Local NYC-Area Yom Hashoah Commemorations

by A 3G in NYC on April 15, 2012

Category: Education, Events, History, News, Volunteer

With Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, coming up this Thursday, April 19, there are a variety of commemorations and events taking place this week in the NYC area, and around the nation, as part of the annual Days of Remembrance (April 15-22, 2012).

Attending Yom Hashoah commemorations is a great way for 3Gs to participate in the Holocaust remembrance community’s events and feel connected to his/her family history and legacy on this solemn day. There are many Jewish and Holocaust-focused organizations that co-sponsor these commemorations, and attending one can be a good way to learn more about the organizations out there and get involved further with one that makes sense for your particular interests.

Not from the NYC area and looking for a Holocaust commemoration to attend? Check out the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s interactive map of nationwide commemorations to find one near you.

Here are a few Yom Hashoah commemorations happening in and around New York this week, several co-sponsored by 3GNY: A NYC-based Group for Grandchildren of Holocaust Survivors:

YOM HASHOAH COMMEMORATIONS:

SELFHELP NEXTGEN, 3GNY
Tuesday, April 17, 2012, 7 pm – Reception; 8pm – Program
The Museum of Tolerance, 226 E. 42nd St, New York, NY (between 2nd and 3rd Avenue) 

Please join Selfhelp Nextgen and 3GNY as we hear a story of survival and resistance from a client of Selfhelp’s Nazi Victim Services program.  Remarks will also be made by 3GNY’s Dan Brooks, and there will be presented a moving video on liberation by the Museum of Tolerance.

Space is limited.  Click here to register today.

For more information, please contact Julia Volpin at 212.971.5491 or jvolpin@selfhelp.net

About Selfhelp:

“Fulfilling the Promise”

Begun in 1936 to help those fleeing Nazi Germany, today, Selfhelp is the oldest and largest organization in North American providing comprehensive services to Holocaust survivors including: case management, home care, financial assistance and much more.  Selfhelp’s mission is to provide them with every opportunity to live with the comfort and dignity they so richly deserve.
Selfhelp will always remain committed to the promise made by our founder “to serve as the last surviving relative to victims of Nazi persecution.”

Co-sponsored by 3GNY

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INSTITUTE ON HUMAN RIGHTS & THE HOLOCAUST, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF JEWISH LAWYERS & JURISTS, 3GNY
Thursday, April 19, 2012, 4-6 pm
Touro College, 43 W. 23rd St, 8th Floor Conference Room, New York, NY
Free admission; refreshments served

Featuring:

Mr. Alan Moskin, 66th infantry, 71st Division
Concentration Camp Liberator

Dr. Eva Fogelman, psychologist 
Renowned Holocaust analyst, author and producer

Alan Moskin was born in Englewood, NJ on May 30, 1926.  Drafted into the army at age 18, he began his service with U.S. Army in September 1944.  A member of the 66thInfantry, 71st Division, his company participated in the liberation of the Gunskirchen concentration camp, a sub-camp of Mauthausen, in May of 1945.  After the war ended, Mr. Moskin remained in Europe until June 1946 as a member of the U.S. Army of Occupation.

Dr. Eva Fogelman was born in a displaced persons camp in Kassel, Germany after the War. She has done seminal research on non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust, and wrote a Pulitzer Prize nominated book, Conscience and Courage: Rescuers of Jews During the Holocaust. She is also the writer and co-producer of the award-winning documentary Breaking the Silence: The Generation After the Holocaust (PBS).

