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An Unexpected ‘Grave’ Mystery

3 Mar

With the uptick in anti-Semitic events, with masked college students attacking Jewish students at colleges, with a Hamas murderous pogrom in Israel, I am still amazed when events from the Shoah are revealed in present day. I feel like I am in a time warp.  Reading about the events at the UC Berkley campus and at the same time reading an email from a distant cousin telling me about a mass grave found in Poland that contains members of my extended family.  Don’t college students learn anything about history? 

My newest journey started with a email from a distant cousin concerning the Holocaust and my family. I get unusual requests now and then because I have been the family historian, trying to document all the family who were murdered during the Shoah.  A task I realize is virtually impossible with all large number of people in my family who were murdered. 

My distant cousin received a letter through JewishGen’s Family Finder.  Her great aunt, who I keep in contact with, suggested she send the email to me.

Her email contained a series of emails between two people in Europe that forced my brain back in time to all that my maternal family had suffered so many decades ago during the horrors of the Shoah.

The first was from a retired baker in London who had been contacted by a researcher who wanted information about a family named Brenner who were murdered by the Nazis and whose bones were recently found in a mass grave and in accordance with state law were re-interred in a Catholic cemetery.

His mother was born Kornbluth and her father was born in Mielec, Poland, where many Kornbluth’s were living when the Nazis invaded. They believed the bones were those of a woman whose maiden name was Kornbluth; her married name was Brenner.

My family was from Mielec and its surrounding small towns.  I have written about the destruction of the Jewish population in this city and its surrounding in other blogs.  Brenner is one of the names in my family. Which made me think that I could have a connection with this grave.  Although the last name Kornbluth is familiar, I wasn’t entirely sure of the connection to us.  But I kept reading.

The baker then include emails from a representative of the Zapomniane Foundation that deals with locating and commemorating the graves of the Holocaust victims. He found the baker through JewishGen Family Finder.



“I represent the Zapomniane Foundation that deals with locating and commemorating the graves of the Holocaust victims (zapomniane.org or our profile on FB). I’m currently researching the case of the Brenner family murdered in 1942 and buried in a mass grave near Mielec. According to what I have learned so far among the victims probably were Lazar and Sara Brenner. Her maiden name was Kornbluth. Before the war they lived in a village called Hyki (today it is called Sarnow). They were killed together with their children and Sara’s brother. Would you happen to know this story and/or have any information about Sara Brenner nee Kornbluth?

Sincerely
A N”

Then came more information from the Zapomniane Foundation:
“ Here is the story of how I have learned about the Brenner family:

Two years ago I went to Czajkowa (a village near Mielec) to see the location of a place where the Brenner family (seven people) was killed and buried in August 1942.My guide was Robert P. who told me the story of his aunt Anna P. Anna’s real name was Ryfka Amsterdam she was Jewish, converted to catholicism before the war and married Andrzej P, Robert’s relative and became Anna P. The Brenner family were the relatives of Anna/Ryfka: perhaps Ryfka’s sister with husband and children and possibly Ryfka’s (and Sara’s?)brother. There are no names, only the last name of the father of the family i.e Brenner.”

Well now we are getting closer to my family, since Amsterdam is my grandfather’s last name. I know that any one named Amsterdam is definitely somehow related to me. This is the first time ever that I have heard about a family member who converted to Catholicism before the war.  But to be honest, if someone left the family to marry outside of the faith, it was probably not discussed. 

What the email says next really touched my soul! I could not image how this young man would have felt when he dug up the grave.


“The gravesite of the Brenner family was partially destroyed in 2003 by an excavator. Obviously the grave itself has never been marked, it was just a hole in the ground.  As a result the bones from this grave were taken by the police and buried in an anonymous grave in Tuszów Narodowy catholic cemetery. Ironically the guy who worked with the excavator and dug out the bones was the grandson of Ryfka Amsterdam/Anna P. He was interrogated by the police in 2003. Anna/Ryfka had three children, her son born in 1950 is still living in Mielec.”

Next shock!  A non-Jewish descendant of Rikva/Anna born just a few years before me, still lives in Mielec.  They stayed there even after all her Jewish relatives were murdered. I cannot understand that reality. Could you comfortably walk the streets of a city, see the houses of your relatives, know that they were murdered and that others were living in their homes?  Would you ever feel safe?

Not only that, it was Anna’s grandson who accidentally dug up the grave of people who might be his great aunt and uncle and their children, his cousins.  I could almost see this as a movie.  Could this truly be happening?  But yes, it was and it is.  So now he has not only dug up a grave 80 years after they were buried, but it is his family buried there.  I really have no words.

The researcher  continued:

“I found the information about Chaim Brenner via the Holocaust Survivor Program. Thus I knew the names of his parents and their fate that fits the story I know from the Polish archives:

Czajkowa
Aug. 15, 1942
Captured and shot by German police, beginning w/ oldest family member; gendarme Franiszek Wojtas identified as likely shooter; family did not report to ghetto and remained in hiding for approx. 3 mos.; hid in forest and empty home of Kamuda; group consisted of two families; relatives of prewar converts to Christianity, Amsterdams, who survived war in same village

So my big questions are who was buried in the grave destroyed by the excavator 20 years ago and how can we commemorate them.”


The retired baker then tells my cousin that he contacted her because she has a Nathan Amsterdam in her family tree who told Yad VaShem about the death of a niece with the maiden name of Kornbluth. Could she help? Which is how I became part of this Nazi murder/grave mystery.

