This is a second interview with my mother, Marci Silverman who discovered that distant relatives were murdered during the Holocaust. This interview touches on this discovery, her thoughts on the Holocaust and the growing anti-Semitism that has become a problem in today’s world.
Elaborate again on how you discovered that family members perished during the Holocaust:
While looking into my ancestry a number of years ago, I found a distant cousin on my mother’s side that had done a whole family tree for the Holtz family. She informed me that many Aunts and Uncles of my grandmother, from Lipno, Poland were sent to both the MajdanekCamp and Auschwitz where they lost their lives. It was a sobering moment, because I had always thought that all my ancestors had come to America in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s and had escaped the genocide in Eastern Europe. (see my previous interview for more particulars of my family ancestry and the family members that perished during this time)
When did you first learn of the events surrounding the Holocaust?
I started Hebrew School in 3rd grade at the East Midwood Jewish Center in Brooklyn, New York. I remember at an early age that the study of the Holocaust was an important part of the curriculum. There is a saying surrounding the Holocaust that we Jews must “never forget.” I can still recall watching the horrific films of the dead and the starving individuals in the camps. It has left an indelible imprint on my mind. I understand the vital importance of Holocaust education, so that events like the Holocaust can never happen again. It was therefore important that I educated my own children on the details of the Holocaust when they were old enough to deal with the terrible truth.
Do you see troubling signs of anti-Semitism surfacing in today’s world?
I am saddened by the increase in anti-Semitic acts that are taking place around the world. Cemeteries are being defaced, and synagogues and being destroyed. Hitler did the same thing in his time. He had an old synagogue demolished by decree. In Paris recently a kosher market was under attack. And everyday you hear of the Jews in Europe having difficulties in a society that is increasingly unwelcoming. I hope that this is not history repeating itself, but the situation is definitely a scary one, and one that I find very troubling.
Elaborate again on how you discovered that family members perished during the Holocaust:
While looking into my ancestry a number of years ago, I found a distant cousin on my mother’s side that had done a whole family tree for the Holtz family. She informed me that many Aunts and Uncles of my grandmother, from Lipno, Poland were sent to both the MajdanekCamp and Auschwitz where they lost their lives. It was a sobering moment, because I had always thought that all my ancestors had come to America in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s and had escaped the genocide in Eastern Europe. (see my previous interview for more particulars of my family ancestry and the family members that perished during this time)
When did you first learn of the events surrounding the Holocaust?
I started Hebrew School in 3rd grade at the East Midwood Jewish Center in Brooklyn, New York. I remember at an early age that the study of the Holocaust was an important part of the curriculum. There is a saying surrounding the Holocaust that we Jews must “never forget.” I can still recall watching the horrific films of the dead and the starving individuals in the camps. It has left an indelible imprint on my mind. I understand the vital importance of Holocaust education, so that events like the Holocaust can never happen again. It was therefore important that I educated my own children on the details of the Holocaust when they were old enough to deal with the terrible truth.
Do you see troubling signs of anti-Semitism surfacing in today’s world?
I am saddened by the increase in anti-Semitic acts that are taking place around the world. Cemeteries are being defaced, and synagogues and being destroyed. Hitler did the same thing in his time. He had an old synagogue demolished by decree. In Paris recently a kosher market was under attack. And everyday you hear of the Jews in Europe having difficulties in a society that is increasingly unwelcoming. I hope that this is not history repeating itself, but the situation is definitely a scary one, and one that I find very troubling.