Seating Limited, Reservations Required
Photo ID Required for Entry

Please RSVP to hadassah.nitzan@touro.edu

Co-sponsored by 3GNY

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HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL & TOLERANCE CENTER OF NASSAU COUNTY
Sunday, April 15, 2012, 2 pm
Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center, 100 Crescent Beach Rd, Glen Cove, NY
Free admission; donations are greatly appreciated ($20 adults, $10 seniors)

Honoring Ludovit Feld, the Little Giant: Artist, Rescuer, and Auschwitz Survivor
Featured speaker: Silvia Fishbaum, Feld’s former art student and lifelong friend

Premier showing of Feld’s work in the United States!
Special Exhibit: April 15 – June 30, 2012

Ludovit Feld and his family were deported in 1944, first to the Kosice Ghetto, and three weeks later to Auschwitz.  Upon arriving at Auschwitz, Mengele selected Feld for medical experimentation because he was a dwarf.  Feld was kept alive for his artistic talent.  Housed together with “Mengele’s twins,” Feld hid several of them, ensuring their rescue.

Ludovit Feld’s collection has been displayed in England, Hungary, Slovakia, and Israel, but for the first time, this private Holocaust art collection will be on display in the United States.  Only two original pieces drawn in the ghetto are known to have survived; one is hanging in Yad Vashem’s museum, and the other will be on display at the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center.

RSVP highly recommended for this commemoration
Please contact: office@holocaust-nassau.org or 516.571.8040

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ANNUAL GATHERING OF REMEMBRANCE
Sunday, April 22, 2012, 2 pm
Congregation Emanu-El, Fifth Avenue & 65th Street, New York, NY

In the community-wide observance for Yom HaShoah, the Museum, the Warsaw Ghetto Resistance Organization, and the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Their Descendants co-sponsor New York’s oldest and largest Holocaust commemoration ceremony.

More than 2,000 survivors and their families are joined by elected officials and other members of the community in a memorial service that fulfills the sacred Jewish obligation to remember. Holocaust survivors participate with their children and grandchildren in a moving and symbolic candle-lighting ceremony that physically demonstrates the importance and power of passing memories from one generation to the next.

If you cannot join us for the commemoration, you can listen to the live audio of this solemn gathering, courtesy of Congregation Temple Emanu-El.  Streaming audio is best heard using DSL or cable internet. You will be able to listen to the audio when the widget (to appear on the right) says PLAY, just a few minutes before 2 p.m. (NYC time) on Sunday, April 22.

Reserve tickets by April 16 at 646.437.4227 or www.mjhnyc.org/annualgathering or email AGR@mjhnyc.org.

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The Days of Remembrance

by A 3G in NYC on April 15, 2012

Category: Education, Events, History, News, Volunteer

The Days of Remembrance are upon us. Most people are familiar with Yom Hashoah, the nationally recognized Holocaust Remembrance Day, but did you know that there are official days of remembrance commissioned by the United States Congress?

An executive order signed by President Carter in 1978 created the President’s Commission on the Holocaust, chaired by famed survivor Elie Wiesel,  with a mandate to investigate the creation and maintenance of a memorial to victims of the Holocaust and an appropriate annual commemoration in their memory.  After research and reports by the commission, the United States Holocaust Memorial Council was established to create an annual national civic Holocaust commemoration, and to oversee the creation of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (“USHMM”). In 1980, Congress established the Days of Remembrance  as the nation’s official annual week of Holocaust commemoration.

This year, the Days of Remembrance begin today, April 15, 2012 and last until Sunday, April 22.  

The Days of Remembrance are nationally recognized, yet separate and apart from the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. In 2005 the UN General Assembly designated January 27—the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau—as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On this annual day of commemoration, every member state of the UN has an obligation to honor the victims of the Nazi era and to develop educational programs to help prevent future genocides.  

About the Days of Remembrance from the USHMM:

In accordance with its Congressional mandate, the Museum is responsible for leading the nation in commemorating the Days of Remembrance, and for encouraging and sponsoring appropriate observances throughout the United States.

Observances and remembrance activities can occur during the week of Remembrance that runs from the Sunday before Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah) through the following Sunday (view the Remembrance Day Calendar). Days of Remembrance are observed by state and local governments, military bases, workplaces, schools, churches, synagogues, and civic centers.

