Nathan & Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center A program of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation BOARD OF DIRECTORS: STAFF: Arleen Peltz, Chair Dr. Richard Lux Dr. Shay Pilnik, Executive Director Jodi Majerus Bill Appel Brittany R. Hager McNeely, Mark Miller Bruce Arbit Director of Education Mary Munson Murphy Danny Arnstein Dr. Monica Olague-Marchan Dr. Dan Haumschild, Holocaust Fellow The Nathan & Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center Gene Bass Bruce Peckerman Dr. Rachel Baum Kari Altman, Coordinator of Joe Peltz FALL 2018 NEWSLETTER Ronna Bromberg Pachefsky Outreach & Public Relations Miriam Peltz Gitta Chaet Harry Pelz Judy O’Hara, Administrative Assistant Our Mission Betty Chrustowski Rick Rocamora Dave Fantle Sara Sillars, Educator The Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Judy Schwerm Bev Greenberg Matt Seigel Education Resource Center (HERC) is Jodi Habush Sinykin Rabbi Ron Shapiro Pictured right: Nancy Kennedy Barnett dedicated to building a better world, Brad Shovers Pinat Hatikvah, A Corner of Hope – Becky Komisar an outdoor space dedicated to life after the William Walsh embracing diversity, and confronting Mary Jo Layden Holocaust, situated on the Milwaukee Jewish Federation’s Karl Jewish Community racism and hatred by teaching the Campus in Whitefish Bay. lessons of . Edgar Inselberg: A Story of Resilience

NON-PROFIT During one session of last year’s Holocaust in Greece series, Louise Jesse, an the couple received money every month for our care. I found a Greek-En- ORGANIZATION active member of the Milwaukee Jewish community, approached our sta glish dictionary and taught myself English. At night people would congre- Milwaukee Jewish Federation, Inc. US POSTAGE and related to us an incredible story which she had hardly shared before – of gate around the radio to listen to the BBC news which I would translate into PAID 1360 N. Prospect Ave. how her father, Edgar Inselberg of blessed memory, survived the Holocaust Greek. MILWAUKEE, WI in Athens as an eleven year old boy. Since then, Louise has participated in Milwaukee, WI 53202-3094 PERMIT NO. 5632 On October 12, 1944 liberation arrived. All of this time we received no word HERC’s Second Generation training and is proud to be joining our growing about our father, but he surprised us by arriving on my brother’s birthday. Speakers Bureau. She wanted, for the  rst time, to share with our community It turned out that my father’s “friend” had taken all of our family’s property, the story of Edgar, who passed away this past spring. leaving us penniless. In addition, the house had been con scated by two Greek o cers who had collaborated with the Nazis. After a court battle, we received a small portion of it back in the form of sharing the house with the people who had stolen it from us. The Second World War was followed by a civil war in Athens. The Greek o cers who had been living in our house brought a squad of Greek soldiers who beat up our father in front of us and arrested him for being a “com- munist.” We were left in the house with no money, hungry, and abused by threats from the o cers. From time to time some nice people would give us something to eat. Two months later, a British soldier came carrying a package with canned foods that my father had sent with him. The soldier told us that our father was safe but in a detention camp, and that because of his social and language skills he had been put in charge of food dis- tribution there. In this way my father was able to collect food for us and send it with this nice soldier. About three months later, my father returned home. We went to his o ce and discovered that it had been looted. He was silent and dismal. Suddenly he stood erect proclaiming, “They did not steal everything! I still have my brains and reputation.” I truly admired him for not was born in Athens, Greece on June 15, 1930 to Valentine and Louisa Insel- breaking under the burden of so many sorrows. This attitude has helped berg. I have a younger brother Alfred, who was born on October 22, 1936. me overcome di cult times in my own life. Many people are surprised to learn that I am a Greek Jew. In fact, Jews have I My family experienced been in Greece since at least 300 BCE. nasty anti-Semitism in our The world and Europe were in turmoil during my youth. During World War II, neighborhood and school. Edgar Inselberg | Continued from front page world. We dedicated time to our synagogue, as well as to other Jewish caus- the German Army reached Athens on the 27th of April 1941, raising the Nazi My father resolved to send es, such as the UJA. It was, and still is, important to me to support Jewish ag at the Acropolis. We lived in Athens in the Italian zone, where Jews were us abroad to more favor- ident. As a result of the president’s mentorship, I was accepted to Cornell causes locally and throughout the world. not persecuted. Still life was not