Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Sharing a special bond with Holocaust survivors
I’m one who doesn’t generally display much emotion privately or publicly, but this was not the case when I was the guest speaker at a recent meeting of Child Survivors/ Hidden Children of Holocaust — Palm Beach County.
After nearly three decades of working for a newspaper that serves one of the largest Jewish communities in the United States, I have developed a special bond with many of the Holocaust survivors that call South Florida home.
During the discussion, I recollected how the first Holocaust survivor I ever met was not at a synagogue or organizational meeting, but at a bowling alley.
When I revealed to her what I did for a living, she opened up her past and showed me the hideous tattoo the Nazis branded her flesh with in an attempt to take away her identity and dignity and leave her with a number. She told me I had the power to keep the lessons of the Holocaust in the present and future, and I have made that my personal mission ever since.
Over the years I have come to know many of the survivors on a first-name basis, and even referred to Norman Frajman, the organization’s president, as a father to me during the presentation.
Most of these wartime children are today octogenarians themselves, who were forced to the face the future without parents, grandparents or siblings and had to start their lives all over again. They represent the last generation of Holocaust survivors, and we should feel privileged to live among them.
I’m of a generation that wasn’t even alive during the war, but as a Jew and a journalist, I’m committed to promoting their cause the remainder of my lifetime.
The child survivors group meets the first Sunday at the Adolph and Rose Levis Jewish Community Center in Boca Raton and is open to anyone who would like to attend. Hopefully we will all be inspired to carry the torch.