The internationally recognized date comes from the Hebrew calendar and corresponds to the 27th day of Nisan on that calendar. It marks the anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. In Hebrew, Holocaust Remembrance Day is called Yom Hashoah. When the actual date of Yom Hashoah falls on a Friday, the state of Israel observes Yom Hashoah on the preceding Thursday. When it falls on a Sunday, Yom Hashoah is observed on the following Monday.

Since 1982, the Museum has organized and led the national Days of Remembrance ceremony in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, with Holocaust survivors, liberators, members of Congress, White House officials, the diplomatic corps, and community leaders in attendance.

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“The Medium” is the Message – Is Holocaust Satire Kosher?

by A 3G in NYC on April 10, 2012

Category: Education, News, Perspectives, Uncategorized

Is satire on the Holocaust ever really Kosher?  Does it depend on the “medium” in which it is delivered, or who the author is? A recent incident at Rutgers University raises the question for us.  In this instance, The Daily Medium, a satirical student newspaper (partially funded by the University) published an opinion piece entitled “What about the good things Hitler did?”   The piece was published under the name of a Jewish student, Aaron Marcus, and even included his picture. The (not so) funny part is that this piece was attributed to Mr. Marcus, without his knowledge. Marcus had lost family in the Holocaust, and given his age he is likely a 3G. Marcus was reportedly “horrified” when he opened the newspaper and read this piece published under his name, which he clearly did not author.

Outrage ensued, and the University president Richard McCormick made a statement condemning the piece. The article on the situation in the Star Ledger included excerpts of McCormick’s statement, including the following quote: ”No individual student should be subject to such a vicious and provocative and hurtful piece, regardless of whether the First Amendment protections apply to such expression.”

Marcus also went on to say that “he believes the editors’ choice to use his name instead of an alias suggests that the campus is “mainstreaming anti-Semitism.” There have been a number of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel incidents at Rutgers over the years, and Rutgers has always been a hotbed for political activism, with many student protests.

As a 3G and a Rutgers alum, I was shocked and appalled to read about this particular situation. I remember reading the Medium as a student, and there were some  outrageous things printed in there. I mean REALLY inappropriate. I’m sure many different racial and ethnic groups have been offended over the years by various articles published in the Medium, but from a 3G perspective, this editorial takes the cake for being ridiculously offensive and certainly not kosher.

Read the HuffPo coverage here, including the full text of the editorial.

Watch the video clip from the My9 TV coverage of the incident below, including Aaron Marcus’s take on the situation:

Rutgers Paper Publishes Pro-Hitler Article: My9TV.com

 

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A 3G’s Journey to Poland, Part 3

by A 3G in NYC on April 2, 2012

Category: Art, History, Perspectives, Uncategorized

It was finally time to visit Auschwitz, and already by then I was just about done with my time in Poland. I saw the country as a lifeless, sad place. It wasn’t bustling with business or teeming with beauty as some other European countries/cities were. I could not wait to get out of this country, and I was only there for four days. Some people in my group experienced antisemitism first hand, and many of us felt uneasy there.

We toured the city of Krakow and the old Jewish quarter the day before we went to Auschwitz. It was nice enough, I just had no interest of touring the city as a normal “tourist” would. We sampled some local food, we browsed the shops lining the main square in the town, and I people-watched with my camera. I was distracted by the fact that we would be at Auschwitz the next day.

Poland Holocaust Krakow © Julie Cohen Photography

© Julie Cohen Photography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poland Holocaust Krakow © Julie Cohen Photography

© Julie Cohen Photography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poland Holocaust Krakow © Julie Cohen Photography

© Julie Cohen Photography

Some of the groups participants (there were 40 of us total) spent the evening hours out at bars being social, but I preferred to have quiet nights with my friends reflecting on what we have done and what was to come. I couldn’t understand going out and partying the night before you visit Auschwitz, but who am I to judge – everyone handles the gravity and meaning of our experience on the trip differently. Some prefer the company of friends, celebrating life, others prefer to reflect in a more solemn way.