I knew I really could not help, but I felt like I had to say something I emailed both the baker and the Zapomniane Foundation.  Here is a shortened version of the email I sent.

Your question about the grave and the Brenner/Amsterdam/Kornbluth murders, was sent to me as I have become an Amsterdam family researcher for a while now.

She knew I would be interested in this question.

Unfortunately, I do not know who was buried in the unmarked grave.  Not much help I know. But I can tell you that there are many named Nathan Amsterdam in our family.  My cousin’s great grandfather and my grandfather were both were named Nathan Amsterdam and they were cousins who were born in Austria/Poland in the Mielec area.

The family in Meilec and the surrounding area had four main family names: Amsterdam, Feuer, Brenner and Hollander. The family is Cohanim. Hence the names Feuer/ FIre and Brenner/ Burner. The other names came because the family did go from Spain to Portugal to Amsterdam and then a group moved to Austria/Poland. There was much intermarriage between people with these four surnames.

Almost the entire family who remained in Europe died during the Shoah. Mielec was one of the first areas that the Nazis made judenfrei. Only a few cousins survived. They are all gone now.  One moved to the USA, two went to England and two moved to Israel.

Here is the info on the family that survived and moved to England. Perhaps you might find a descendant. I met them in the early 1960s when they came to the USA to visit the family here.

Zacheriah and Elka had seven children.  Only three survived the Shoah.  Gimple Feuer married and moved to England.  They had four children.  (I then named the four children who they might be able to reach. I am not publishing their names here as they might still be alive.)

Lazar Feuer also lived in England after the war, I never met him.  He had three children: (I named these three as well.)

I am sorry I cannot tell you or the researcher there who exactly is buried in that grave.  But I can tell you that several hundred members of the family were murdered in the Shoah in many different places and methods.  But as the names were Brenner and Amsterdam, I can tell you that they are my distant relatives and that the men were probably Cohanim.”

Because I think finding a way to commemoriate these people is important, I am posting this on Tracing the Tribe Facebook page to see if anyone else has a connection that could help.

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Illinois Holocaust Museum: A Response to Jew Hatred

12 Dec

During Covid, I tried to do as many activities that I could from the confines of my home.  I took online classes, I attended family life events, I even toured museums and their special exhibits.  One of the best ones I toured was the Ruth Bader Ginsburg exhibit at the Illinois Holocaust Museum located in Skokie, Illinois.  So when I knew my husband and I were going to Evanston, Illinois, for a wedding, I put visiting this museum in person at the top of my list.  It did not disappoint.

The museum opened in 2009.  It was a work in process for 40 years after the Skokie Jewish community was the object of a neo-Nazi group who decided to march through Skokie, a suburb of Chicago that is home to many Jewish residents.  The Jewish community started with a small space.  But their aim was to fight against anti-Semitism and hatred through education.  It looks like they are succeeding in their mission. 

The Illinois Holocaust Museum is worth the visit. It was designed by architect Stanley Tigerman. The building is made is to bring the visitor through the darkness of the Shoah and then back out to the light. As we went through the exhibit we could see this change. The entrance to the exhibit is dark and moody with narrow halls lined with photos, videos and memorabilia. But by the end, when we learned about the resistance and the survivors, the light increased.

While we were there on a Friday morning, there were four different school groups also going through the museum with docents.  Every so often the group would fill the space available, so we would stop to hear the discussion.  In this time of great turmoil and rise of Jew Hatred, seeing these students and their teachers learning about and basically experiencing what happened was important. 

There are many short films/videos and photographs throughout the museum that were taken by the Nazis during their killing spree as well as films taken after the war by survivors and rescuers. 

The films are difficult to watch.   I saw several students holding their hands and sweaters over their faces as they tried to block the view. I did not want to see it either, even though I have seen these images or ones like them many times.

But this time, I imagined the children on October 7 trying to block the view as they saw the terrorist of Hamas reenacting the hatred of the Nazis and they saw their loved ones murdered and waited for their own deaths.  It created harrowing moments for me.  I envisioned being held hostage by Hamas underground as if in a camp barracks waiting without food and little hope.

The Holocaust exhibit itself Is well thought out and takes you through all the stages of the Shoah.  The moment I saw the Krystal Nacht exhibit, which has a clear floor you walk over with shards of glass underneath, in front is the edifice of a synagogue with broken windows, I knew exactly what you will see next.  You can walk into a real cattle car from 1930s Europe.  It is an eerie feeling to be standing in that darkened wooden container and think about what it was like for those who were stuffed in and perished.  This is not a museum for someone who wants to avoid the past.  It puts it right into your vision.

After you weave your way through the seemingly endless horrors of the Shoah, you see a small exhibit about what happened when the Nazis came to Skokie.  It puts into ‘context’ what is happening now throughout the USA on college campuses and in some cities.  And I will say that calling for the annihilation and extermination of any people is always wrong. No matter what a college president says.

This is emphasized with the movie at the end that discusses both the genocide of the Jews and the continued times others have been targeted like the Tutsi people in Rwanda. We sat with two student groups as we watched the film.  It was not easy to watch as people testified about what happened to them during this more recent horror. Many of the students lowered their heads.  I think I spent as much time watching the students as I did watching the film.

After we finished the exhibit, we went to the Hologram theater where we spoke with the Hologram of Pinchas Gutter.  This is an excellent way to learn about the Shoah.  Those brave survivors who spent a week being interviewed and videoed while they told their story have created a way to keep the memory alive. 