easy. Many people died of starvation. During able environments. Fortu- where I graduated Suma Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree in agricul- this time, my mother grew very sick. She died of complications following nately, I was an excellent ture. I then went on to obtain a master’s degree at the University of Illinois Our daughter, Louise was the  rst genera- surgery in September 1942. student and received a tion of our family to be born in the United scholarship to study in the in Champaign, as it had the best agronomy department in the country. On September 20, the Nazis States in August of 1960. She was named in United States of America, so Agronomy is the science of crops in relation to soil and fertilization, which started their “action” against memory of my mother, Louisa. She married I left Greece in the summer is exactly what I needed to learn so that I could eventually apply these skills the remaining Greek Jews. a wonderful man, Jon Jesse. They have two of 1948. My goal was to ob- in Israel. They demanded a list of the sons, Alex and Jason. Both of them attended tain an education on how names and addresses of all It was in Champaign that I met my wife, Rachel Marzan, a Fulbright Scholar the JCC Jewish pre-school in Milwaukee, and to grow crops in Palestine. Jews residing in Athens and from the Philippines, at a mixer (dance) in 1955. We were married in 1956 then the Milwaukee Jewish Day School from I hoped to make Aliyah by of all those who had helped at the campus Hillel. Rachel had been raised Catholic, but converted to kindergarten through 8th grade. moving there someday and Jews escape. My father de- Judaism prior to our wedding. After Rachel graduated with her master’s putting my education to Both of our grandsons chanted the same cided that we should go into degree and I completed both my master’s and doctoral degrees, we spent work supporting the now Haftorah that I chanted in memory of my hiding quickly and quietly. My time in Columbus, Ohio, where Rachel obtained her doctorate from Ohio Jewish state of Israel. mother, for their Bar Mitzvahs. It is a Sep- State University. In 1965, we did in fact make aliyah to Israel where I worked father, who spoke multiple hardic Jewish custom to chant the Haftorah languages, decided to join My uncle Armand, my at the Weizmann Institute and Rachel studied Hebrew and sought work. which corresponds to a Yorzheit (anniversary of a death). In the case of my the partisans as a translator. He left us and all of his property in the care father’s older brother, The lack of employment opportunities and cost of living led us back to the mother, it was the second day of Rosh Hashanah. I was fortunate to be alive of a friend. Earlier he had prepared false identity cards for us showing that lived in New York City. He United States in 1966. We were both able to obtain positions as professors not only to witness and participate in both Alex and Jason’s Bar Mitzvahs, we were Christian. We were placed with a nice young couple who received thought it would be best at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo where Rachel taught in the but also to teach them the Haftorah using the Sephardic trope melody. This monthly money for our upkeep. By early 1944, neighbors of the couple we for me to attend a school close to him. So I began my education at Cobble- education department until her retirement in the 1990s, and I taught in the is truly miraculous when I consider what could have been my fate during were staying with began asking questions, so we were forced to move to stone Community College. There I was taken under the wing of the pres- biology department and was also an advisor later in my career. the Holocaust. This truly ful lls the obligation of L’dor va’dor - from Genera- the cold, dark basement of a house at the base of the Acropolis. We were After retiring and during the summers we traveled to many parts of the tion to Generation. given very little food and were overcome with hunger, even though Continued on back page

8 This newsletter is generously supported by Edgar & Rachel Inselberg and Jon & Louise Jesse. 1 A Note from HERC’s Community Re ections on Yad Vashem’s International Conference Program Committee Co-Chairs By Brittany Hager McNeely erched atop Mount Herzl A seasonal newsletter provides us with a perfect opportunity to introduce and looking west over the you to the dedicated volunteers who, together with our sta , help HERC beautiful Jerusalem Forest, touch the hearts and minds of close to 22,000 young people and adults every P Yad Vashem, The World Holocaust year. With a small sta and limited resources, HERC relies a great deal on the Remembrance Center, has been passion and energy of volunteers, who provide us with boundless help and the world’s leading institution support in carrying our mission across the state of Wisconsin. on Holocaust remembrance Our volunteers are the true pillars of HERC, and the two