Ngokudibana kwethu “Amaqabane ekuKhathaleni” Inkqubo exhaswa ngemali yi-UJA-Federation yaseNew York, i-Y iya kuba nodliwano-ndlebe oluvela kumaxhoba amathandathu asekuhlaleni ukuze baqonde ngcono ibali lomntu ngamnye. Olu dliwano-ndlebe luya kuboniswa kwigalari yeTabernacle yesiHebhere “Bawo wam IQhawe: Bawo wam IQhawe”. Bawo wam IQhawe.
Ruth Wertheimer has been a member at the Y for over a decade. You can find Ruth at the Y for special events and programming, especially at Sunday concerts at the Center for Adults Living Well @ the Y.
Ruth Wertheimer(photography by Roj Rodriguez: www.rojrodriguez.com)
Ruth Wertheimer was born in Mannheim, Germany on June 6, 1931. At the age of one, her father died. Her mother raised her and her older brother in Mannheim, Germany. Ruth’s mother owned a thrift shop in town. Growing up in Mannheim was difficult. She remembers having very little schooling as a child. Ruth recalls experiencing anti-Semitism from a very young age. She recounts being called a dirty Jew as well as being beaten up in the streets. The anti-Semitism was so rampant that Ruth’s brother used to take her to their grandmother’s house. They would avoid main roads to prevent being beaten up. Their mother could not join them because she was busy working at the family’s store.
In Mannheim, Germany, Kristallnacht began on November 10, 1938. Ruth recalls the events of Kristallnacht, “we lived in this place with an Orthodox synagogue that had a rabbi and a cantor. There was an office there for social workers and a Jewish school. These buildings surrounded a schoolyard…It started at 6 in the morning, you heard the noise of the burning buildings…it was terrible. There was a lot of noise and I was scared.” Ruth’s synagogue, The Haupt synagogue, was destroyed that day.
Once the destruction was finished, Ruth remembers her family’s store being completely ruined. “We had a beautiful photograph of my brother in color and they took it and put it out in the street…and wrote underneath ‘dirty Jew.’ Dirty Jew! It was a beautiful picture.” After seeing the destruction, Ruth’s family decided that they should leave the building they were living in. Her grandmother was a diabetic and she used to receive her injections from nuns so the family decided that it would be best to seek refuge with the nuns. The entire way there, they were followed by teenagers who were calling them ‘dirty Jew’. Ruth was able to find protection with the nuns for a while. From there, she and her family left to stay with relatives.
Kwi 1940, Ruth’s brother celebrated his bar mitzvah in an Orthodox synagogue in Mannheim. Three weeks after this joyous occasion, she and her family were rounded up and brought to a camp called Camp Gurs in France. Ruth remembers “we had one hour to pack and we didn’t know where we were going. We were put in some kind of recreation hall overnight, I’m not sure anymore, and the next day we were put on a train and we did not know where we were going. I had a grand aunt that was there too and she was with us and she brought sugar cubes and lemon to eat. We had nothing to eat. Finally we arrived in the camp. It was horrible: you had mud up to your knees, you were in a barrack with 20 people maybe. Rat, mice, lice, you name it. You slept on the floor with straw.” After being in Camp Gurs for a year, someone from the organization OSE (Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants) came to the camp. OSE is a French- Jewish organization that saved hundreds of refugee children during the Holocaust. The representatives from OSE asked the parents in the camp if they wanted to give up their children. Ruth recollects that her mother never wanted to give up any of her children, but with great difficulty, she did. Ruth was given up first. From Camp Gurs, Ruth was taken to Chabannes. After being in Chabannes for some time, Ruth remembers that it was not safe there anymore and some of the older children were taken to Auschwitz. After this, OSE felt that it would be best to move the children.
Ruth was placed with a Jewish family for four months. She was then moved to a gentile family. Ruth remembers, “…my name was not Ruth anymore. I was Renee…I wasn’t Jewish then.” In France, children went to school on Saturdays instead of Thursdays. Ruth went to school on Saturdays. One day at school, the police came and began to question Ruth, “I was always told to tell the truth. So I told the police everything.” She informed the family that she was staying with and that night, social workers from OSE came and took Ruth and placed her in a convent in 1943. She changed her name again to Renee Latty.