The museum is not all gloom and depression.  There is the good of those who survived.  But also when we were there the special exhibit was about delis, “I’ll Have What She’s Having” The Jewish Deli.  It was a great way to wash away some of the somber emotions we were having after going through the Shoah. 

As a teenager and college student, I worked in a Jewish deli.  So for me this was especially joyful as I remember my time behind the counter making sandwiches, cutting lox, deboning white fish and making catering trays.  I would almost smell the corned beef, feel the texture of sable fish as I prepared some for a customer, and felt the smooth taste of a potato knish in my mouth.

It was good to end the visit on an upbeat note. But throughout it all I remembered that this museum was founded in response to Jew Hatred. Once again, we are experiencing a major rise Jew Hatred throughout the United States and the rest of the world. There are many who support us. However, when I look at college campuses, I know the work to end anti-semitism and Jew Hatred is far from done. What will be our response globally? In Skokie a museum was created. I am not sure it is enough.

Homepage
“I’ll Have What She’s Having”: The Jewish Deli

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After A Trip Was Cancelled, We Went to Tulsa

7 Nov

Since April, I have been telling my husband that I wanted to go to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and visit the Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie museums.  I had the trip planned for the longest time.  Our first stop would be these two museums, then we would visit with friends of his and perhaps one of his cousins in Oklahoma.  On the way back I wanted to stop in Wichita, see more cousins, spend the night, then on the way home visit the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, Kansas.

Though I kept talking about it, we never got around to do it this summer.  But this fall, our plans changed quickly and radically.  We were supposed to go to Israel where our daughter and her husband live.  The war changed our plans, but my husband still had two weeks of vacation.  I had to do something.  Just sitting home and moping and worrying was not an option. I am the type of person who can usually find the good in any situation.  And I was determined to find some small element of good.

Road Trip Number 1!

We reached out to our people; I made hotel reservations; and off we went.

The hotel we stayed at in downtown Tulsa was in easy walking to the two archive/museums.  They are next door to each other.  On our walk towards the museums, we saw a large post indicating that we were entering the Historic Greenwood District. This is the area where once a thriving Black community settled before the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre took place.  We thought it was extremely apropos that the museums dedicated to these two musical activists were in this area.  It just fit.

I loved both museums.  They each traced the lives of two of my musical heroes.  Even though their music was written decades apart, they actually knew each other.  One was born Jewish, the other was married to a Jewish woman and fought in WW2. Among Guthrie’s papers is one that reads, “Beat Hitler quick.” That resonated with me with all the Jew Hatred going on right now. The museums are both well worth the visit.  You can spend time watching the videos or just walk through.  I loved reading about them, listening to their music, and looking at their artifacts.  At the Guthrie Museum, you must try the virtual reality of the dust storms that devastated Oklahoma. WOW.

That evening we ate dinner with our friends. I asked about the two museums I wanted to see. The husband actually serves on the board of the Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art.  At dinner he told us a bit about the museum, I realized it was much bigger than I anticipated.  For a community of about 1800 Jewish residents, it was really special. 

The section about the Holocaust was difficult as such museums always have to be.  But I loved how they imagined KrystalNacht.  I was so touched by the stone display that is a memorial to the 1.5 million Jewish children killed. I had tears in my eyes thinking about the children who were recently murdered by Hamas.  How could I not compare the two? The death of every child takes a toll on society.

Upstairs was dedicated to modern Jewish Life.  They had a sanctuary set up that must be wonderful to teach about Judaism to those who come to visit.  For me, personally, I loved the special exhibit of mezuzahs, the scrolls we put on our doorposts.

From there we went to the Philbrook Museum of Art. The house was built by Waite Phillips, who started a ‘little’ oil company. Phillips and his family lived there for only 11 years, and then they gifted the house and 23 acres of land to Tulsa for an art museum. Okay, I will be honest with you, the art in the house is great.  But the house itself is amazing.  I love old houses.  And this one does not disappoint.  The grounds are also stunning.  Well worth a couple of hours to walk through and visit.  It just cheered me up. I could see myself sitting outside for hours.  We especially loved all the wonderful milkweed and butterfly gardens. 

After we got back to our hotel, my husband’s cousin drove in from Oklahoma City to visit us.  She surprised me with a gift, her grandmother’s mah jong set.  She told me that no one in her family plays and she knew that I did, so she gave it to me.  Her grandmother and my husband’s mother were sisters.  I have to say having both of their mah jong sets gives me joy.  It was great catching up with her and seeing pictures of her family and sharing photos of our family.

The next morning it was on to Wichita.  One note about the drive from Texas to Kansas.  It is VERY flat and dusty.  There were no crops really, just fields and fields of red dirt.  However, and I am really sorry I could not get a photo of this, besides the oil well arms pumping away there were also giant windmills.  And at one spot there was a windmill farm circulating air and making e;ectricity above the same field where the oil well arms were pumping oil.  It would have been a great photo representing the changes coming to society as we switch to rely on renewable energy.

Of course I contacted our Wichita cousins as soon as we arrived and then spent the next seven hours with them.  It was great.  We had two meals with everyone. But also had time for us older adults to just visit.  We have not seen them for about six years, which is ridiculous.  Wichita is just three hours from home. I vowed that we would come back more often.  We need to see his first cousins and also visit some museums.  (My husband hates museums, but he loves me.)

Next morning on to Hutchinson and the Cosmosphere, one of my favorite museums in Kansas.  Honestly, we went several times when our children were younger.  In fact, our daughter attended two summers of Space Camp there and loved them.  Even though we have been members for about 28 years, we have not been there for about 20 years.  It was definitely time to go back and see the changes!