incredible co-chairs and education since its estab- of HERC’s Community Program Committee, Becky Komisar and Ronna Brom- lishment in 1953. Welcoming berg Pachefsky, are wonderful examples of the hard work and dedication of almost one million visitors per HERC’s volunteers. year, Yad Vashem focuses its work Ronna Bromberg Pachefsky and Becky Komisar and mission on four pillars of want to introduce myself, Becky Komisar, as a co-chair of the Community I am Ronna Bromberg Pachefsky and I have the honor of co-chairing the Com- remembrance: commemoration, Program Committee of the Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education munity Program Committee with Becky Komisar. Unlike Becky, my immediate documentation, research, and Resource Center (HERC) for many years. As co-chair of this committee, we family left Europe prior to 1939, coming to America before and during World education. Providing educators THIS PHOTO: I Lithuanian research and execute programs that will bene t the Jewish community and with innovative and e ective War I. Even though my family’s connection to the horrors of the Holocaust Holocaust survi- the greater Milwaukee community. Both survivors from Poland, my parents was not direct, the lessons and stories were very much a part of my upbring- methods for Holocaust educa- vor Daniel Gold lost almost all of their family members during the Holocaust. My father was ing. Attending various programs, reading books, and knowing survivors in tion is one of the ways that Yad speaks about his ABOVE: The author with Daniel Gold. at Auschwitz, which my bother and our spouses visited on a tour arranged our community had a strong impact on me. All of these years later, there are Vashem ensures that the memory service in the IDF BELOW: Yad Vashem’s Warsaw by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. My even more stories, more books, but unfortunately, fewer survivors. The goal of the Holocaust and its victims during the Six Ghetto Uprising monument Day War. by Nathan Rapaport. mother was in a labor camp in Czechoslovakia. My passion for Holocaust of our committee is to provide meaningful, impactful programming on the remains relevant today and in the programming comes from my experience of growing up in a community of Holocaust. Becky, myself, and the rest of our fabulous committee of volunteers future. One way that this is ac- survivors, as well as from the desire that the world will never forget the Holo- hope to see you soon at some of our wonderful programs. complished is through intensive caust and that history will not repeat itself. teacher training opportunities. In fact, for four days in June of 2018, 360 Holocaust educators from 52 countries a small group of educators during one session convened at Yad Vashem for its 10th International of the conference, listening to the testimony of Conference. Thank you to a very generous donor Holocaust survivor Daniel Gold. Born in Lithuania and the incomparable support of HERC’s won- in 1937, Daniel and his family were forced into a UPCOMING EVENTS derful leadership, I was incredibly fortunate this ghetto for several years before they managed to summer to participate in this deeply emotional escape and  nd refuge with a Lithuanian peasant and educational conference, learning from some family who provided them a safe place to hide. Sunday, October 14 Sunday, November 18 of the greatest minds in the  eld and broadening Daniel’s mother was killed by the Nazis, however, Holocaust Stories at the Cathedral featuring Holocaust Stories at the my own perspectives on Holocaust education. after his father was liberated from the Dachau Belle Anne Freund & her son Mark Cathedral featuring Lee Marnett concentration camp, he and his father settled in The central theme of the conference was “Time, Israel. Throughout his talk Daniel returned, over 10:15am | Atrium – Cathedral 10:15am | Atrium – Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist Place, and Relevance” which allowed ample and over again, to his unwavering support of Join us as we listen to the survival stories of members of the Nathan and of St. John the Evangelist opportunity for discussion and focus on many Israel, even having served as an IDF air force pilot Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center’s Speakers Bureau. Join us as we listen to the survival issues, but one major question in particular: what during the Six Day War. Daniel also told us of his Co-Sponsor: Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist stories of members of the Nathan does Holocaust education look like after survivors travels to Rwanda where he worked closely with and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education

OCTOBER are no longer living? One can hardly argue that survivors of the Rwandan genocide to speak Sunday, October 21 Resource Center’s Speakers Bureau. hearing,  rst-hand, the personal testimony of about the dangers of hatred, bigotry, and racism.

