoo lawm lub Washington Heights/Inwood Y lawm, thiab tseem yuav tau, Ib tug tsis tau rau cov neeg nrhiav qhov chaw nkaum, hwm thiab to taub. Muaj coob tus uas nkag mus rau hauv peb lub qhov rooj thiab koom rau hauv peb cov kev pab cuam tau nyob ntawm kev raug mob thiab kev ntxhov siab uas peb tsis tau pib xav txog tej yam. Ib txhia, leej twg yuav yog ib feem ntawm daim ntawv tso cai no, Ib tug zoo li no ntshai heev tuaj yuav tsum paub tias lub ntiaj teb no tsuas ua "The Holocaust" – Lub systematic tua neeg ntawm rau (6) lab (million) tus neeg Yudais ntawm cov teb chaws Europe.
Peb thaum lub Y nco ntsoov yav tas los, hwm cov uas nyob rau lub sij hawm ntawd, thiab tiv thaiv qhov tseeb rau yav tom ntej tiam tom ntej. Rau lub sake ntawm peb tus kheej thiab peb cov me nyuam, Peb yuav tsum kis tau cov dab neeg uas muaj tej cov evils ntawm tsov rog. Muaj cov tshooj lus yuav tsum kawm rau lub neej yav tom ntej. Cov kev sib tham no muab teev los ntawm Halley Goldberg, Ib tug "Partners in Caring" program supervisor. Qhov kev pab cuam no tseem ceeb heev yog tau los ntawm ib tug dav nyiaj pab los ntawm lub UJA-Federation ntawm New York, Tsim los txhim khu kev sib raug zoo nrog synagogues nyob Washington Heights thiab Inwood. “
Peb ob leeg kos duab exhibit nta portraits thiab sib tham ntawm survivors ntawm lub Holocaust, Hana Eisner, Charlie thiab Lilli Friedman, Pearl Rosenzveig, Fredy Seidel thiab Ruth Wertheimer, Cov Kwvernacle, Ib lub koom txoos Yudais uas muaj cov Yudai uas nyob thawj 100 xyoo khiav mus rau Tebchaws Meskas thiab muaj hmoo txaus los rau Tebchaws Asmesliskas, nkaus hauv lub caij 1930. Ntxiv rau peb yuav tau honor Holocaust survivor Gizelle Schwartz Bulow- Niam ntawm peb artist Peter Bulow thiab WWII survivor Yan Neznanskiy – leej txiv ntawm tus Y Chief Program Officer, Victoria Neznansky.
Ib tshwj xeeb Sabbath Service, hais lus, Nco txog lub 75th Anniversary ntawm Kristallnacht (Hmo ntuj tawg lawm iav) precedes cov lus qhib ntawm lub kub Gallery/Y exhibit:Cov kev pab pib sai sai thaum 7:30 pm. Caw tag nrho caw tuaj koom.
Rau gallery qhib teev los yog xav paub ntxiv thov hu rau synagogue ntawm212-568-8304 los yog saibhttp://www.hebrewtabernacle.orgArtist cov nqe lus: Yael Ben-Zionwww.yaelbenzion.comYael Ben-Zion yug hauv Minneapolis, MN thiab tsa ceg hauv ua Ixayees. Nws yog ib tug kawm tiav ntawm lub International Center of Photography General kev tshawb fawb Program. Ben-Zion yog tus neeg tau txais kev pab ntau yam nyiaj pab thiab txeeb, Feem ntau tsis ntev los no los ntawm lub Puffin Foundation thiab ntawm NoMAA, Thiab nws ua hauj lwm muaj tau exhibited nyob hauv lub teb chaws As Mes Lis Kas thiab nyob teb chaws Europe. Nws tau luam tawm ob monographs ntawm nws ua hauj lwm. Nws nyob washington Heights nrog nws tus txiv, thiab lawv tus tub ntxaib.
Artist cov nqe lus: Peter Bulow: www.peterbulow.com
Kuv niam ua ib tug me nyuam, Yuav tsum tau nkaum thaum lub Holocaust. tau ntau xyoo, nws kev, Los yog dab tsi kuv imagined kom tau nws kev, Muaj ib tug cawv loj rau kuv. No cawv no reflected ob leeg nyob rau hauv kuv tus kheej thiab nyob rau hauv kuv lub neej artistic lub neej. Kuv yug hauv khej, Nyob ua ib tug me nyuam me nyob Berlin thiab emigrated rau Teb Chaws Asmeskas nrog kuv niam thiab txiv thaum muaj hnub nyoog 8. Kuv muaj ib masters hauv fine Arts hauv sculpture. Kuv kuj yog tus neeg tau txais kev pab ntawm ib qhov nyiaj pab uas yuav pub kuv ua ib tug xov tooj ntawm bronze busts ntawm Holocaust survivors. Thov qhia rau kuv paub yog hais tias koj xav ua ib feem ntawm qhov project no.
Artist cov nqe lus :Roj Rodriguez: www.rojrodriguez.com
Kuv lub cev ua hauj lwm reflects kuv lus los ntawm Houston, TX – qhov twg kuv yug thiab tsa ceg – rau New York – qhov twg, raug nws haiv neeg, Kev cai thiab socioeconomic ntau haiv neeg lus thiab nws pom rau cov neeg tsiv teb– Kuv nrhiav tau ib tug tshiaj respect rau sawv daws nyuas. Kuv twb apprenticed nrog cov kws yees duab zoo tsim los pab cov kws yees duab, Mus ncig teb chaws kim heev thiab collaborated nrog ntau sab saum toj professionals nyob hauv daim teb. Txij thaum lub ib hlis ntuj, 2006, Kuv hauj lwm raws li ib tug kws yees duab ywj siab kuj yog ib txoj kev noj rau koj tus kheej photography tej yaam num uas mam li tawm hauv kuv tus kheej to taub txog qhov uas peb muab lub ntiaj teb thiab ce peb creativity ua ib tug lej.
