By Betty Chrustowski
My mother, Milwaukeean Rose Chrustowski, a Holocaust survivor from Strzemieszyc, Poland, recently traveled to modern Israel to connect with her past.
She participated in a special memorial service in conjunction with the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camps and the opening of the new Yad Vashem museum in Jerusalem.
She also attended a reunion of those who survived from her geographical region of Poland. She felt it was important to make this trip because so many survivors are now in their 80s and 90s.
I accompanied my mother on what would probably be her last opportunity to see her “landsmen” and renew old friendships.
My mom grew up in an area called Zaglembia. In Israel, she dedicated plaques in memory of her parents, grandparents and siblings at a memorial wall built by survivors from that region.
The family members, who I had only heard about, all perished in the Shoah. On Yom HaShoah, we and other survivors from across the globe gathered at that wall for a special service.
After the solemn ceremony, many people were searching to see if they recognized anybody from home. My mother was looking at the names of her family members, when a woman approached her.
After a few brief words, they realized that their families had been close friends. From within their joy and surprise, they hugged and reminisced about old times
A few days later there was a large gathering celebrating survivors from Zaglembia. My mother met a childhood girlfriend she had not seen in 62 years.
Friends and classmates, they lost touch after they were taken to different concentration camps. They wept tears of joy at their chance reunion.
I stood back and watched in amazement. I thought about all the hundreds of other small towns where the Jewish population was dispersed, and ultimately perished during the Shoah. I tried to imagine what might have been if….
The program at this reunion included speakers stating that Jews will never again exist in a world with no place to call home. “Now we have Israel, with a Jewish defense force to protect Jews.”
One speaker addressed the children and grandchildren of the survivors: “You are the best testament that Am Yisrael Chai — the Jewish people live. You are the ones who will continue to remind the world that it cannot forget the darkest hour in recent Jewish history.”
Another highlight of our visit was the new Yad Vashem museum in Jerusalem. As you enter the building there is a short film about Jewish life in Europe before the war, and in the bottom right hand corner of the screen they contrast this with pictures of life there today, without Jews.
There is a Hall of Names, constructed like a cone with pictures of people who died in the Shoah. The portraits change daily by computer, according to who perished on that particular day. The data come from Yad Vashem and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
As you look down from the cone, it appears that you are looking at a black hole, which is actually water, and you see the reflection of the pictures from above.
Perhaps the most poignant and moving part of Yad Vashem came at the end. As you leave the museum you listen to a short video about the Haganah and the stuggle for Eretz Israel. You then hear the voices of children singing “Hatikvah.”
You emerge from a dark, dark place into the light of the beautiful rolling hills of Judea and Jerusalem. This brought tears to our eyes as we held hands, looking out over the most beautiful city in the world. We were both speechless.
Betty Chrustowski is co-chair with Bill Appel, of “Portraits in Courage–Honor the Memory,” a commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of the liberation of the camps and the end of World War II, which will honor local survivors and liberators. Slated for Wednesday, June 29, the event will benefit the Holocaust Education and Resource Center of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation’s Coalition for Jewish Learning. For information, contact Joyce Gutzke, 414-967-8322.
Loading ...