White Buses, Sent by the Swedish Red Cross, in April 1945

CONGREGATION EMANU-EL PRESENT MÆNNI RUBEN’S THERESIENSTADT 1945 AUTOGRAPH BOOK CONGREGATION EMANU-EL VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA AND WE HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS EXHIBIT. WE INCLUDE SOME BUT THE VICTORIA SHOAH PROJECT ARE PLEASED TO DONATE THE NOT ALL OF THE BOOK ENTRIES; SOME OF THE SIGNATURES ARE AUTOGRAPH BOOK TO A CANADIAN MUSEUM FOR THEIR HUMAN ILLEGIBLE; WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO CONTINUE RESEARCHING RIGHTS AND HOLOCAUST STUDIES. THESE HEADY DAYS OF LIBERATION IN 1945.

SPECIAL THANKS

Our sponsors who Research and Translations Graphic Design Writer, Project Coordinator made this possible Dr. Richard Kool & Production Janna Ginsberg Bleviss The Victoria Shoah Project Dr. Andrew Gow Karie McKinley Morris Bleviss Sharon Fitch Much appreciation to Rabbi Sydney Kalef Dr. Ruth Simkin Editing & Installation Harry Brechner and the Anonymous Thomas Wiesner, Anne Petrie many others who nourished Jane Marsh Copenhagen this project, shared stories, Anne Petrie Yosta Tixell, Media expertise, and offered moral Jerusalem Lisa Abram support. We couldn’t have done Jessica Van der Veen this without your continued Veronica Kent encouragement. Dr. Silvia Goldbaum Tarabini Fracapane Paris

A BOOK OF MUSIC, FAREWELLS & FRIENDSHIP Unknown to most of us, an unusual book has been in our midst for decades.

The book is 75 years old and was handed Cover to Rabbi Harry Brechner by beloved congregant Susi Deston (z”l) before she Title Page died in 2018. The Autograph Book belonged to her first husband Mænni (Moses) Ruben who was a violinist from Copenhagen. In 1943 Mænni and his family were sent to Theresienstadt near Prague. This unique ghetto/camp was where Nazis kept prominent Jews.

The camp was known for music. The prisoners included musicians, intellectuals, artists, religious leaders and hundreds of children. An historic Red Cross concert was held in 1944 where inmates were forced to pretend life was good and play for the Germans and the visiting International Red Cross. This remarkable autograph book begins as the war is ending and the prisoners are liberated. What emerges from these pages of drawings, greetings and pieces of music is the resiliency of the survivors and themes of friendships, farewells and the love of music. From April 1945 and carrying through to April 1946, you’ll meet Mænni, through the eyes of artist Hilda Zadikow, Rabbi Leo Baeck and many distinguished European musicians, composers and actors. Page 2 Coat of arms of the city of Terezín under a Magen David made of barbed wire. by Hilda Zadikow

Page 20 Page 6 “But we’ll play the rifles one more time!” What an artist you are/that is beyond question - MÆNNI RUBEN In memory Whether a painter, a musician, or whatever kind? Jarka Adlerood The reason I chose painting for your sake/Is only because that art/Is not as loud for me! Who is this man who never set foot in Canada? We are able to honour Think often and fondly of Yours, Hans Grünewald Mænni and present this exhibit because of his wife Susi Ruben Deston [z”l] Theresienstadt 1945. and his nephew Yosta Tixell, who lives in Israel. Mænni Ruben and his two sisters, Klara and Judith, brother Daniel, his mother Betti and father Leon Abraham, were sent to Theresienstadt in October 1943, along with nearly 500 other Danish Jews. Theresienstadt was originally a Czech walled military town called Terezin, named for Empress Maria Theresa in the late 18th century. It was taken over by the Germans as a ghetto/camp for prisoners when it opened on November 24, 1941. There were many concerts and operas at Theresienstadt. In the camp Mænni was given a violin of “a beautiful tone.” It was a composite violin, the body was a different make from its neck. It did not have a complete Mænni Ruben body and bore the label of an important Renaissance violin maker. This violin is now in South Africa.

Mænni’s father died in the camp but the rest of the family were evacuated by the white buses, sent by the Swedish Red Cross, in April 1945. Mænni returned home after the war. A few years later he met Susi. They married and both played in the Copenhagen Youth Orchestra. They had a life together playing music.

