Shades of Grey

What a vain thing is my ego!  This is a screenshot from the Bologna ceremony marking Holocaust Memorial Day at which a group from Or 'Ammim was present. It's a screenshot at the end of a brief report on local TV last week. Front and right you can see our Gabriello and, with her back to the camera, the rav aj. And my first thought upon seeing this was, omg, my hair is sooooo grey!

I think today is the day I finally have to accept that my hair is not dark with some grey, but grey with some dark. Yes of course I can dye it again, but that's not the point.

 

Teaching the Shoah to Younger Students

Yesterday in Italy we observed il Giorno della Memoria, aka Holocaust Memorial Day or Holocaust Remembrance Day. I was asked recently why this day exists when we already have Yom HaShoah. My response was that Yom HaShoah is an observance within the Jewish community, when we mourn our families. Perhaps one might say it is like a communal yahrzeit. 

HMD is for all communities of the world, and for all victims of Nazi evil. In my experience, it is much more connected to the concept of memory as an educational tool, which certainly includes paying one's respects to the victims, but really focuses on the more universal aspect of how to fight intolerance and hatred.

Once a week I go to a local state/public school and at the end of the school day I teach 2 hours of English language conversation to 19 children in the First class (c. age 11). They've just finished their first term of regular English lessons in the school, so our vocabulary is a little limited. However, since our weekly lesson fell on the exact date of HMD, with the support of the regular English teacher, we decided to devote yesterday's class to the Shoah.

It was quite a challenge to figure out how to present something appropriate for their age and language skills. But their teacher was quite excited to have me as a resource - I am the first Jew that any of the children have ever met (or, as young G. noted, as far as they know!). We have spent the last couple of lessons learning about family relationships ('niece' & 'nephew' use the same word in Italian as 'grandchildren', i.e., 'nipote'. This has been very confusing for them!), so I decided to tell them the stories of two of my relatives, using their experiences as prompts for further discussion.

The video above is the slideshow/Powerpoint presentation I used as a prompt for our class. V., the regular teacher, sat with us and translated when necessary. Even though this was supposed to be an English lesson, it was important she was there, and I was most grateful.

I think the lesson went quite well. The students had spent the previous 3 hours studying the Shoah, as mandated by the state. And last week I also spent a little time in our class preparing for the discussion. The spectrum of knowledge was broad, ranging from someone who could quote Anne Frank's Diary to someone who didn't know what a Jew was. So we did some basic history. For the main lesson, I had two concerns - how to present the horror without being too horrible, and - and this was the biggie - to address why they need to study this. Why should an 11-year-old kid from Modena care about what happened to an old woman from Chodziez a gazillion years ago?

Nu, you can see in the video how I tried to deal with it all. In very simple English. At the end there are photos of my parents with Otto Frank - I had mentioned a family connection and promised to bring the pics to show them. I thought that would be all, and then I was surprised and touched to be presented with a card that the children had made for me, and some of the pictures they had drawn.

Afterwards I had a quick word with the teacher and offered to work together for next time so that there might be a curriculum for the school. Apparently they got a letter with links to some videos to be watched and the command that creative work such as drawing and writing poems must be encouraged. I would love to help them develop something more structured. There was a positive verbal response, so we shall see ...!

Piglet Retrospective III

 

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day. Piglet visits The Empty Library memorial created by Mischa Ullman. 

In memory of all who suffered, with the hope that one day soon we will actually learn from the past, and eradicate the fear and hatred that causes such pain.

PS HMD Thoughts Update

Thinking of bikes, this is one of my favourite ones.

My last couple of posts were filled with fine words about Holocaust Memorial Day and my attempt to give it contemporary relevance for the students I am teaching. In fact, what probably had the greatest (if any) effect was an image that came to me in the middle of the class, while I was trying to make an intellectual presentation.

All the kids have bikes, and ride them regularly. I said to them, and as I said this I acted my words out physically using the aisle between the desks as my street, I said, so you're riding your bike down the street, and you want to make a right turn. You turn, and there is a gigantic hole in the road and you fall in and the bike is totalled and your legs are smashed ow ow ow ow ow! OR you're riding your bike down the street, and you see a sign that says WARNING gigantic hole if you turn right. So you don't turn right, and go on your way, with your legs and your bike intact.

What is the point of Holocaust Memorial Day? It is a giant warning sign for you, on your journey. That is why we teach you about the Nazi murderers and their victims. So you will remember what evil is possible, and not take that road. Your journey. Your life.

So that's the image that came to mind. I hope it helped make a connection for a bunch of teenage Italian boys who'd just been dragged by their school to see a documentary about Anne Frank, and had little sense of what that had to do with them.

