The Jewish world before the war was diverse, not homogeneous. There was no one way to be
a Jew, they were traditional and modern and orthodox and progressive, and every shade
in between. They were Nobel Prize winners and they were tailors and tradesmen, they
were wealthy, and they were so poor they couldn’t afford shoes for their children in the winter.
They went to religious schools, they prayed, and they respected the 2000 year old Jewish
tradition. But they also went to the movies, played sports and danced the Tango. They fell
in love, they had fun. They were busy with life looking toward the future, they did not
live their lives in the shadow of the catastrophe, looming on the horizon. We often say that
it’s impossible to understand the scope of the tragedy that was the Holocaust, without
understanding what we lost. Before WWII, close to 10 million Jews lived, worked and grew up
in Europe. In some places like Greece and Italy, they had created communities that existed
for over 2,000 years. In four short years, those communities were obliterated. On the
eve of WWII the interwar jewish world was creative and complex. A rich mosaic full of
change and hope for the future. Within a decade, most of Europe would be conquered by Nazi Germany.
By 1945, two out of every three of these Jews, were silenced, forever.
In the end it didn’t matter who or what they were, to the Nazis they were all Jews, and that
was reason enough to kill them. The Holocaust was the murder of 6 million Jews, each
a human being, each, a universe unto himself. But in addition, it was the decimation of
the magnificent, vibrant culture these people had created all throughout Europe. It is necessary
to understand not just how they died, but how they lived. By taking this glimpse into
their life, culture and the spirit of the world they lived in, we can give them back
their names and their faces. This will help in understanding the magnitude of the tragedy,
and will ensure that the victims, are not forgotten.
The work at school has finished. The days are sunny and warm. Our schoolmates dream
about green fields, about the cheerful camp life.
Never did life possess such joy and freedom from care.
It seems one does everything but pray. The girls talk and look down at the boys, and
the boys talk and look up at the girls. This is what the entire thing consists of.
I hated porridge. No matter how much butter and sugar was added,
I couldn’t stand the look of the gluey mass.
We had a Hanukkah play. I was one of the candles. Supposedly of a Menorah. And we all had a
verse that we had to recite in Hebrew. And it was a very exciting thing to me.
My mother was meticulous about keeping kosher and prayed three times a day. Even though
she was a modern woman, who read literature and spoke several languages.
I frequently imagine myself as a great ice skating dancer, performing for large audiences.
When I went to Shul, I made sure not to miss even one single word.
This is how precious the Hebrew words were to me.
Spring. Warm and gentle. Brings a beautiful holiday of freedom - Passover.
I have the job of cleaning our windows for the holiday.
In my dreams I am a great poet. Beautiful, talented, and very famous. My poems open the
secret heart of the world, and its embrace carries me far away. With eyes closed, I lie
for hours and daydream. Life is a mystery to me, a beautiful secret mystery.