JCC observes Yom HaShoah
Apr. 25—"He believed he was saved for a reason," Ariele Klausner said describing how her father, Felix Zandman, survived the Holocaust as a teenager by hiding under floorboards for 17 months.
"He had to make the most out of his life. And he was not vengeful. He wanted to do good," said Klauser, from the Philadelphia area, who spoke at the Friedman Jewish Community Center in Kingston on Thursday evening in commemoration of Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The event was a solemn one, with remarks by Rabbi Larry Kaplan from Temple Israel, Rabbi David Kaplan from Ohav Zedek and Rabbi David Levin, interim spiritual leader at Temple B'nai B'rith, and prayers including a Mourner's Kaddish in honor of the 6 million Jewish people who were murdered by the Nazis before and during World War II.
The Nazis would have been disappointed to learn that Felix Zandman survived, that he married and had three children and nine grandchildren. They likely would have been annoyed that his uncle, who shared his hiding place, insisted on teaching him algebra, trigonometry and physics — and those lessons eventually led to Zandman's ideas for improving electronic components. The company he founded, Vishay, is worth $1.5 billion today.
In the made-for-Israeli-TV documentary "The Final Victory: The Story of Felix Zandman," the title character credits a Polish woman named Anna Puchalska for saving his life by sheltering him in her home.
Puchalska had been grateful for a kindness Zandman's grandmother had shown her years earlier and, even though her own five children could have been killed if authorities discovered she was sheltering four, then five, Jewish people in a pit under the floor boards, she was determined to help, telling Zandman, "What happens to you, happens to us."
Unfortunately, millions of other stories ended less happily.
On display through April 30 in the JCC lobby is an exhibit of posters titled "Spots of Light: To Be a Woman in the Holocaust."
"It's heart-wrenching," JCC president Jane Messinger said after reading stories about women who died with their children in death camps and other horrifying tales.
One poignant vignette includes a letter from a woman named Genia Judzki.
"Dear Miss Bronja," it begins, written in Polish, more than 80 years ago. "I beg you, look after my son."
The note implores the addressee, a Polish woman, to make sure that Genia's little boy dresses warmly and has socks. It's a tender wish, reflecting motherly concern. But if you read further, you learn that Genia and her son, Michal, both died in Auschwitz.
As for her letter, just before a final "May God watch over you both," Genia wrote: "I cannot write any further. My tears are all dried up."
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