While hiding in the convent, Ruth remembers, “I did the sign of the cross with the left hand, you are supposed to do it with the right hand! Then they brought me to church and I didn’t know anything. Everyone was going into a booth so I went too. It was a confession booth. I didn’t know what that was…I didn’t know what to do…I became so Catholic, that you didn’t know that I was never not Catholic.” Ruth stayed in the convent for about a year until the war was liberated.
After the war was liberated, Ruth stayed at different OSE homes. For two years, Ruth did not know where her brother was. She and her brother finally reunited at one of the OSE homes. They then lived in Limoges, France and then near Paris before traveling to America together.
At the age of 15, Ruth, her brother, kwaye 72 other children traveled to America together on the children transport. They landed in America on September 7, 1946. The boat was overcrowded and many of the children were sea sick. When they arrived in New York, there was a strike at the pier and they could not dock. The OSE was able to arrange for a small boat to come and take the children ashore.
When Ruth first got to America, she lived with an aunt and uncle and says that it was very difficult for her. Shortly after, she moved to Queens with another relative. This relative had a daughter around the same age as Ruth. She remembers starting school and that her relative’s daughter went to a better school than she did. Ruth had a difficult time managing in school and her relatives told her that if she did not finish school, they would kick her out. Because she was having such difficulties in school, Ruth was kicked out in 1948.
Since June 1948, Ruth has lived in Washington Heights. She realized that she had to learn a trade in order to survive so she decided to go to beautician school. She attended the Wilfred Academy and fell in love with her courses. She went on to receive her beautician’s license. Hebrew Tabernacle was the first synagogue she joined since she came to America and she has been a member ever since. She has one son and two grandchildren who live in Wisconsin.
Olu dliwano-ndlebe lwenziwe nguHalley Goldberg we-Y's Partners in Caring initiative kwaye yeye-YM.&I-YWHA yaseWashington Heights kunye ne-Inwood. Ukusetyenziswa kwesi sixhobo ngaphandle kwemvume ebhaliweyo evela kubo bobabini u-Y kunye nodliwano-ndlebe akuvumelekanga ngokungqongqo. Fumana ulwazi oluthe kratya malunga neNkqubo ye-Partner in Caring apha: http://ywashhts.org/partners-caring-0
Umnquba wamaHebhere Armin kunye Estelle Gold Wing Galleryngentsebenziswano nebhongo kunyeYM&I-YWHA yaseWashington Heights kunye ne-Inwoodukumema ukuba wethuNovemba/Disemba, 2013 Bonisa“Bawo wam IQhawe: Bawo wam IQhawe” ngeefoto kunye nemifanekiso eqingqiweyo: YAEL BEN-ZION, UPETER BULOW kunye noROJ RODRIGUEZ. Ngokubambisana neNkonzo ekhethekileyo kwimemoriye75Isikhumbuzo seKristallnacht -ubusuku beglasi ephukileyoIinkonzo kunye noKwamkelwa kokuVulelwa koMculi, uLwesihlanu, Ngomhla we-8 kaNovemba, 2013 7:30 pm.
Ingxelo evela kuY : ” Kangangamashumi eminyaka iWashington Heights/Inwood Y ibekho, kwaye iyaqhubeka ukuba, ulikhusi kwabo bafuna indawo yokuzimela, intlonipho nokuqonda. Abaninzi abangena kwiingcango zethu kwaye bathathe inxaxheba kwiinkqubo zethu baye baphila kwiimvavanyo kunye neembandezelo esingenako nokuzicingela.. Kwabanye, ngubani oza kuba yinxalenye yalo mboniso, Enye into eyoyikeka ngolo hlobo iye yaziwa ehlabathini ngokubanzi ngokuthi “KuBulawa Kwabantu Ngenkohlakalo” – ukubulawa ngokucwangcisiweyo kwamaYuda azizigidi ezithandathu aseYurophu.