NOVEMBER Co-Sponsor: Cathedral of St. an individual who was subjected to the barbaric Holocaust Stories: In their Whether in Israel, Rwanda, or Milwaukee, yester- John the Evangelist inhumanity of the Nazis and their collaborators, Honor featuring Sam Peltz day or tomorrow, the time and place of crucial is not a life-changing experience. As HERC’s conversations about the Holocaust, either with 10am | Daniel M. Soref Community Hall– director of education I have received feedback Monday, November 19 students, peers, children of survivors, or survivors Harry & Rose Samson Family JCC from countless principals, teachers, students, and “Neighbors” Book Discussion themselves are constantly changing, but the Join us as we listen to the survival stories of community members, that hearing from a Holo- 6:30pm | Daniel M. Soref Community relevance of these discussions – regardless of members of the Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust caust survivor deeply impacted them and caused when or where they occur – remains a constant. Education Resource Center’s Speakers Bureau. Hall – Harry & Rose Samson Family JCC a shift in their perspective. Co-Sponsor: Harry & Rose Samson Family JCC Co-Sponsor: Coalition for Jewish Learning Our task, as Holocaust educators, is to ensure that The power of hearing these testimonies in person these stories continue being told and that the of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation was not lost on me for an instant as I sat with voices of the six million never go unheard. Sunday, October 28 Shores Beyond Shores: From Holocaust to Hope, My True Story Wednesday, November 28 2pm | Congregation Sinai The Holocaust in Perspective: Dr. Irene Hasenberg Butter will share her story of survival as a child Anti-Judaism, Anti- Howard Melton teaching highlight growing up in Nazi Germany before her family moved to the Netherlands Semitism, & Hitlerism Students from St. Robert in 1937, which the Nazis occupied three years later. Irene survived 10am | Daniel M. Soref School and Longfellow two concentration camps, Westerbork and Bergen-Belsen. Community Hall – Harry & Rose Samson Family JCC Middle School hear Co-Sponsor: Congregation Sinai from HERC Speakers Join Dr. Shay Pilnik for a multi-faceted exploration of the Holocaust in this 3 part course. Bureau member Howard Wednesday, October 31 Melton as a part of Co-Sponsor: Harry & Rose Samson Family JCC The Holocaust in Perspective: the From Ignorance & The Holocaust in the Modern World Fear to Knowledge & Wednesday, December 19 Understanding: Jews, 10am | Daniel M. Soref Community Hall – Harry & Rose Samson Family JCC The Holocaust in Perspective: The Judaism, and the Join Dr. Shay Pilnik for a multi-faceted exploration Holocaust & Modern German History Holocaust eld trip to a of the Holocaust in this 3 part course. local synagogue. Co-Sponsor: Harry & Rose Samson Family JCC 10am | Daniel M. Soref Community Hall – Harry & Rose Samson Family JCC Join Dr. Shay Pilnik for a multi-faceted exploration Sunday, November 11 of the Holocaust in this 3 part course. Kristallnacht Commemoration Co-Sponsor: Harry & Rose Samson Family JCC 2pm | Rubenstein Pavilion – Ovation Jewish Home & Care Center DECEMBER Co-Sponsor: Harry & Rose Samson Family JCC

For more information contact: 414-963-2710 | HolocaustCenterMilwaukee.org

2 7 UWM & UWO Study Abroad Trip to Poland & Lithuania Holocaust Survivor Dr. Irene Butter to Visit Milwaukee in October This summer, during the last week of May and the  rst week of June, Dr. Karl y name is Christopher Gauger By Kari Altman Loewenstein, Associate Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin and I graduated from the Uni- Oshkosh and Dr. Shay Pilnik, HERC’s Executive Director, led a group of  fteen Mversity of Wisconsin-Oshkosh olocaust survivor Dr. Irene Butter has When did you begin speaking about the students from UW-Oshkosh and UW-Milwaukee on a study abroad trip to in 2017 with a major in History and a dedicated much of her adult life to Holocaust? Why did you decide to speak? places of and Lithuania. The group of students creat- minor in Geography. Hspeaking with students and adults There were four decades of silence before I started to speak about the Holocaust. ed a blog for the