In the morning, we boarded our bus to head to Auschwitz. I believe we stopped first at the Auschwitz Jewish Center, a small establishment that is affiliated with the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York.  Here I remember seeing the old maps of Poland, and I was looking closely for the town that my grandparents were from. I saw the town on the map that my grandfather was from, something I’d never seen before on paper.

When we arrived at Auschwitz, we actually went to Birkenau first. Birkenau was the part of the compound that served as the extermination camp. We approached the entrance, and saw for ourselves the iconic train track that passed through the gates of the building. This is where the Jews arrived, were forced to give up their belongings, were separated from their loved ones, and where the selection began.

There was an empty cattle car outside the gates. It was closed, the door was locked. We could walk up to it, and peer through spaces between each wooden plank. People were packed into these cattle cars for days on their way to Auschwitz, many not knowing where they were heading or what type of future awaited them.

We spent some time by the tracks, taking it in, perhaps imagining what it would have been like for someone arriving there during the war. I noticed homes near the entrance to the camp, a village alongside it. I can’t imagine that these homes were there during the war, onlookers to the endless thousands upon thousands of people that arrived there each day. It seemed absurd to me actually.

Poland Holocaust Auschwitz © Julie Cohen Photography

© Julie Cohen Photography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poland Holocaust Auschwitz © Julie Cohen Photography

© Julie Cohen Photography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poland Holocaust Auschwitz © Julie Cohen Photography

© Julie Cohen Photography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of things that struck me first about Auschwitz when we started touring the camp was the vast enormity of the place – it seemed huge and never-ending. There were countless groups there, people shuffling from one building or section of the camp to another, many schoolchildren and groups from other countries, wandering around. The place was essentially a tourist attraction, I believed, to some at least, a place where kids were forced to go on school trips.  I remember seeing anti-semitic sayings scratched into the wood of the barracks – which made the experience even more unsettling. Seeing the hatred people still had, years later, enough to deface a place that was already filled with death and horrors was beyond me. People were supposed to go there to learn about the terrors of the past, not to further spread hatred-filled sayings for future visitors to see. It was a sobering reminder that apparently nothing is sacred.

Another thing that struck me is the never-ending row of plaques in the ground, in what seemed like 50 languages. Each plaque contained the same words. I saw people from different countries walking by each one, and stopping at the plaque containing their native language. This really underscored that Auschwitz was a global destination. People from all over the world came to see a remnant of a dark chapter in history, to peer into an incomprehensible world.

Poland Holocaust Auschwitz © Julie Cohen Photography

© Julie Cohen Photography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poland Holocaust Auschwitz © Julie Cohen Photography

© Julie Cohen Photography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Much of the Birkenau part of Auschwitz was destroyed by the Germans in an attempt to dismantle the evidence when they knew the Allied forces were approaching. We saw so many outlines of foundations of buildings, some complete, some incomplete. The place was so vast, the size of it was really incomprehensible to me. We also saw the remnants of some of the gas chambers, crumbled to the ground, still in uneven piles of bricks and wood. I couldn’t believe the piles of rubble were still “intact,” and that nature didn’t interfere over all these years. There was an enormous exhibit towards the back of Birkenau, towards the forest, which we spent some time in as well. Our group was slightly dispersed, with some people sitting down on the grass or benches to process what they saw, some huddled in groups with friends. Auschwitz was different from Majdanek many ways, it was infinitely larger with many, many more visitors. Majdanek seemed so real because we saw all the working parts, and all the elements of the camp as it fit together. Auschwitz was so big that it was hard to make sense of.  And we had only toured one section of the compound so far that day.