The museum exhibits are wonderful.  If you love space and NASA, you will love this museum. The real Apollo 13 space craft is there. All the exhibits have been redesigned since our last trip. Definitely for the better.  We watched one of the two movies, about the Blue Whales.  That cheered us up. We were pretty sure that this documentary would end on a sad note, but NO, the Blue whales are coming back and increasing in numbers.  Honestly, I think Star Trek’s movie has something to do with that. It was a good start to the visit. 

While we were walking around, I noticed a little exhibit off to the side, The V-2 Gallery, which was all about the V-1 and V-2 rockets that the Nazis used to bomb and terrorize London.  In the past the history of these rockets was sort of not mentioned.  Just as it was not always advertised that Wernher von Braun, who helped start the United States aerospace industry, was a member of the SS and helped Nazis build their death rockets.  This exhibit made it very clear.  It also made clear that the rockets were built by slave laborers in concentration camps.  And over 500 prisoners were killed when the Allies bombed the factory, as the prisoners were locked in and could not escape.  These rockets decimated London causing the deaths of over 20,000 people.  A sad start to the aerospace history. But one I think should not be forgotten.

Our first Fall Road Trip was a great adventure.  We loved seeing friends and family.  We loved visiting new museums and revisiting the Cosmosphere.  Personally, in this time of great stress for the Jewish community of the world and the horrors of war, I was glad to get away.  But at the same time, I am glad that we were able to visit places that show good in the world and how society can survive war and hatred. 

http://www.jewishmuseumtulsa.org

http://www.cosmo.org

http://www.Philbrook.org

http://www.bobdylancenter.com

http://www.woodyguthriecenter.org

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Two San Antonio Places to See Besides The Alamo

13 Apr

I love going to museums, especially museums I have not yet been to visit.  I have been to San Antonio many times, so did not need to see the Alamo again. Therefore, during my recent trip to San Antonio at the end of February, I was excited to visit two museums that were new to me thanks to two different friends who live there. 

First, I went to the Holocaust Memorial Museum of San Antonio that is housed in the Jewish Community Center.  A dear friend of mine, whose mother was a survivor, volunteers at the museum to share her mother’s story.  Before she knew I would be in town, she agreed to speak to a group of middle school students from a local Catholic school.  She invited me to hear her talk.

I was interested in going.  I knew my friend’s mother and I knew a little bit about her story because it is unusual.  Both she and her mother were together throughout the war, and both survived their concentration camp experience. My friend was also one of four women in Texas who worked to make Holocaust education a part of the Texas official school curriculum.

The Museum, which opened in 2000, is small but well thought out.  The main permanent exhibit tells the story of the Shoah through photos and films, maps, and personal items. Another part shows the USA response to the Shoah.  Finally, there is a room with photos of San Antonio residents who were survivors, including my friends mother.

Watching my friend speak and learning so much more about what happened to her mother and grandmother, really touched my heart.  You wonder how someone who spent her teen years as a slave laborer, who almost lost her life several times, who saw such evil, could ever become normal and raise children in the USA. But she did.

I recommend going to the museum.  It is worth the short time it would take to walk around and read the exhibits.  If you can, plan in advance to schedule a docent led tour, that would be even better. The museum is free and open to the public. Hours are Monday to Friday, 9 am – 3 pm. And Sunday’s 1 -4 pm.

My second San Antonio Museum was much more Texas oriented.  Other friends of mine picked me up at my hotel and took me to the Briscoe Western Art Museum, which is located right along the River Walk.  It is named for former Texas Governor Dolph Briscoe, Jr. You can actually see his office furniture in the museum.

The museum brochure points out that Western art is a unique American art form.  It Is!  I loved the spurs and saddles.  Some were absolutely beautiful.  I was excited to see all the different spurs, which were made in different states.  Seeing the one from Kansas was fun!

The paintings and sculptures were also interesting.  The western scenes and Native America art is both inside the museum and part of an outdoor sculpture garden that you should not miss. There are also sculptures along the River Walk just outside that entrance to the Musuem. I also enjoyed the gallery that was devoted to the art of women in the Ruth Bowers Women of the West Gallery.

The building itself is wonderful, once the home of San Antonio’s first public library. I loved the ornate ceiling and actually took several photos just of it!

This is also a small museum that you can visit and see all within a few hours.  It is open Thursday through Monday, 10 am – 5 pm. Children under 12 are free.  Adults are #14 and seniors $12.

http://www.hmmsa.org

http://www.briscoemuseum.org

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The Murder of Chava Feuer 1942

22 Apr

It is not every day that you find out exactly how your great grandmother was murdered in the Shoah.  But it just happened to me, and I am in shock.

I was taking a webinar called “The Case of The Missing Ancestors: Genealogy Tips from Nancy Drew,” that I signed up for from the Erie Community Library.  The speaker was Ellen Shindelman Kowitt. I am still searching for my grandfather’s three siblings.  After hitting dead end after dead end, I thought maybe this workshop would help. 

The speaker mentioned looking up the name of the town instead of the name of the person.  So while I was listening on one device, I entered the name of my grandfather’s birthplace, Trzciana, Poland, on another device.

At first I just found a short Wikipedia entry telling me that Trzciana was a small village in Buchnia County, the seat of the administration office, and so was called Gmina Trzciana.  It was just outside Mielec, which I knew.  It currently has a population of 1462.  No mention of the Shoah.

