Faatasi ai ma a tatou “Paaga i le Tausia” polokalame fa'atupeina e le UJA-Federation of New York, o le Y o le a fa'aalia fa'atalanoaga mai le to'aono o lo'o sao mai i le lotoifale ina ia malamalama atili i tala a tagata ta'ito'atasi. O nei faatalanoaga o le a faaalia i le faletusi o le Tapeneko Eperu “Ofo i se Taimi o Taua ma Tua atu: Ata o le Agaga Holocaust Saola”. O le a tatalaina le faletusi i le Aso Faraile Novema 8th.
Pearl Rosenzveig has been a member of the Y since 1998.
Penina 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 o Washington Heights ma Inwood. O le fa'aogaina o lenei mea e aunoa ma se fa'atagaga tusitusia mai le Y ma le tagata fa'atalanoaina e matua fa'asāina. Saili atili e uiga i le Paaga i le Tausiga polokalame iinei: http://ywashhts.org/partners-caring-0
Le Tapeneko Eperu Armin ma Estelle Gold Wing Galleryi faiga faapaaga mitamita male YM&YWHA o Washington Heights ma Inwoodvalaaulia oe i la matouNovema/Tesema, 2013 Fa'aaliga“Ofo i se Taimi o Taua ma Tua atu: Ata o le Agaga Holocaust Saola” fa'atasi ai ma ata ma fa'atagata e: IAEL PEN-SIONA, PETER BULOW ma ROJ RODRIGUEZ. Faʻatasi ma se Auaunaga faʻapitoa e manatuao le75lona Tausaga o Kristallnacht -o le Po o ipu tioataAu'aunaga ma le Talisuaga Tatala a le tusiata, Aso Faralie, Novema 8th, 2013 7:30 i le taeao.
O se faʻamatalaga mai le Y : ” Mo le tele o tausaga o Washington Heights/Inwood Y sa, ma o loo faaauau pea, o se malutaga mo i latou e sulufai i ai, faaaloalo ma le malamalama. O le toatele o e ulufale mai i o tatou faitotoa ma auai i a tatou polokalama ua ola i tofotofoga ma faigata e le mafai ona tatou mafaufauina.. Mo nisi, o ai o le a avea ma vaega o lenei faaaliga, O se tasi o mea mataʻutia ua lauiloa i le lalolagi e pei o le "The Holocaust" – o le fasiotiga masani o le ono miliona tagata Iutaia o Europa.
Matou i le Y manatua le taimi ua tuanaʻi, ia ava ia i latou na ola ma maliliu i lena taimi, ma puipui le upu moni mo tupulaga o le lumanai. Mo i tatou lava ma a tatou fanau, e tatau ona tatou tuufaasolo tala o i latou ua oo i le leaga o taua. E iai aʻoaʻoga e aʻoaʻoina mo le lumanaʻi. O faʻatalanoaga o loʻo tusia e Halley Goldberg, se supavaisa polokalame “Paaga i le Tausia”.. O lenei polokalame taua na mafai ona maua e ala i se fesoasoani agalelei mai le UJA-Federation of New York, fuafuaina e faʻaleleia sootaga ma sunako i Washington Heights ma Inwood. “
O le matou fa'aaliga tu'ufa'atasi tu'ufa'atasi o lo'o fa'aalia ata ma fa'atalanoaga o ē na sao mai le Holocaust, Hannah Eisner, Charlie ma Lilli Friedman, Penina Rosenzveig, Fredy Seidel ma Ruth Wertheimer, o i latou uma lava o sui o le Tabernacle Eperu, o se faʻapotopotoga Iutaia e toʻatele tagata Iutaia Siamani na sosola ese mai le Nazis ma laki e o mai i Amerika, na auai i le faaiʻuga o vaitausaga o le 1930. E le gata i lea, o le a matou faʻaaloalo foi i le Holocaust na sao mai Gizelle Schwartz Bulow- tina o le matou tusiata Peter Bulow ma le WWII sao Yan Neznanskiy - tama o le Ofisa Sili o Polokalama a le Y., Victoria Neznansky.
O se Sapati faapitoa, ma failauga, e faamanatu ai le 75 tausaga o Kristallnacht (o le Po o ipu tioata nutimomoia) e muamua i le tatalaina o le Gold Gallery/Y fa'aaliga:E amata vave auaunaga ile 7:30 afiafi. E valaaulia uma lava e auai.
Mo itula tatala faletusi pe mo nisi fa'amatalaga fa'amolemole vala'au le sunako ile212-568-8304 pe vaaihttp://www.hebrewtabernacle.orgFaamatalaga a le tusiata: Iaeli Penionawww.yaelbenzion.comNa fanau Yael Ben-Zion i Minneapolis, MN ma ola aʻe i Isaraelu. O ia o se faauu mai le International Center of Photography's General Studies Program. O Ben-Zion o lo'o mauaina ni fesoasoani ma fa'ailoga eseese, talu ai nei mai le Puffin Foundation ma mai le NoMAA, ma sa fa'aalia lana galuega i le Iunaite Setete ma Europa. E lua monokalafi o lana galuega na ia lomia. E nofo o ia i Washington Heights ma lona toalua, ma le la masaga tama.
Faamatalaga a le tusiata: Peter Bulow: www.peterbulow.com
O loʻu tina a o laʻitiiti, sa lafi i le taimi o le Holocaust. I le aluga o tausaga, lona aafiaga, po o le mea na ou mafaufauina o lona aafiaga, ua tele sona aafiaga ia te au. O lenei faatosinaga o loo atagia mai i lo'u lava olaga ma lo'u olaga faatufugaga. Na ou fanau i Initia, sa nofo o se tamaitiiti i Perelini ma malaga atu i le Iunaite Setete ma ou matua i le matua 8. E iai la'u Masters in Fine Arts i le fa'atagata. O aʻu foʻi o loʻo mauaina se fesoasoani e mafai ai ona ou faia se numera faʻatapulaʻaina o pusa apamemea o tagata na sao mai le Holocaust.. Fa'amolemole ta'u mai pe e te fiafia e avea ma se vaega o lenei poloketi.
Faamatalaga a le tusiata :Roj Rodriguez: www.rojrodriguez.com
O loʻu tino o galuega e atagia mai ai laʻu malaga mai Houston, TX - i le mea na ou fanau ai ma ola aʻe - i Niu Ioka - o fea, fa'aalia i ona ituaiga, aganuu ma socioeconomic eseesega ma lona vaaiga tulaga ese i tagata malaga mai– Na ou mauaina se faʻafouina faʻaaloalo mo aganuu a tagata uma. Sa ou aperenitisi ma tagata pueata mautu lelei, femalagaaʻi i le lalolagi lautele ma galulue faʻatasi ma le tele o polofesa maualuga i le fanua. Talu mai Ianuari, 2006, o la'u galuega o se tagata pu'eata tuto'atasi ua avea ma se fa'agasologa o le fa'atinoina o galuega pu'e ata a le tagata lava ia e alia'e mai lo'u lava malamalama i le auala tatou te fa'asoa ai le lalolagi ma fa'atino lo tatou fatufatua'i atoa.