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A 3G’s Journey to Poland, Part 2

by A 3G in NYC on April 2, 2012

Category: Art, History, Perspectives, Uncategorized

The cemetery in Warsaw was just the beginning. As I said, I really wasn’t sure what to expect on this trip to Poland, and how it would affect me.  Our itinerary included concentration camps, of course, and exploring the remnants of Jewish history in the Polish cities including Krakow, Lublin, Warsaw, among other small towns. These city visits surrounded the camp visits. On the way to Majdanek, a concentration camp where nearly 60,000 Jews were murdered,  I remember driving through the countryside and seeing pasty-yellow cottages with red tile roofs, so many of them in a row. I pictured babushka-laden old women, carrying baskets of eggs across the cobblestone streets. Some vestige of what I imagined the 1940s to look like.

Majdanek is one of the only concentration camps that was left virtually intact. When the Russians approached Majdanek in July 1944, the Germans did not have enough time to dismantle the camp and abandoned it. This was the first concentration camp we visited on the trip, and for me it was the most powerful. The idea that one could essentially “flip a switch” and Majdanek could be a functioning camp again was very frightening. We began in the camp’s museum and information where we viewed artifacts and possessions of the prisoners through glass cases. A tour guide then began taking small groups around the compound.

Poland Holocaust Majdanek © Julie Cohen Photography

© Julie Cohen Photography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poland Holocaust Majdanek 2 © Julie Cohen Photography

© Julie Cohen Photography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They took us into the barracks. Cold, empty, dusty, crackling wooden floors under our feet. Of course we’ve read about barracks in books, we could picture hundreds of people crowded in next to each other, calling this place home.  I remember mentioning to a friend that it made sense that the sky was overcast and gray for the day we visited the camps, it made us think of what every day there must have been like for those who were interned there – every day gray and bleak.

Poland Holocaust Majdanek © Julie Cohen Photography

© Julie Cohen Photography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poland Holocaust Majdanek © Julie Cohen Photography

© Julie Cohen Photography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For much of the trip I had my camera up to my eyes, viewing the scenes through a lens. People asked why I was always taking pictures. Maybe the camera sheltered me from the reality I was seeing, maybe it was my shield. Either way, I knew that I must capture what I saw to take home with me – my own proof. Especially this day at Majdanek, I spent much of the day with the heavy camera body pressed against my face.

We stood inside the gas chambers, we toured the crematoria and saw the ovens. I felt hollow and empty inside. Everyone was full of emotion and devoid of it at the same time. Throughout our time at the camp, some members of our group were crying, some were silent, some ventured off on their own to reflect, some took our their journals and perhaps described their feelings on paper. Seeing the camps first hand affected everyone differently, and it was safe to say that by the time we left, everyone was emotionally spent.

Poland Holocaust Majdanek © Julie Cohen Photography

© Julie Cohen Photography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poland Holocaust Majdanek © Julie Cohen Photography

© Julie Cohen Photography

Poland Holocaust Majdanek © Julie Cohen Photography

© Julie Cohen Photography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seeing a camp with my own eyes made this history real. It made it come to life. I had spent my life learning about it, hearing about my family’s experiences, watching movies and reading books about the atrocities. It was one thing to read the facts and understand from what someone else saw, but another thing entirely to set foot on the grounds myself.

And we didn’t even get to Auschwitz yet.

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Food for Thought – 3GNY’s Recipes Remembered Event

by A 3G in NYC on March 27, 2012

Category: Events

In April of 2011 I received an email from the Museum of Jewish Heritage about a new book that they were publishing, called “Recipes Remembered: A Celebration of Survival.” This book, a compilation of recipes from Holocaust survivors, including stories about food memories and families, is published by Ruder Finn Press, with all proceeds benefiting the Museum of Jewish Heritage. The recipes in the book are from Holocaust survivors from Poland, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, and Greece.  At first glance, I knew this would be the perfect Mothers’ day gift for my mom, an active 2G and a lover of recipes, stories and especially books. I even considered purchasing a book for my grandmother, but then decided that the book would be wonderful for my mother and grandmother to share and read together. My mom was thrilled upon receiving it, and when she shared it with my grandmother, the first place my grandmother looked was in the index of the book to see if any of the stories were from her hometown in Poland. Reminiscing about fond memories of familiar recipes across generations, from granddaughter (3G) to mother (2G) to grandmother (survivor) is intergenerational bonding at its best.