Then I entered “Trzciana and the Holocaust.”  A book popped up:
The Holocaust and European Societies: Social Processes and Social Dynamics edited by Frank Bajohr and Andrea Low.  There were also some sample pages that I could read, including a section on an event that happened in Trzciana.

I knew my great grandmother, Chava, was murdered in her town.  I knew she had been hidden. And that saved her when the rest of her family was taken. I thought she was murdered at the end, after the war was over. But that is not the case.  She was murdered in 1942. There is an entire paragraph about the murder of my great grandmother Chava, the wife of Gimple.  MY Great Grandmother.

I can imagine the fear she had when she knew the Nazis were searching for all the Jewish people in the area. When she knew that the Polish people were afraid and turning the Jews in.  How in fear she must have been when she went to a family that had hid her before. But I am sure she knew there was no hope.  No hope, no help. Just death. And did it really matter when everyone else was already gone? Her husband, her four children. Her extended family.

Yes, I am crying.  Yes, I think I am in shock.  This I never expected.  I did not find my great aunts and great uncle.  But I found this. 

I have ordered the book.  I need to see it and touch it.  To really believe it.

But read for yourself the murder of Chava Feuer, my great grandmother, for whom I carry her name.  May her name and memory always be a blessing. (Yes, I know it says Chana, but believe me it is Chava.)

She says “Do with me as you please.” This touches my heart. I was an obstinate child. I would often say to my parents and grandparents, “Do what you want, I am not moving.” My grandfather would shake his head and laugh, while my grandmother would say, “You are just like her.” The “her” being Chava, whose name I carry.

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What Happened to Grandpa’s Twin Sisters?

16 Apr
My great aunt Tova, my great Grandparents Gimple and Chava. The man driving is an Uncle. And the horses and cart they bought with the money my grandparents sent. They all perished.

Would it be horrible to say that I am disappointed to find that my grandfather’s two sisters were not the victims of Josef Mengele?  It sounds horrible even to me.  But I have been searching to find out what happened to them for over a decade.  And I thought I finally found a glimmer of hope.  I remembered that they were twins.  Perhaps they made it to the right concentration camp and were separated out. I could at least have some closure.

But no.  Another dead end, I write without a pun.  I had already searched through Yad V Shem, where I found my grandfather’s parents and one brother.  I have found my great grandparents, Gimple/Mordechai who died in Auschwitz and Chava who died in the town.  My great uncle, Shimon died in Belzec.   All three testimonies were put in Yad VShem by a cousin, Shalom Hollander.  Although he entered many other testimonies, there are none for the other three siblings.

I have searched through the Jewish Gen files.  I have found many, many, well hundreds of family members who perished in the Shoah.  But I cannot find my grandfather’s two sisters and their families and his other brother.  It is what I have been searching for since I started my genealogy searches. 

I tried the place that usually helps, Tracing the Tribe Facebook Group.  From one member, I found out about the the Arolsen Archives, International Center on Nazi Persecution, in Bad Arolsen in Germany.  And I had great hope.  I filled out three forms with all the information I had on my great aunts, Tova and Tzelia, and great uncle Nachum.  I admit it was not much.  Just their names and town of birth, parents and approximate date of birth. 

I was sure to add that Tova and Tzelia were twins.  I have a photo of Tova.  I knew she was married.  She probably had children. But by the time I spoke to my grandfather about her and his other siblings in the 1970s, he had forgotten the names of her husband and children.  So my search was based on somewhat limited information.

Unfortunately, the Arolsen Archives could not help.  For each of my requests, I received the same message. “We can inform you today that we – based on the data you provided – have made an extensive check of the documentation available to us.
To our regret, it has not proved possible for us to ascertain any information.”

Another dead end.  But I was not totally surprised.  I know that Mielec and Grandpa’s home town of Trzciana, were among the first cities that the Nazis chose to kill all the Jews.  Only 100 Jewish residents from the area survived the war.  Some were killed at the Denbica/Dembitz Murder site.  Others went to the Lodz Ghetto and then Belzec  Some died in Auschwitz.  But some died in their community, like my great grandmother.  Some were burned in the synagogue.  Some were burned in the mikve.  Some were shot. 

I have discovered many people with similar names, but not these three.

I assume they died nameless, not a number in the Nazi machine.

So perhaps not finding them is a good thing.  Perhaps they died quickly.  They did not have to suffer the indignity of being a victim of Mengele.  They did not make it to the Concentration Camps.  But what is so sad is that no family member was able to write their testimonies.  No one could enter their names in to Yad VShem data base.  And I cannot either, because I do not know what happened.

Perhaps my quest to find out the names of their children will never be achieved.  I will never find out what happened.   Each time I have found out what happened to a family member. I have had another little stab in my heart.  Perhaps it is time to let this search end.

Murdered In Belzec
The Yad VaShem Shoah Database: Each Name Becomes A Memory

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My Personal Rules for Dealing with the Storm

18 Jul

For the past four months I have found it difficult to get back to my genealogy research.  I just was overwhelmed by moving and the pandemic and working from home and watching the craziness of the politicalizing health care and wearing masks. 

I touched a bit of my passion when I discovered my husband’s parent’s wedding album and was able to write about it and put a photo up for his family.  We were supposed to have a family reunion of all the first cousins in June, but that was called off due to the pandemic.  The blog about the wedding album was a way to remember.