Why it's Important to Remember

the last Red Cross note received from my mother's grandmother, who was murdered in 1942. All that is known is that they went to Riga, then to Stutthof concentration camp. There are no other details on record. Her final message to her daughter expresses joy at the news of her granddaughter's birth. 

Someone on Facebook posted today regarding their feelings about Holocaust Memorial Day. They felt strongly that they did not want to make grief from a dreadful past appear to be the central tenet of contemporary Judaism. They argued that the best way of action is to live a joyous Jewish life, thus making sense out of having survived. I wrote the following in response to that thought:

"This afternoon I shared my previous blogpost with my English language class of 18-year-old Italian young men. The Giorno della Memoria is taken very seriously in Italy. For at least one week beforehand, the television and other media are full of programmes and articles related to it, and there are public events in towns and cities across the land.

In class today I spoke to Alessandro, Singh, Riccardo, Luca, Mohamed, Matteo, Issam and others. I shared a brief version of the short life and cruel death at Buchenwald of my great-uncle Hermann. And then we talked about remembering.

What does it mean to remember? On a personal level, I mourn my family members. Our community mourns its victims. But what are these students of mine supposed to remember? I asked them what they thought. One said, murdered Jews? Ok, I said, Why? They looked puzzled.

It so happens that there was an election here yesterday, and most of these kids didn't vote. I asked them why. Well, the politicians are corrupt, and even if they say they will do what you want, they change their minds after the election. What's the point? I then asked, do you know what important event happened in Germany in 1933? Nobody knew. Someone guessed - did Hitler become Dictator? No! I said. That was when Hitler was democratically elected.

People with extreme views generally vote, I said. Those who decide not to take part leave the field free for such people. And then look what can happen. Hitler got enough power democratically, and then was able to become a dictator. You need to remember this. You need to remember what this can lead to. And you need to remember that it is in your hands to make sure such things cannot happen again.

We are not only grieving the worst thing that humans have ever done. We are witnesses, to help the world remember, so humans do not do it again. So we must remember.

If sharing a little personal remembrance on a national day of memory may help to illustrate the horror in a way that is more tangible than incomprehensible numbers, I will do it.

As for living our tradition joyfully in spite of the Holocaust, that is the other side of the coin. What a gift it is to the world to show that it is possible to live again, to love again, to build lives and families again after such a disaster. For me it goes hand in hand with remembering, rather than choosing between one or the other."

Once the last eyewitness of the Shoah has died, and that time isn't far away, we need to have a good explanation for why the new generations should care about what happened. If they are not Jewish or Roma/Sinti or LGBTQ+ or Communist or connected to any of the most well-known groups that are named when speaking about Nazi persecution, there will be little difference between this historical event and any other throughout history. We need to find a way for this memory to be relevant to all future generations.

When will they realise that remembering what happened, how it all went pear-shaped, will give them vital information for the safety and well-being of their own lives, and their families and their communities. This is work we still need to do. And it begins with telling the story.

Holocaust Memorial Day 2020

Teenage Bubi in Essen early 1930's

Six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis in the Shoah. Millions of others also suffered and died. These numbers are so large that it is hard to get your head around them. The Paper Clips project was a brilliant way to try and make 6,000,000 tangible. Still, it is overwhelming.

Tomorrow is the annual observance of Holocaust Memorial Day. This year also marks 100 years since the birth of my grandmother's baby brother Herman Albert, known as Bubi, who was one of the victims of the Nazis. There is a Jewish teaching that the death of one person is equivalent to the death of a whole world. Thus this year I begin my observance in memory of my great uncle Bubi.

The story that I was told by my grandmother was that there was a window of opportunity to buy people out of Germany. It cost £50, I think, per person. Omi worked hard to earn the money as a maid. First she was able to save her fiancé, then her sister Ilona. The window was closing, and Omi knew that she didn't have enough time to earn another £50, so she made the rounds of Jewish charities to see if she could borrow the money. Unfortunately, nobody would help. Some did not believe that there was really such imminent danger. Others told her that it was hard enough to have established themselves in the community, and they didn't want any newbie immigrants around to give the Jews a bad name! The window closed, and Bubi remained in Essen.

The situation in Germany deteriorated, and Bubi decided he would have to run away. He was still a teenager. He managed to get across the border to Switzerland. However, the Swiss said that he was a German citizen, and sent him back to Germany. He fled to Hungary, where he had cousins, but in 1944 the Hungarian Jews were also deported, and he was murdered in the concentration camp called Buchenwald.