3GNY is hosting a book talk and cooking demonstration event this Thursday, March 29 at the Jewish Museum on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, featuring the book’s author, June Hersh. This looks like it will be a special event, and I plan to attend with my mom. She is bringing her copy of the book for the author to sign.

Food for Thought: Recipes Remembered Book Talk and Cooking Demonstration

Featuring June Hersh, author of Recipes Remembered: A Celebration of Survival

Thursday, March 29, 2012, 6:30 p.m.

The Jewish Museum
Fifth Avenue at 92nd Street
New York City

Event ticket: $36 per person — Purchase Event Ticket HERE

Event ticket + advanced purchase of Recipes Remembered book: $72 per person — 
Purchase Event Ticket + Book HERE

The books purchased in advance will be available for pickup at the event, and books will also be on sale at the event. June will be autographing the books that evening. Proceeds from book sales benefit the Museum of Jewish Heritage and 3GNY.

Join us for a delicious and lively evening focused on food and storytelling with June Hersh, author of Recipes Remembered, A Celebration of Survival. June will discuss her book, including some of the stories, and then there will be a Q&A. Her presentation is tailored specifically for the 3G audience, so this is a special opportunity exclusively for our group.

After we hear from June, Executive Chef David Teyf of LOX at the Jewish Museum will show us how to prepare some recipes from and inspired by June’s book. Then, of course, we’ll eat!

Recipes Remembered is a cookbook and collection of stories wrapped into one. To create it, June personally interviewed over 80 Holocaust survivors and their families. Along the way, she discovered remarkable and uplifting stories of strength and resilience. The recipes in the book are authentic and include culinary creations from all around the world. To learn more about June and her book, visit JuneHersh.com, or view a great Fox News interview from December 2011.

Space is limited, and we expect this event to sell out. We look forward to seeing you.

For more information, please e-mail info@3gnewyork.org or visit www.3gnewyork.org.

Dietary laws observed

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A 3G’s Journey to Poland

by A 3G in NYC on March 26, 2012

Category: Art, History, Perspectives, Uncategorized

In honor of the forthcoming March of the Living Young Adult trip leaving April 15 for Poland and Israel, I feel compelled to share some of my experiences of my own trip to Poland. I participated in a program for Birthright Israel alumni called the Holocaust Mini-Masters program. As a 3G, going on this trip was immensely important to me, and something I knew I had to pursue in my life. Upon finding out about the opportunity, I immediately applied and was elated to be accepted into the program. We participated in a 10-week class, where we heard from many survivors about their experiences and shared in lively discussion. After the class was completed, about 40 young adults ventured on a 10-day trip to Poland and Prague, where we explored our connection to the past and strengthened our bonds to our unique legacy and shared history.

I didn’t know what to expect on this trip, and I certainly didn’t know how it would affect me. I was on the trip with a close friend who shares my interest in and connection to the Holocaust, which was a built-in support system I was grateful for. I was fortunate to share my time with many other interesting, passionate young Jewish adults, and many bonds were formed among the group during the trip, many of which lasted beyond our 10 days.  Although all the participants were Jewish and had a shared interest and connection to the Holocaust, only a handful were 3Gs – grandchildren of Holocaust survivors. I noticed that the trip affected the 3Gs in a different way – it was so personal and poignant for us, as we could imagine our grandparents plight during the Holocaust, and that of the many family members that perished during that time whom we did not have the privilege of ever meeting.

