In combinatie met onze “Partners in de zorg” programma gefinancierd door de UJA-Federatie van New York, de Y zal interviews bevatten van zes lokale overlevenden om het verhaal van elk individu beter te begrijpen. Deze interviews zullen worden tentoongesteld in de Hebrew Tabernacle-galerij “Ervaar een tijd van oorlog en daarna: Portretten van pittige overlevenden van de Holocaust”. De galerie opent op vrijdag 8 november haar deuren.
Pearl Rosenzveig has been a member of the Y since 1998.
Parel 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 van Washington Heights en Inwood. Het gebruik van dit materiaal zonder schriftelijke toestemming van zowel de Y als de geïnterviewde is ten strengste verboden. Lees hier meer over het Partners in Caring-programma: http://ywashhts.org/partners-caring-0
Hebreeuwse Tabernakel Armin en Estelle Gold Wing-galerijin trotse samenwerking metde YM&YWHA van Washington Heights en Inwoodnodigt u uit voor onzeNovember december, 2013 Expositie“Ervaar een tijd van oorlog en daarna: Portretten van pittige overlevenden van de Holocaust” met foto's en sculpturen van: YAEL BEN-ZION, PETER BULOW en ROJ RODRIGUEZ. In combinatie met een speciale service ter nagedachtenisvan de75e verjaardag van de Kristallnacht - de nacht van gebroken glasDiensten en openingsreceptie van de kunstenaar, vrijdag, 8 november, 2013 7:30 p.m.
Een verklaring van de Y : ” Decennia lang is de Washington Heights/Inwood Y dat geweest, en dat blijft zo, een toevluchtsoord voor wie op zoek is naar een toevluchtsoord, respect en begrip. Velen die onze deuren binnenkomen en aan onze programma's deelnemen, hebben beproevingen en beproevingen meegemaakt die we ons niet eens kunnen voorstellen. Voor sommigen, wie zal deel uitmaken van deze tentoonstelling, Eén zo’n gruwel is in de wereld bekend geworden als ‘De Holocaust’ – de systematische moord op zes miljoen Joden in Europa.
Wij bij de Y herinneren ons het verleden, eer degenen die in die tijd leefden en stierven, en de waarheid veiligstellen voor toekomstige generaties. In het belang van onszelf en onze kinderen, we moeten de verhalen doorgeven van degenen die het kwaad van oorlog hebben ervaren. Er zijn lessen te leren voor de toekomst. De interviews zijn gedocumenteerd door Halley Goldberg, een programmabegeleider ‘Partners in Caring’. Dit essentiële programma werd mogelijk gemaakt door een genereuze subsidie van de UJA-Federatie van New York, ontworpen om de relaties met synagogen in Washington Heights en Inwood te verbeteren. “
Onze gezamenlijke kunsttentoonstelling bevat portretten en interviews van overlevenden van de Holocaust, Hanna Eisner, Charlie en Lilli Friedman, Parel Rosenzveig, Fredy Seidel en Ruth Wertheimer, die allemaal lid zijn van de Hebreeuwse Tabernakel, een joodse gemeente waar veel Duitse joden de nazi's ontvluchtten en het geluk hadden naar Amerika te komen, sloot zich eind jaren dertig aan. Daarnaast eren we ook Holocaust-overlevende Gizelle Schwartz Bulow- moeder van onze kunstenaar Peter Bulow en overlevende van de Tweede Wereldoorlog Yan Neznanskiy – vader van de Y’s Chief Program Officer, Victoria Neznansky.
Een speciale sabbatdienst, met luidsprekers, ter nagedachtenis aan de 75e verjaardag van de Kristallnacht (de Nacht van Gebroken Glas) gaat vooraf aan de opening van de tentoonstelling Gold Gallery/Y:De diensten beginnen stipt om 7 uur:30 p.m. Iedereen is uitgenodigd om hierbij aanwezig te zijn.
Voor openingstijden van de galerie of voor meer informatie kunt u bellen met de synagoge op212-568-8304 of ziehttp://www.hebrewtabernacle.orgVerklaring van de kunstenaar: Yael Ben-Zionwww.yaelbenzion.comYael Ben-Zion werd geboren in Minneapolis, MN en opgegroeid in Israël. Ze is afgestudeerd aan het General Studies Program van het International Center of Photography. Ben-Zion is de ontvanger van diverse subsidies en onderscheidingen, meest recentelijk van de Puffin Foundation en van NoMAA, en haar werk is tentoongesteld in de Verenigde Staten en Europa. Ze heeft twee monografieën van haar werk gepubliceerd. Ze woont met haar man in Washington Heights, en hun tweelingjongens.
Verklaring van de kunstenaar: Peter Bulow: www.peterbulow.com
Mijn moeder als kind, tijdens de Holocaust ondergedoken had gezeten. Door de jaren heen, haar ervaring, of wat ik dacht dat haar ervaring zou zijn, heeft een grote invloed op mij gehad. Deze invloed komt zowel in mijn persoonlijke als in mijn artistieke leven tot uiting. Ik ben geboren in India, woonde als jong kind in Berlijn en emigreerde op leeftijd met mijn ouders naar de VS 8. Ik heb een Masters in Schone Kunsten in beeldhouwkunst. Ik ontvang ook een subsidie waarmee ik een beperkt aantal bronzen bustes van overlevenden van de Holocaust kan maken. Laat het me weten als je geïnteresseerd bent om deel uit te maken van dit project.
Verklaring van de kunstenaar :Roj Rodriguez: www.rojrodriguez.com
Mijn oeuvre weerspiegelt mijn reis vanuit Houston, TX – waar ik ben geboren en getogen – naar New York – waar, blootgesteld aan zijn etnische achtergrond, culturele en sociaal-economische diversiteit en haar unieke kijk op immigranten– Ik vond een hernieuwd respect voor ieders cultuur. Ik heb stage gelopen bij gerenommeerde fotografen, reisde veel de wereld rond en werkte samen met veel topprofessionals in het veld. Sinds januari, 2006, mijn carrière als onafhankelijk fotograaf is een proces geworden van het aannemen van persoonlijke fotografieprojecten die voortkomen uit mijn eigen begrip van de manier waarop we de wereld delen en onze creativiteit als geheel uitoefenen.