Thina kwaY sikhumbula ixesha elidlulileyo, bahlonele abo baphilayo nabangasekhoyo ngelo xesha, uze uyilondolozele izizukulwana ezizayo. Ngenxa yethu nabantwana bethu, kufuneka sidlulise amabali abo baye bafumana ububi bemfazwe. Kukho izifundo ekufuneka zifundwe kwixesha elizayo. Udliwano-ndlebe lubhalwe nguHalley Goldberg, umlawuli wenkqubo “yaMaqabane eKhathalelo”. Le nkqubo ibalulekileyo yenzeke ngenkxaso yesisa evela kwi-UJA-Federation yaseNew York, yenzelwe ukomeleza ubudlelwane nezindlu zesikhungu eWashington Heights nase-Inwood. “
Umboniso wethu odibeneyo wobugcisa ubonisa imifanekiso kunye nodliwano-ndlebe lwabasindileyo kwiNkcazo, UHana Eisner, UCharlie kunye noLilli Friedman, Pearl Rosenzveig, UFredy Seidel kunye noRuth Wertheimer, bonke bengamalungu omnquba wamaHebhere, ibandla lamaYuda ukuba amaYuda amaninzi German ababaleka amaNazi kunye nethamsanqa ngokwaneleyo ukuba eze eMelika, wajoyina ekupheleni kweminyaka yee-1930. Ukongeza, siya kunika imbeko owasinda kwiHolocaust uGizelle Schwartz Bulow- Umama wegcisa lethu uPeter Bulow kunye nowasinda kwiWWII uYan Neznanskiy-utata weGosa eliyiNtloko leNkqubo yeY, kubhiyozelwa uSuku lweNkululeko.
Inkonzo yeSabatha ekhethekileyo, nezithethi, kwisikhumbuzo seMinyaka engama-75 kaKristallnacht (Ubusuku beglasi eyaphukileyo) kwandule ukuvulwa komboniso weGold Gallery/Y:Iinkonzo ziqala ngokukhawuleza ngo-7:30 emva kwemini. Bonke bayamenywa ukuba babekho.
Kwigalari yeeyure zokuvula okanye ngolwazi oluthe kratya nceda ufowunele indlu yesikhungu ku212-568-8304 okanye ubonehttp://www.hebrewtabernacle.orgIngxelo yoMculi: Yael Ben-Zionwww.yaelbenzion.comUYael Ben-Zion wazalelwa eMinneapolis, MN kwaye wakhulela kwaSirayeli. Uthweswe isidanga kwiZiko leZizwe ngezizwe leNkqubo yeZifundo Jikelele zeFoto. UBen-Zion nguye ofumana izibonelelo ezahlukeneyo kunye namabhaso, kutsha nje usuka kwiPuffin Foundation nakwiNoMAA, kwaye umsebenzi wakhe uye waboniswa eUnited States naseYurophu. Upapashe iimonographs ezimbini zomsebenzi wakhe. Uhlala eWashington Heights nomyeni wakhe, namawele abo.
Ingxelo yoMculi: UPeter Bulow: www.peterbulow.com
Umama wam njengomntwana, zazizimele ngexesha lokuBulawa Kwabantu Ngenkohlakalo. Emveni kweminyaka, amava akhe, okanye into ebendiyicingela ukuba ibingamava akhe, ibe nempembelelo enkulu kum. Le mpembelelo ibonakala kubomi bam bomntu kunye nakubomi bam bobugcisa. Ndazalelwa eIndiya, ndahlala njengomntwana omncinci eBerlin kwaye wafudukela e-US nabazali bam ngeminyaka 8. NdineeMasters kuBugcisa obuNcinci kwimizobo eqingqiweyo. Ndikwangumamkeli wesibonelelo esiya kundivumela ukuba ndenze inani eliqingqiweyo leebhutsi zobhedu zabasindi kwiHolocaust. Nceda undazise ukuba unomdla wokuba yinxalenye yale projekthi.
Ingxelo yoMculi :URoj Rodriguez: www.rojrodriguez.com
Umzimba wam womsebenzi ubonisa uhambo lwam olusuka eHouston, TX - apho ndazalelwa ndakhulela khona - eNew York - apho, evezwe kubuhlanga bayo, iyantlukwano yenkcubeko nentlalo-ntle kunye nembono yayo eyodwa kubaphambukeli– Ndifumene intlonipho ehlaziyiweyo kwinkcubeko yomntu wonke. Ndifunde kunye nabafoti abaziwayo, bahamba behlabathi kakhulu kwaye basebenzisane neengcali ezininzi eziphezulu ebaleni. Ukususela ngoJanuwari, 2006, Umsebenzi wam wokuba ngumfoti ozimeleyo ube yinkqubo yokuthatha iiprojekthi zokufota zobuqu ezivela kokwam ukuqonda ngendlela esabelana ngayo ngehlabathi kunye nokusebenzisa ubuchule bethu bokuyila ngokubanzi.