Thanks to Ann Elliott-Goldschmid for describing the violin Mænni played in the camp. Ann lives in Victoria, BC and is a founding member of the Lafayette String Quartet. She knew Susi and Avi Deston, Susi’s second husband, and played Mænni’s violin before it was sent to South Africa.

Mænni & Susi

SUSI DESTON We have the autograph book because of Susi Deston. She travelled over many continents and decades before reaching Victoria. Susi wasn’t always Susi Deston. She was born Suzanne Rica Ejsen in 1931 in Basel, Switzerland, and spent the war years hiding in the mountains at an aunt’s summer house. Susi met Mænni Ruben after Second World War at a Jewish summer youth camp in Switzerland. Married on August 3, 1952 they lived in his mother’s house in Copenhagen and played in an orchestra. Susi played the cello and Mænni played the violin. Drawing and sketchbook Susi Deston inside cover by Susi Deston Mænni also worked as a graphic designer and Susi as a fashion designer. After 24 years together, Mænni died in 1976, and Susi was ready for a 2 new life. Copenhagen, Denmark Her company had an opening in Israel and she met Dr. Avi Deston during her second trip there. They were married in 1978. Their next years together 6 Victoria, BC 5 were an adventure. Avi, a Russian nuclear physicist from Kiev, was running Edmonton, AB Theresienstadt Camp Canada Canada 1 from the KGB. He defected to Canada and was stateless when he met Susi. Switzerland Czech Republic They went to South Africa for 13 years where Avi taught physics at the SUSI’S 3 University of Transkei. On his retirement, they came to Victoria in 1992. TRAVEL ROUTE Israel Susi brought with her Mænni’s autograph book, his violin from 4 Theresienstadt (now in South Africa being played by the son of Susi’s dear Umtata, friend) and a doll she had since childhood. (formerly Transkei) South Africa And if you knew Susi in Victoria you knew about her hats!

HILDA ZADIKOW Hilda Zadikow, born in Prague in 1890, was a respected artist and married Hilda and Marianne survived the war years in Theresienstadt and to sculptor Arnold Zadikow. They lived in Munich where their daughter afterwards went to Prague. Marianne was born in 1923. Life was difficult as they were German citizens with no work papers. In the mid 1930s they moved to Prague, after the Nazi seizure of power. Hilda went to Italy, then Israel, and finally joined her daughter in the USA They were sent to Theresienstadt in May 1942, where Arnold died. where she died in 1974. Marianne published her own autograph book. In 1943, while still in the camp, Hilda created a beautiful Jewish calendar, now in the Jewish Museum in Prague. Hilda’s sensitive drawings bring alive the life in Theresienstadt and form a significant part of Mænni’s autograph book.

Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Terezín 1945 Hof Bahnhofstr. 35. Barracks in Bahnhofstr. 2. After a deportation. H. Zadikow Terezín 1945. H. Zadikow. by Hilda Zadikow H. Zadikow. by Hilda Zadikow by Hilda Zadikow

MUSIC WAS A BIG PART OF LIFE IN THE CAMP. DAY AFTER DAY PRISONERS WERE SENT TO THE EXTERMINATION CAMPS. MUSIC WAS A CHANCE TO COME TOGETHER.

Loose Insert Drawing of Opera figures by Hilda Zadikow Page 26 Page 10 Music must be the most “Traviata” demanding lover, requiring In memory of the unconditional devotion of ‘opera evening’ body and soul, each and every at Theresienstadt day, and for one’s entire life! Leo Pappenheim In memory of making 3.5.45 music together. Mr. Rudi Pick. Theresienstadt May 1945.

Page 11 In memory of the uplifting musical performances in the “Freizeit” during our exile Page 15 at Terezin. One bar of music J Poppelsdorf. In fond memory of copying out 1st Violist, scores together and of playing Concertgebouw Orchestra, in the orchestra at Theresienstadt Amsterdam. Marta Remm [?] 30.6.45 Terezin 30 May 1945

ALICE SOMMER HERZ

Loose Insert March 27, 1945 Concert Program

Alice was born in 1903 in Prague. She had a cultured background. Her parents ran a salon where, as a child, she met many luminaries, including composer Gustav Mahler, writer Franz Kafka, and intellectual Sigmund Freud. She was well trained as a pianist and knew Artur Schnabel. She was a professional pianist as a teenager and was deported to Theresienstadt in 1943 with her husband and young son. She played hundreds of concerts in the ghetto/camp, including the famous Red Cross concert in 1944. Alice survived; her husband did not. After 40 years in Israel she moved to

Page 5 London in 1986 to be near her son, Raphael (Stefan), who was a cellist and 1 May 1945 also played in the camp. In memory of music at Theresienstadt and in strong hopes of a better future Alice Sommer Herz At the age of 104 she published a book, A Garden of Eden in Hell. In 2013 Stefan Sommer (son) Paul Herz (brother) an Academy Award winning documentary was made about her when she was 109, The Lady in Number 6, her flat number in London. Alice walked and swam and played the piano every day. Believing strongly in the power of music she said “I am Jewish but my religion is Beethoven.”