trip, sharing re ections as they witnessed some of the most about her experience during World War II, First of all, no one would listen. Moreover, I was focusing on starting a new life in On our day in Kaunas, we visited the gruesome sites in the history of mankind, each student writing a blog post for stressing the importance of being “Never a America, and it took time to feel ready to talk about it. Eventually I realized that Ninth Fort, located on the north side each of the trip’s  fteen days. We wanted to share with you some highlights Bystander” and the idea that one person can it was my responsibility to be a witness for what happened during the Holocaust, of Kaunas, which was used by both the from the blog, which can be found in its entirety on the HERC website at make a di erence. Dr. Butter is a peace activist and to not only tell my story but also to represent the voices of the 6 million Jews Soviet and Nazi regimes to carry out HolocaustCenterMilwaukee.org/Blog and Professor Emerita of Public Health at the who were murdered and whose voices were silenced forever. mass murder and oppression during University of Michigan. She is a co-founder of Why do you think it’s so important to share your the 20th century. When the Soviet Zeitouna, an organization of Jewish and Arab y name is Alexandria Oemig and story with young people, particularly today? Union invaded and annexed Lithuania women working for peace and a founder of I am a student at the University Young people need to become aware of the parallels between what happened in 1940, the NKVD used the fort to the Raoul Wallenberg Project at the Univer- of Wisconsin-Oshkosh majoring during the Holocaust and what is happening today. Unfortunately history repeats M imprison, torture, and execute political sity of Michigan. The newly published book in Psychology. Our trip to Poland & Lith- itself. Ethnic cleansing, persecution, deportation, refugee camps, breaking up fami- prisoners. But the worst horrors were “Shores Beyond Shores: From Holocaust to uania has already been full of powerful lies, and loss of freedom are all the product of authoritarian gov- yet to come. In 1941, Nazi Germany Hope, My True Story” was written by Dr. Butter and memorable moments, but today will ernments. It is my hope that when young people hear my story invaded the Soviet Union and Lithuania was quickly overrun by the Nazis, along with John D. Bidwell and Kris Holloway. be one that I won’t soon forget. they will recognize the importance of preserving democracy. who took control of the Ninth Fort and transformed it into a killing site. Tens Dr. Irene Butter Dr. Butter will be speaking about her story of We began our day with a bus ride to- of thousands of Jews from throughout Europe were sent to the Ninth Fort Do you remember the moment when your life as a free survival during the Holocaust at Congregation wards the Majdanek camp. On the way, to be murdered in mass shootings as part of the Holocaust. Even after the young woman ended and your Holocaust experience began? Sinai on Sunday, October 28 at 2pm. Imme- we stopped at a former railway station Soviets retook Lithuania, the fort continued to be used as a site for repres- When the Holocaust began I was a child. Nazi policies changed diately following Dr. Butter’s presentation, there will be an that served as a deportation point. Ap- sion by the post-war Soviet government. Today, the Ninth Fort has been our lives very gradually. The moment when it hit me sharply was opportunity to meet Dr. Butter and purchase her book. proximately 29,000 Jews were deported transformed into a museum dedicated to its history both as a military for- when I had to turn in my bicycle. Among many other restrictions from the Lublin area to the Belzec death tress and as a site of oppression under both the Soviet and Nazi regimes. A In anticipation of this educational and meaningful event, Jews were forbidden to use any form of public transportation camp. Today, the station is no longer in dramatic monument to the Jewish victims of the Nazis now stands outside Dr. Butter kindly shared with HERC a few memories of and having to give up my bicycle shrank my world signi cantly. use, and in its place is a lovely memorial. the fort. her courageous survival