But as for my research on my family, I hit a mental block.  I am beginning to think that the worldwide rise in antisemitism part of the problem.  When I research my family, I often end up back in concentration camps, ghettos, death and destruction due to the Shoah.

 I just cannot bear to deal with that now.  I see history repeating as horrible political cartoons and national figures make horrendous statements about Jewish people.   It disgusts me.  And even people who I consider friends, sometimes do not see the antisemitism in the comments or cartoons.  And that frightens and sickens me.

I have a high level of anxiety about baseless hatred.  The same hatred I see rising in the USA.  But not only the hatred, the use of the military to attack US citizens.  The use of unidentified soldiers in Portland illegally arresting people in a militia like the SS. It is against the law in the USA to arrest someone without identifying yourself and with no due cause.

The use of the military to attack peaceful protesters at a church so the administration could have a photo op.  The use of the military in non-identified uniforms at the Lincoln Memorial.


These soldiers and members of the military need to say a resounding NO!  They should not be brainless lambs like the Nazi/German soldiers whose response after the war was, “I just did what I was ordered to do.”

I am beginning to see some light.  The pentagon said No to the Confederate Flag.  The general who was at the church apologized for being at the church in uniform and giving what seemed to be military approval of this behavior.  The mayor of Portland saying get these federal agents out.

Sane people have to behave in a sane way.  Right now fear and lies are ruling our country. So my rules:

  1.  Do not be a lie spreader.  Please check your sources before you post anything.  Misinformation on either side increases the divisiveness. 
  2. Don’t stop talking to others who do not believe what you believe. If we stop talking to each other, we add to the polarization of this country.   We can agree to disagree, but we should not end conversation.
  3. Believe the science of disease.  Wearing a mask will not hurt you. You will not get sick from carbon dioxide. This is a cruel lie.  Wearing a mask does stop the spread of the disease. This is the truth.  And honestly, doctors and nurses have been wearing masks for a long time. And they are alive.  Except those who have recently died because of their constant exposure to the Covid virus.  Even masks and PPE cannot always save you from infection. But it does help.
  4. So wear a mask out of kindness for others.  Keep physical distance inside out of kindness to others.  This will eventually pass, but to save the most people as possible we need to be responsible.
  5. United we stand, divided we fall.  We are one country which includes people of all races, religions and creeds.  When one group is made the scapegoat or the outcast, we all suffer.  It is time for racism to stop.  It is time for anti-Semitism to stop.  It is time for rants against the other to just stop.  We have to learn to live together again.
  6. Finally, just be kind. The administration has taken kindness out of the vocabulary.  Follow the words that we are supposed to follow:  Isaiah 58:7  Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Ezekiel 18:7  Does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, Matthew 25:34-46: Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? “Feed the hungry, visit the sick and set free the captives.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari, volume 7, Hadith 552) “(The righteous are those) who feed the poor, the orphan and the captive for the love of God, saying: ‘We feed you for the sake of God Alone; we seek from you neither reward nor thanks.” –  Quran, 76:8-9. “One should not behave towards other in a way that is disagreeable to oneself. This is the essence of morality. All other activities are due to selfish nature.” Mahabharata, Anusasana Parva 113.8. My religion is simple. My religion is kindness.” The Dalai Lama

Do NOT remain silent when you see evil taking place. The silent bystander, who does nothing, is just as bad as the ones who commit the evil. We have learned this from history. We all need to say a resounding NO to the cruelty that that is being spread.

A Theodor Herzl Pocketknife And Anti-Semitism

31 Dec

I have been thinking about Theodor Herzl lately.  I know it is because of the upswing in anti-Semitism and Herzl’s role in establishing the State of Israel, which now leads to anti-Zionism, which is finally being realized as just another name for anti-Semitism.

It was Herzl who, after the horrible affair of French anti-Semitism when an innocent Jewish officer, Alfred Dreyfus, was sent to prison despite his innocence, became an ardent Zionism.  Herzl campaigned for the establishment of a homeland for the Jewish people. He was a founder of the Zionist Organization, which encouraged Jewish immigration to what was then Palestine, to form a Jewish state.  I have visited Herzl’s grave in Jerusalem at the cemetery on Mt. Herzl. (See blog below.)

Perhaps I am thinking about Herzl because I am going to Budapest next fall.  Herzl was born there in 1860 on the Pest side of the river.  Herzl’s family lived next door to the famous Dohany Street Synagogue, which I am going to see when I am there. I will also see where Herzl spent his early years as I am also going to Vienna, where Herzl went to college.

But it is Herzl’s defense of the Jewish people against anti-Semitism and his desire for them to have a safe place to live reverberates with me.   I keep asking myself, is it true?  Do all Jews really need to move to Israel to escape the hatred that seems to be rising throughout the world?  There are days when I am just stunned by what is happening. And I consider this option.

However, I feel safe where I live. I know people of all religions are supportive of interfaith discussion and community. I belong to several groups, like the Sisterhood of Salaam/Shalom, that work to create positive relationships.  But even here we have had a vicious anti-Semitic attack several years ago when three people were killed at the Jewish Community Campus and Village Shalom, the home for the elderly. The irony is that all three people murdered were not Jewish.  It was a raging anti-Semite who committed the crimes.

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It was a little bit of a shock when I found a Herzl penknife in a small drawer in my bedroom while on a recent cleaning binge.  It was a reinforcement of my feelings of dread. The little knife belonged to my husband’s father.  We have no idea where he got it, or why he had it.  But it shows age and use.