I’ll share some photos from my trip along with some thoughts, with more to come – as one blog post can’t capture the meaning and impact this trip has had on me.   Let’s get to the images:

Poland Holocaust 1 © Julie Cohen Photography

© Julie Cohen Photography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poland Holocaust 3 © Julie Cohen Photography

© Julie Cohen Photography

Poland Holocaust 2 © Julie Cohen Photography

© Julie Cohen Photography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the first sites we visited upon arriving in Poland was the Jewish Cemetery in Warsaw. What I noticed first was how green and lush it was, it seemed mystical and magical, and untouched. Overgrown, unkempt, with broken gravestones tumbling onto the cobblestone walkway, the cemetery felt like it was otherworldly.  It is a Jewish custom to place pebbles on gravestones as a sign of remembrance and respect. We did so, in remembrance of our family members that we never had the opportunity to meet, and for the six million as a whole.

poland holocaust 6 © Julie Cohen Photography

© Julie Cohen Photography

poland holocaust 5 © Julie Cohen Photography

© Julie Cohen Photography

Poland Holocaust 4 © Julie Cohen Photography

© Julie Cohen Photography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Our tour guide showed us the markers that outlined a mass grave of Jews. From what I recall, there were at least several hundred, maybe thousands of people buried there. The markers  that encircled the mass grave  served as one of the first sobering reminders of where we were – visiting the very grounds of where it all took place. In the cemetery, there was a bunker where Jews hid during the war. Perhaps an unlikely venue given its location, this underground bunker likely saved several lives during the war. Some of us ventured to go inside the bunker, to think for a minute what it would feel like to live there, for days, weeks, even years. Although I didn’t venture to crouch in the bunker, the message was clear to all of us. We had a lot in store for us for the remainder of our trip, and this was just the beginning.

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Virtual 3G Communities

by A 3G in NYC on March 21, 2012

Category: Events, Media, Perspectives, Uncategorized, Volunteer

Are you looking to get involved in the 3G community, but maybe a little hesitant to go to an event that your local 3G group is hosting? Have no fear, fellow 3Gs, there is a vibrant community of grandchildren of Holocaust survivors in cyberspace that you can be a part of, should you be so inclined.  Facebook makes it so easy for us to connect and share with our peers, that it is no surprise that 3G-related groups are thriving in this space. This is a good place to test the waters and find common interests within the 3G community, learn about what different organizations are doing, read Holocaust and 3G related news, and be part of the ongoing conversation of issues relevant to descendants of Holocaust survivors.

Specifically, I suggest joining the Generations of the Shoah International (“GSI”) and Grandchildren of Holocaust Survivors Facebook groups to begin with. Generations of the Shoah International is an established worldwide network of children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors.  The majority of members who post in this group seem to be 2Gs, but 3Gs may find this resource valuable and are also active in the group. GSI has a monthly newsletter that is chock-full of articles, events and initiatives that may be of interest to 3Gs.  You can sign up for the newsletter on the GSI website.  The Grandchildren of Holocaust Survivors Facebook group has more than 1,800 members, a sizeable Facebook community. There is also a Grandchildren of Holocaust Survivors Facebook page that you can “like,” and receive their posts in your news feed. The page’s administrators continually post engaging material for the 3G community to devour. The group is billed as more of a community gathering, where members can post various questions to the group, and can use the community as a resource for various research and writing projects, among other things.

To find out about events and initiatives at local 3G chapters, check out the Facebook groups and fan pages of the following organizations: 3GNY, 3GDC and Boston 3G.  3GNY has the largest Facebook following of the local 3G groups with almost 600 members, and the organization posts information on its  innovative social and educational programming in the vibrant Jewish community of New York City, among other relevant initiatives and news in the 3G arena.  Boston 3G is another leader in the social media space of local 3G organizations – they do a phenomenal job of appropriately curating the experience for their followers.  They have an impressive grasp on social media best practices, and are steadily gaining fans and expanding. They even have a Boston 3G presence on Pinterest!

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Call for Entries for Book on Third Generation Experience

by A 3G in NYC on March 21, 2012

Category: History, Media, News, Perspectives, Uncategorized

Being grandchildren of Holocaust survivors affects us all in different ways. However as 3Gs we have one thing in common – that the Holocaust certainly impacted our lives and upbringings. For the eloquent writers among our ranks,  the below is an opportunity to share your experiences as a grandchild of Holocaust survivors, either anecdotally or from a scholarly perspective, and to contribute to a book that will be part of the canon of literature on the third generation.