as a young girl and her advice Is there a speci c memory that you for the future: It was striking how close to the main The Ninth Fort shows that the Holocaust was not just limited to the extermina- would like to share with our community? road it was. It makes sense, because it tion camps like Auschwitz-Birkenau or Majdanek or Belzec. Not all of the Jewish My worst memory still is when my father died on a train that took was a major railway station, but it still surprises me how the atrocities happened men, women, and children who were murdered were gassed and cremated. us from Bergen-Belsen to Switzerland, when we were so close to be- WHAT Dr. Irene Butter, out in the open. The camps themselves were a bit further out of the way, but still ing free. My father had done everything possible to save our family fairly close to town, too. But the Ninth Fort fails to present the full history of the massacres that oc- “Shores Beyond Shores: curred there. Its museum neglects to mention the fact that ethnic Lithuanians From Holocaust to Hope, and then we had to leave him behind in a small town in Germany. We got back on the bus and continued on to Majdanek. While Majdanek wasn’t This program is participated in the Holocaust in Lithuania; they helped the Nazis carry out the My True Story”, a partnership generously sponsored by: What do you believe that we can do to ght exclusively an extermination center, it was one of the most lethal concentration mass killings of Jews. The museum portrays Lithuanians in an entirely sympa- between HERC and Congregation Sinai. indierence, hatred, racism and anti-Semitism today? camps. It is also one of the camps that is the best preserved. We walked through thetic light. It claims that all of the atrocities committed in Lithuania during Werner L. Loewenstein To  ght hatred and all the isms of today I feel we should focus on young people FREE and open to the public the gas chambers, stained with blue from oxidized . We passed the the 20th century were perpetrated by either the German Nazis or the Soviet Memorial Endowment by teaching them about dignity and respect for all human beings. Young people barracks and looked at the exhibitions. Toward the end, we went through the Communists. The museum has an exhibit called “Lithuanians, The Saviors of WHERE Congregation Sinai, The Sweet, Halaska & Bankier Families in should be motivated to become “change makers,” to stand in the shoes of others crematorium, which was particularly moving. The sterility and cold e ciency the Jews” that discusses in detail how Lithuanians helped save Jews during 8223 N. Port Washington Road loving memory or Michael & Esther Bankier less fortunate than themselves, and to confront hatred, injustice, and bullying. I was evident and poignant. After seeing the ovens, we walked up to the me- the Holocaust. While it is important to acknowledge these rescue e orts, it is Fox Point tell students that “one person can make a di erence” in building a better world, morial monument. I didn’t really know what to expect, other than a mention of also important to recognize that not all people chose to be heroes, and that Terry & Diane Jacobs in loving even when the problems are large and we think of ourselves as being small. A key ashes under the dome. Walking up the steps and seeing the pile of ash (mixed some people chose to be villains. WHEN Sunday, October 28, 2pm memory of Phyllis & George Jagiello message in my work is “Never a Bystander.” with soil) took my breath away. It was terrible and moving and horrifying. Lithuanians, as a nation, su ered horribly at the hands of the Nazis. And yet Later, when we visited the Belzec memorial, a verse from the book of Job (16:18) some Lithuanians willingly assisted the Nazis in murdering Jews. We must was featured. It spoke to me as a plea from the victims: “Earth, do not cover my realize that history is not black-and-white, and we cannot truly learn from the blood; let there be no resting place for my outcry!” We cannot cover over the past if we are willing to ignore or erase the parts we dislike. atrocities of the Holocaust, we cannot bury their cries for justice, and we must HERC would like to thank its heed their warnings so it never happens again. y name is Biak Cin Thang