The pocketknife is slim.  About 3 inches by ½ inch by 1/3 inch deep.  Engraved on the front is a Star of David, with inlaid white and blue stones (a few pieces are missing or damaged) and an engraved portrait of Herzl with his name underneath it in Hebrew.

There are two blades, one is engraved on both sides.  On one side is a symbol of what looks like an ancient king or warrior holding two blades and underneath it is:  SMF Solingen.  The other side of the same blade has two lines of writing that is a bit worn.  The bottom word is Germany.  Above it are two words: perhaps, Leopold Borwitz.  Let me know what you think!?

I have found out that Solingen, Germany, where Adolf Eichmann was born, is known for its blades, it is the main industry of the region since the middle ages.  It is actually known as the “City of Blades.” Knifes and blades for all reasons, cooking, hunting, killing, protection, pocket-knives, cutlery, swords, scissors and razors and other items made of steel and silver are produced there. The city was bombed repeatedly by the British because of the many weapons companies.

I found this company mark that is similar to mine on Items from Solingen, Stocker & Company, SMF, Solingen.   Their mark has added lines in the clothes and sword, but otherwise it is the same mark. On the company website are many pocketknives/penknives that are similar in size to mine, some are vintage models, others are newer.

The painful part is that this company made knifes for the Nazis!  Among the vintage knifes are ‘rare’ German Nazi Luftwaffe paratrooper knives, World War 2 Nazi Gravity Knives, SS daggers, Hitler Youth daggers, and more.  Imagine my shock as I think about anti-Semitism, and I find a knife with Herzl and a Star of David, and then I find out that this company made knives for the Nazis. I believe this company went out of business in the early 1970s.

In 1932 the city of Solingen had only 265 Jewish residents before the war. By 1933 over one hundred had already left Germany by emigrating.  By 1938 the official Jewish population was only 89.  Some of these souls died in Dachau, some in Theresienstadt. A few survived the war. But the Jewish community along with its synagogue was destroyed.

I have been to Germany.  It actually now has a thriving Jewish community made up mainly of Jews from the former Soviet Union and Israelis who families were Germans before the war and can claim citizenship.

But this does not help to solve the mystery of this knife.  When was it made?  I am assuming it came after the Second World War. Perhaps to commemorate the establishment of Israel?  I am not sure I will ever know.  I looked on EBay and other websites to see if I could find another penknife like this. But there were none!

My little Herzl pocketknife takes on so many meanings in my mind.  Its history, its maker, why my husband’s father had it?  Many thoughts are going through my mind.  Anti-Semitism, Anti-Zionism, Nazis, Germany, Herzl, Israel.  They all seem to coalesce in this knife.

As the new year begins, I hope for a year of peace and civility.  I hope that as it says in the Torah, we will beat our swords into plowshares (Isiah 2:4).  And that is the message I will take from my knife.  A company that can make weapons for the Nazis, then can make a knife to commemorate Herzl and Israel.

I am hoping that 2019 was an aberration and that 2020 will bring light back to us all.

 

https://zicharonot.com/2014/05/05/remembering-those-who-passed-yom-hazikaron/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solingen

https://www.reference.com/history/history-rostfrei-knives-644fa4d4588eebbe

http://www.dg.de/en/maker/smf-solinger-metallwaffenfabrik-solingen-stoecker-rzm-m7-9

 

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I Know These Names

17 Dec

As the snow continues to fall outside and I have a snow day from my job, I decided to continue searching in my Grandma’s Photo Album.  Since my last photo once again lead me to the Yad V’Shem data base and to another story of death during the Shoah, I searched for perhaps some happier photos.   I was successful.

I found three photos from the 1940s.  The first two were taken on November 25, 1945. Perhaps the photo with the three people is a wedding photo for Felix and Martha, along with Martha’s sister, Rosa.  They are celebrating something, as Felix and Martha are wearing flowers. The two women look so much alike. They have the same exact smile.   I know that they must be sisters.

The third photo, from July 14, 1947, is inscribed: “To you, dear cousin, from Rosel.”  I am sure the ‘dear cousin’ is my grandmother.  It surprised me because this photo was taken a few days before my grandmother’s 41 birthday.

These two girls are much younger than my grandma.  Closer in age to my mother, who would have been 18 in 1947.   So perhaps they are the surviving children of one of my Grandma’s first cousins.  There were so many of them.  Her mother had seven siblings and her father three or four.  Although my grandmother’s siblings survived, many of her cousins perished in the Shoah.

Martha, the girl who I think married, looks so much like my mother.  Not her smile, but the shape of her face.  I can see that they are somehow related.

Now I am on a search to see where they settled after the war.  I have emailed cousins and my siblings in this search.  Mainly because I remember these names.  I have heard together.  I have heard my grandmother say them.  One of my mother’s first cousins has no memory of these people.  But since I spent so much time in Israel and traveled there with my grandmother, I am hoping these are among the people that I met so many years ago. (See blog below.)

I know my grandparents sent money to relatives after the war.  Were these people among those who they helped?  I do not know. My grandfather once said that he was always helping grandma’s family.  But I know he did not mind.  It was something that had to be done.

I wish these photos included a last name as that would make my search so much easier.  But in the long run, perhaps it does not matter.  At least I know they survived and that alone gives me joy.