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From the Editors Dr. Esther Jilovsky, Dr. Jordy Silverstein and Dr. David Slucki:

Call for Papers: Forthcoming Book

In the Shadows of the Shadows of the Holocaust: Narratives of the Third Generation

The body of literature which focuses on the children of Jewish Holocaust survivors – the second generation – is extensive. From scholarly work that deals with questions of trauma and its transmission across generations, to literary and creative works that reflect the experiences of growing up carrying the burden of their parents’ trauma, much has been written on how children of survivors relate to their parents’ experiences.

Much less consideration, however, has been given to the next generation, and the impact that memories of the Holocaust have had on the survivors’ grandchildren.

This book will explore the experiences of the third generation – the grandchildren of Jewish Holocaust survivors – who will play an important role in carrying the mantle of Holocaust memory to future generations.

Questions we are interested in addressing include, but are not limited to:

- In what ways are these ‘shadows’ cast?
- Can these memories be characterised, or understood, as examples of postmemory or multidirectional memory?
- How are the narratives of the third generation gendered?
- What is the role of place in these narratives?
- What is the relationship between the testimonies of survivors and the stories which the third generation remember?
- What do these narratives have to say about Jewish identities?
- How are these histories used to create stories of resistance and solidarity?
- How do the stories which we were told by our grandparents and parents influence the ways in which we interact with others in the world?
- What silences, absences, and gaps are there in our understandings of our personal, familial, and community histories?
- In what ways have memories of the Holocaust influenced the ways that we conceptualise our sexual identities and practices?
- In what ways have public representations of the Holocaust interacted with family memories to shape understandings of the past?

We welcome both scholarly contributions (6000-8000 words) and personal narratives (2000-3000 words) – autobiographical, literary or creative – from grandchildren of Holocaust survivors that reflect the vast range of experiences of the third generation. We invite submissions from around the world, and we encourage a broad understanding of what it means to be a grandchild of Jewish Holocaust survivors.

Please send expressions of interest, including an abstract (500 words) and a short autobiographical note (200 words) as a Word Document attachment to thirdgenerationbook@gmail.com by 30th April 2012.

Dr. Esther Jilovsky, Dr. Jordy Silverstein, Dr. David Slucki
Editors

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Reunited and it Feels So Good

by A 3G in NYC on March 21, 2012

Category: Events, History, News

In honor of my trip last week to south Florida, home of many Jewish grandparents and an enclave of Holocaust survivors, the recent reunification of two long-lost cousins who haven’t seen each other since their time in Auschwitz in 1944 seems fitting for a 3Glegacy blog post.

Photo by Joshua Prezant, courtesy of The Miami Herald

Lemel Leo Adler, age 89, and Leon Schagrin, age 85, were reunited after almost 70 years at a banquet for Holocaust Survivors of South Florida in Tamarac, Florida on Sunday, March 11, 2012. Adler had been searching for Schagrin to no avail for many years, and unfortunately could not remember his cousin’s last name. A friend gave Adler a book written by another south Florida Holocaust survivor, and Adler recognized the names of some of his family members in the book. The author of the book turned out to be Schagrin, and the rest is history.  ”This is the biggest, most important day of my life,” Schagrin told the Orlando Sentinel, of the day he was reunited with the last living member of his family to have survived the Holocaust.  Learn more about the heart-warming story of how these long-lost cousins were reunited here.

We’ve heard about several family reunifications over the years, but we know that as Holocaust survivors are getting older, these reunions are becoming less frequent. The 3G community can share in the “nachas ” (Yiddish for joy) these cousins undoubtedly feel, as we can imagine the joy our own grandparents would have experienced if they were reunited with lost family members. I’m sure the grandchildren of Mr. Adler and Mr. Schagrin are experiencing that feeling right now.

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