The Central Database of Victims' Names at Yad Vashem has the following testimony:

Name:  Loewy, Herman Albert

Date of birth:  11.09.1920

Place of birth:  Essen, Germany

Citizenship:  Germany

First name of victim's father:  Simon

First name of victim's mother:  Itta

Permanent residence:  Essen, Germany

Deported from Hungary to KZ Sachsenhausen. Hanged in Buchenwald.

Residence during the war:  Italy, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary

Place of death:  KZ Buchenwald

I think Omi never got over her guilt for not having managed to bring her brother to London. 

As for Holocaust Memorial Day, the randomness of fate meant that my grandmother made it out of Germany. She gave birth to my mother, and my mother to me. And it is my job to make sure that evil such as this does not happen again. Not just to my family. Not just to Jewish people. To anyone. So this is a day to remind each other to stand up against hate. To stand up for tolerance. We don't all have to love each other. But we have to treat each other with respect. It seems so simple, but apparently it is difficult for a lot of people. I hope that these words of mine aren't just hot air. I hope that every student I teach, every person I encounter experiences me walking this walk. And when I fall down, as all humans do, I hope I am brave enough and strong enough to correct my mis-steps and continue walking.

In the name of all whose names are remembered tomorrow, and for all who have nobody to remember them, I remember Herman Albert Loewy.

Holocaust Memorial Day 2015

This year marks the 70th since the liberation of Auschwitz in 1945. I suppose that I should be glad that national television stations think it is important to put on programmes marking this occasion, e.g., Claude Lanzmann's "Shoah", a documentary about Alfred Hitchcock's forgotten film and "The Eichmann Show". It's so hard to see them, and to sleep afterwards. However, since there are still those around us who feel able to make the ridiculous claim that the Holocaust never happened, I guess we must keep on telling the story.

Never again!

Blood Libels and Antisemitism in the UK

This is the top half of a cartoon by Gerald Scarfe that was printed in the Sunday Times newspaper last weekend, 27th January. The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is pictured building a wall that imprisons people - presumably Palestinians - between the bricks. The mortar he is using appears to be made from blood. The caption at the bottom read, "Will cementing the peace continue?"

This is a country that still believes in freedom of the press, and one doesn't have to agree with Scarfe's perspective. However, to have published this on International Holocaust Memorial Day seems at best utterly bad taste. At worst some have accused him of antisemitism. News International mogul Rupert Murdoch apologised via his Twitter account saying that a "major apology for grotesque, offensive cartoon" was owed. Scarfe apologised for the "very unfortunate timing" of the publication, and insisted that he was not antisemitic. In an interview with the Jewish Chronicle, he said that his drawing "was a criticism of Netanyahu, and not of the Jewish people:  there was no slight whatsoever intended against them."

I am inclined to believe that this is what he believes. I do think, however, that there is a bit of a problem with the imagery he used. The bloody mortar evokes imagery of the blood libel that has haunted Jewish communities across the world since medieval times. It originated with the false claim of Jewish guilt for the crucifixion of Jesus; and developed into the even more false belief that Jews used the blood of murdered Xians (especially children) in their rituals, e.g., that it is a vital part of the recipe for Passover matzah or the filling for the hamantaschen pastries eaten at the festival of Purim. This blood libel has been the excuse for premeditated physical attacks on Jewish communities for centuries, and is thus a somewhat sensitive subject. To use blood imagery and expect it to be seen outside that context is ingenuous. Nevertheless, this does not automatically make it antisemitic.

Roy Greenslade has a good article in today's Evening Standard where while arguing for freedom of the press he also reminds us of the responsibilities of the author and the editors. He writes about Scarfe and Steve Bell of the Guardian:

"Though I doubt whether the cartoonists meant to be anti-semitic, complainants would surely say this is the point - unintentional racism is as unacceptable (arguably worse), than intentional racism. It was undoubtedly thoughtless and neither man can plead naivety. They are veterans in a craft that exists in order to offend."
(The rest of Greenslade's article is here.)

In the end, I would say that what happened was thoughtless, but not antisemitic. In the Guardian, Anshel Pfeffer points out that:

"There is absolutely nothing in the cartoon which identifies its subject as a Jew. No Star of David or kippa, and though some commentators have claimed Netanyahu's nose in the cartoon is over-sized, at most this is in line with Scarfe's style (and that of cartoonists) of slightly exaggerating physical features."
(the rest of the Guardian article is here)

There are enough people in the world who hate others and promote that hatred - we do not need to increase their number by adding Gerald Scarfe to their cabal.