Holocaust survivors get virus vax
Shots also given to Phase 2-eligible family members
Holocaust survivors who have not been helped by the state amid the aggravating coronavirus vaccine rollout received the precious shot at a Brookline clinic for survivors and their families.
More than 100 people, as old as 101, were given the vaccine at Congregation Kehillath Israel — a “really powerful experience and a beautiful community effort,” said Rabbi Danielle Eskow, who helped organize Thursday’s clinic.
Wearing a mask and teary eyed, Allan Steinmetz received the vax at the Brookline synagogue. The 68-year-old’s parents and inlaws were Holocaust survivors.
“I was thinking of my parents and my in-laws, imagining what they went through and what little I’ve gone through to get the privilege to get the vaccine today, and thinking that I got something as a result of the Holocaust,” said Steinmetz, of Newton. “It sounds very strange, but it’s a sad consequence but one welcomed at the same time.
“My parents and in-laws suffered and had recollections of the Holocaust all their lives,” he added. “They lived with it every day of their lives. They would have been pleased that in the end, a second-generation survivor got something positive as a result of their suffering.”
Eskow started to put together the clinic after receiving the vaccine at Dr. Justin Holtzman’s Brookline clinic and talking with her sister, Dr. Marisa Tieger, who’s a vaccinator there.
“My sister said to me, ‘You volunteer so much with the survivor community. Why don’t we combine forces and get a clinic for survivors?’ ” said Eskow, co-founder and CEO of an online education program called Online Jewish Learning.
“I thought about how difficult it must be for survivors to get an appointment,” Eskow added. “Many of them are homebound and live alone, and it’s hard for them to get to Gillette or Fenway, and hard to navigate the online system.”
They worked together on the survivor clinic, and Holtzman set aside doses for the survivors and their family members who are eligible for the vax under Phase 2 of the state’s rollout.
Thursday’s vax clinic came on the eve of Purim, the Jewish holiday that celebrates the safety of the Jewish population from persecution.
“To do this for these people on the eve of the holiday, it’s pretty cool,” said Kehillath Israel Executive Director Barnet Kessel. “It feels even more right that we were able to do it on this day, and then the second dose will be around Passover, which marks the liberation from bondage.”
About 120 people were vaccinated at the clinic, including 86-year-old Holocaust survivor Marianne Kronenberg, who lives in Needham.
“I was very grateful for everybody who arranged this,” she said. “It’s a lifethreatening disease, and to get the vaccine gives hope that everything is going to turn out alright.”