and I Create A Jewish Legacy Donors go to the University of Wiscon- Thank you for making HERC’s legacy yours! y name is Laura Markley and sin-Milwaukee. I am from Burma I am a Secondary Education M Bill & Elaine Appel Bruce & Jeanette Peckerman and majoring in Theology with a focus on Mmajor in Social Science with perspectives of di erent religions around Jim & Nancy Kennedy Barnett Arleen Peltz a minor in history at the University of the world. Gene & Marilee Bass Joe Peltz Wisconsin–Oshkosh. My experience here Rachel Baum & Orrick Nahmmacher Harry & Marilyn Pelz will be incredibly bene cial for my future We continued our journey to the Vilnius Elliot & Cantor Karen Berman Jason & Susan Pelz classroom and students by being able to Jewish Museum. There are two young men provide a  rst-hand account of the sites from Austria who volunteer and lead tours. Mark Brickman Shay Pilnik & Orlee Hauser of the Holocaust in Poland and Lithuania. According to them, there were no extermi- Susan & Allan Carneol Bill & Betsy Reilly nation camps in Lithuania, but only places Jane & Steve Chernof Werner & Carol Richheimer From the Radegast train station, people where people were murdered by shooting. Betty Chrustowski Rick & Joan Rocamora in the Lodz ghetto were sent to the More than 200,000 Jews and other people Sue DaBaco Hannah Rosenthal extermination camps. Over 145,000 were murdered, including children, ill peo- James Deshur Joe Sectzer people from the ghetto were sent to dif- ple, and elders. Before the Germans came to Lithuania, the Lithuanians began ferent extermination camps. Above the killing Lithuanian Jews for no reason. They even killed their neighbors and Jerrold & Marlene Deutsch Matt Seigel & Jenya Iuzzini-Seigel entryway of the memorial, a sign says friends. When I heard about this, I was shocked because I can’t even imagine Je rey & Terri Gingold Amy H. Shapiro “Thou shall not kill,” a sad, but powerful why such a horrible thing could be allowed to happen. In addition, there is a Bev & Marty Greenberg Michael Tarno reminder. We walked to the physical station in which several railcars were on photo on the wall at the museum of the family of Shay Pilnik, the HERC Execu- Jodi Habush Sinykin Marci & Gary Taxman display. One of the railcars had a warning sign displayed on it saying “For safety tive Director who joined us on the trip. He was with us today and told us that reasons, no more than a maximum of 20 persons in the car.” It was rather ironic Stuart Ho man Russ & Melanie Wasserman his great-grandfather was killed by local Lithuanians. It was sad to hear this to display that to people because, as Tomasc said, “the Germans would  ll these Bonnie & Jack Jacobson Sheldon & Wendy Wasserman personal story from the Holocaust. cars with 70-100 people.” How? How is it possible that 70-100 people could  t Moshe & Debra Katz Mike & Sylvia Winter in this tiny railcar while we were getting cramped with 17 people? I think that We got in the bus and went to Paneriai Memorial. In this place 100,000 people Donna & Leo Kleiner that was the point of the sign. To show to us the severity and extreme condi- were shot; over 70,000 were Jewish. The natural setting of the memorial is so Becky Komisar tions that people from the ghetto endured to their unforeseen deaths. beautiful and calm. However, it feels lonely because the Germans and Soviet Marlene Lauwasser Union turned the beautiful natural place into one of the horrible and darkest The rest of our morning was spent visiting memorial sites like the Polish places in history. Now, there are only memorials. We saw the memorial to Don & Mary Jo Layden Children’s Camp Memorial and the Righteous Among the Nations Memorial. 70,000 Vilnius Jews who were murdered and burnt by the Nazi executioners Maureen Luddy There are not enough words to describe the feeling you get when you see and their accomplices. Terry & Mary Murphy these kinds of places. We made our last trip to the main walking street, Piotr- Rosalie Neufeld kowska where we walked around and stopped to eat Jewish/Polish cuisine. Even though the Germans burnt the bodies of innocent people, they are still While a lighter day in terms of sites or museums seen, it was a heavy day with alive in my heart. Visiting these places helps me to keep the memory alive and Ronna & Larry Pachefsky stories and facts about those who were part of this terrible time in history. to educate other people on what happened. Lynne Pearson