 

https://zicharonot.com/2014/08/19/old-photographs-bring-memories-to-life/

https://zicharonot.com/2019/09/26/another-photo-another-trip-to-the-yad-vshem-database/

https://zicharonot.com/2019/06/17/my-obsession-with-grandmas-album-leads-to-the-shoah/

https://zicharonot.com/2018/07/20/viroshov-wieruszow-a-jewish-community-destroyed/

https://zicharonot.com/2014/04/28/speaking-yiddish-always-brings-me-holocaust-memories/

 

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Survival of Shalom (Szulim) Hollander

25 Nov

Over my years of researching my family, especially my family who remained behind in Europe, I have found relatives who perished in both Belzec and Auschwitz Death Camps.  Those who died in the Lodz Ghetto.  Those who were probably burned to death in their community synagogue or mikveh. Those who were murdered after the war ended. They died in so many places, that I no longer am shocked, even though after each discovery, I feel a pain in my soul.  A pain that makes me stop searching for a month or so as I recover from the finality of my search.

I have a great grandmother who survived the war years hidden by a righteous Christian friend, but who could not save her from the final indignity:  murdered when she returned to her family property by the people who had squatted on their land.  I am named for her.  I keep her photo near my computer so she is watching my search.

There is at times a happier outcome.  I have also found those who survived.  My grandmother’s first cousin who survived the Shoah and the Kielce Pogram, and even wrote a testimony about her experience.   I have two distant cousins, the children of another of my grandmother’s first cousin, who survived the war after being put on the KinderTransport. Their parents did not survive. I have relatives who made their way to France, the United States, Australia, England and Israel.  Where once my families were in a small area of Poland, Austria and Russia before the war, now they are on four continents.

Now I add another story of survival through an extraordinary circumstance.  A relative, perhaps two, who survived the Shoah thanks to being one of almost 1100 names who were on Schindler’s List.

To be honest, I am a bit stunned.   I wrote about Shalom Hollander several times, in most detail in a blog that I published in June 2018.  This week Shalom’s story changed.

I was contacted by a distant cousin who read my blog.   She just recently has been researching her family and by goggling family names found my blog, “The Sorrow of Shalom Hollanders” (see below.). She sent me a message: “I must be an extended family member of yours. I am related to Tova Hollander, Mordechai/Marcus Amsterdam, Szulim (Shalom) Hollander, and all the people on this story. I found this while googling names and have been looking into ancestry.com. I would love to connect if you are willing.”

Of course, I was willing to connect.  I emailed her immediately.  I was delighted to find out that her great grandfather was Shalom’s brother.  He had come to the United States before the war, and so survived much like my grandparents.

The words that caught at my heart were these: My great grandpa’s brother was Shalom Hollander who you wrote about in your blog (not sure if you are aware but he is listed on Schindler’s List under the name Szulim Hollander). 

I had to look, and there he was:

Holocaust Survivors and Victims Database:   Schindler’s Lists: Electronic data regarding Oscar Schindler’s inmates, complied from two separate lists.

Szulim Hollander : Date of birth: 8 Feb 1906                                                             Persecution Category: Ju. [Jew] ;   Occupation:  ang. Tischler  (carpenter)         Nationality:  Po. [Polish] ; Prisoner Number:  69073

He survived because he was on Schindler’s List, but was it a good survival?  This knowledge hurt my heart.  While he was surviving, he lost his wife, his children, his parents, his sister.  So many relatives murdered.  I wish when I met him in 1976, I would have listened and learned more. But then, no one knew about Schindler or his list.  I am not even sure he spoke to my grandmother about how he survived.  Wait, I take that back.  Everyone we met with that trip told my grandmother their Holocaust story.   (see blog below.)

In the same email, she mentioned her Aunt Susan also told her about me.  I remember Susan, I connected with her through Tracing the Tribe.  We met about five years ago and exchanged information.  We knew that her husband must be related to my family.  But I did not know of the connection with Shalom.

Now that I know Shalom had a brother in New Jersey, where my grandparents had a kosher bakery, many little pieces came into place. I had an ‘aha’ moment.  My grandparents definitely knew this family.   We knew many Amsterdam families in New Jersey.  I never connected them because Shalom’s brother in New Jersey used the last name Amsterdam, which is their father’s last name, while Shalom used Hollander, which was their mother’s last name.

My grandparents and parents could not have known Shalom and not his brother in New Jersey. They were probably some of the many relatives I met as a child, who just blurred together in my grandparent’s European connections.

One other bit of good news about Shalom.  He did remarry after the war and started another family.  What strength!  He truly was a survivor.  My grandmother and I only met with him that day in Israel.  I rejoice in knowing this news.  I wish I could meet his family.

I must add that there is another Hollander on Schindler’s List: Rachela Hollander was born on March 23, 1917.  She was just a young woman when the war began. She is listed as a metal worker.  I will assume that some way she is related to us as well.

KinderTransport, Schindler’s List, Kielce, Belzec, Auschwitz, Lodz Ghetto: My family went through the worst of the Shoah.  But it comforting to know that some connected with people who had a bit of goodness left in their souls and somehow they survived.

 

https://zicharonot.com/2018/08/12/discovering-karolas-kielce-pogrom-testimony/

https://zicharonot.com/2018/11/05/how-the-kindertransport-touched-my-family/

https://zicharonot.com/2018/06/07/the-sorrow-of-shalom-hollander/

https://zicharonot.com/2018/06/05/murdered-in-belzec/

https://zicharonot.com/2018/09/06/one-more-family-destroyed/

https://zicharonot.com/2014/09/13/my-familys-holocaust-history-impacts-my-observance-of-rosh-hashannah/

https://zicharonot.com/2014/04/28/speaking-yiddish-always-brings-me-holocaust-memories/

 

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