She died at the age of 110 in 2014.

FAREWELLS AND FRIENDSHIPS

RABBI LEO BAECK Page 30 All the best for the future! Theresienstadt will have been Rabbi Leo Baeck was a leader of the German nothing but a bad dream! 30 June 1945 Jewish community. During the Nazi era he [Illegible signature] refused offers to escape and stayed on at Theresiensadt for many months tending to the spiritual strength of those exposed to the typhus epidemic.

Page 7 Remember the little shul in Block IV, Margulinksy’s top bunk, my lower bunk and my bed-mate Peter Deutsch - These days of our shared suffering are now behind us, but our friendship, founded on our shared misery, will survive. We will always be connected in spirit. With warmest regards, [Illegible signature]

Page 19 Never forget Theresienstadt! Page 2 4 Mai 45 Magen David decorated [Illegible signature] Page 27/28 with flowers drawing MEINHARD. Your old friend Hilda Zadikow Theresienstadt, 23 June 1945 wishes you all the best and L. Baeck. delight in beauty. Theresienstadt, Page 13 19 April 1945. We know each other only from by Hilda Zadikow having greeted each other in a friendly way, but that too is a good memory. All the best! Miriam Pardies

Page 4 White Buses at Cartoon drawings of the WHITE BUSES Theresienstadt, 1945 white buses Theresienstadt, ‘April 1945 [unknow word] What were these White Buses? As early as 1943 Sweden, Denmark and “Stop! Stop!” Sweden - Red Cross Norway were concerned for their citizens in the German concentration “What is it?” camps. “Rubens should not forget ”to Graags. They began investigating how to release their people of all religions. Authorized by Britain and together with the Swedish government, the Swedish Red Cross began evacuating the camps in April 1945. Their buses were painted white with a Red Cross so as not to be confused with military vehicles. It was a quasi-military operation with supplies, vehicles and a staff of about 300 including doctors, nurses and many volunteers. Citizens from 20 countries were rescued, although they were primarily Scandinavians. They were brought to Sweden and Denmark. The white buses were responsible for rescuing 15,000 people in April 1945. Many trips were made to different camps. The buses were attacked by air and driving through Germany was perilous. The return transports through Denmark were met by ecstatic crowds. Mænni’s family were some of the 423 rescued Jewish Danes from Theresienstadt. Of the 140,000 Jews who were sent to the crowded camp, 33,000 died, 88,000 were deported to the extermination camps and 17,000 survived. Theresienstadt was officially liberated on May 8, 1945. The White Buses continued to evacuate 10,000 more prisoners in May and June after Germany’s surrender. Despite controversy around who was rescued, it was a huge Swedish humanitarian effort.

1946 — A GATHERING OF MUSICIANS IN COPENHAGEN AFTER THE WAR

On April 6, 1946 there was a concert in Copenhagen with the Amsterdam Orchestra that reunited several of the musicians from Theresienstadt. These autographs (left) are from a dinner held at the home of Peter Deutsch prior to the concert. Peter Deutsch, composer and conductor, directed the Danish Youth Symphony after the war. For many years, Mænni played in and was Concertmaster for an accomplished amateur group, Eufrosyne, founded in 1875 and disbanded in 2019.

Page 33 Page 34 In Joy at our meeting in In memory of our friendship at freedom at the house of Theresienstadt and of our reunion at Peter Deutsch. the home of Peter Deutsch on 6 April Sal Inijder 1946 in Copenhagen. Sam Tromp 1st Violin, Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Page 8 Dear Mennie! Can you play this on the violin? On two strings! Main theme of Symphonie No. 1. In memory of Theresiensadt. Your old friend 12 March 46 Peter Deutsch

Mænni Ruben and the combo in Copenhagen 1953. The back-drop is a view from the Queen Louise Bridge toward The Lakes in Copenhagen, and the same neon signs are still there today.