6 3 A look back… …and ahead

The rst speaker of the 2018-2019 Holocaust Stories: In their Honor series at the Harry & Rose Samson Family JCC will be Sam Peltz. Sam will share his story with the community On Sunday, March 18, HERC and on Sunday, October 21 at 10am. Congregation Shalom hosted Louise Borden, author of the The 2018 Sidney & Nina Widell Memorial On Sunday, April 8 children’s books “The Journey that Series held on Wednesday, March 21 at the Harry & Rose Saved Curious George: The True featured a staged reading of “Chiune Samson Family JCC in the Wartime Escape of Margret and H. Sugihara: Unsung Hero of the Holo- concluding Holocaust A. Rey” and “His Name was Raoul caust.” The performance looked at the Stories: In their Honor Wallenberg: Courage, Rescue, life of Sugihara who, as Vice-Consul program of the 2017- and Mystery during World War II,” for Japan in Lithuania, saved several 2018 year, Ben Merens who spoke to 240 members of the thousand Jews by issuing transit visas interviewed Renata Milwaukee community. The next so that they could escape to Japan. The Laxova, who was saved day Louise spoke to more than program also included the testimony of by Nicholas Winton’s 500 students from Bayside Middle Chaya Small, a Sugihara survivor. Kindertransport. School, Milwaukee Jewish Day Join Dr. Shay Pilnik, HERC’s Executive School, Notre Dame School, and Director, as he leads a three part Ste en Middle School. HERC’s team of volunteer Holocaust educators taught nearly 5,000 students in the In the 2017-2018 school year, HERC reached out to more than 1,000 students across the state of Wisconsin course titled “The Holocaust in 2017-2018 school year. On Thursday, May 17 at the Jewish Museum Milwaukee, through its various eld trip opportunities. On Thursday, May 3 at Congregation Emanu El B’ne Jeshurun, stu- Perspective which will take place at a group of 10th grade students from Escuela Verde discuss the context of primary dents from the communities of Fall River, Milwaukee, and Wauwatosa learn about the Torah as a part of HERC’s the Harry & Rose Samson Family JCC sources from the Holocaust with volunteer educator Chis Cowles.  agship eld trip “From Ignorance & Fear to Knowledge & Understanding: Jews, Judaism, & the Holocaust. at 10am on Wednesdays, October 31, November 28, and December 19.

This year we commemorate the 80th anniversary of the November 9th &10th pogrom known as Kristallnacht. Join our community commemoration which will take place in the Rubenstein Pavilion of the Ovation Jewish Home on Sunday, November 11 at 2pm.

On Tuesday, August On Sunday, June 3, Debbie Simon 21 HERC, Boswell Konkol, Joanne Simon Weinberg, Book Company, and and Chris Simon Halverson told 80 members of the the incredible story of their family’s community welcomed experiences during the Holocaust. The Ron Berger, who Simon sisters retraced the steps of their shared the stories of grandmother Alice Simon, who was survival during the murdered by the Nazis, and their father Holocaust of both Rev. Dr. Carl Simon, a Presbyterian his father and his minister whose family history inspired uncle. Beginning in him to become a civil rights activist, HERC was honored to host local organization Serve2Unite’s student summit on the 2018-2019 school even marching with Dr. Martin Luther Wednesday, April 25 at the Harry & Rose Samson Family JCC. Students from Fernwood year, Berger joined King Jr. in Selma. HERC Board of Montessori, Lloyd Barbee Montessori, and Messmer High School toured Pinat Hatikvah: HERC’s Speakers Directors member and Rabbi Emeritus A Corner of Hope and the Harry & Rose Samson Family JCC with Dr. Shay Pilnik, heard Bureau of second of Congregation Shalom, Rabbi Ron from Hours Against Hate coordinator Andrea Bernstein, ate an Israeli lunch of falafel generation speakers. Shapiro worked alongside Rev. Dr. and shawarma, and concluded their day by hearing from HERC Speakers Bureau mem- Simon for many years as a part of the ber Howard Melton. Interfaith Conference of Milwaukee.

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