Dear Ronald, My grandfather Nathan Liebermann lived in Vienna after the war until his death one and a half years ago. Perhaps you remember him. He was one of eight children from a very traditional family in Cluj, Romania. In May of 44 he and his entire family together with hundreds of thousand of Hungarian Jews, was deported to Auschwitz. The same day he arrived, three of his siblings (the married ones with little children) together with his mother Toby-neni, clutching a grandchild by her hand, walked to the left. Straight into the gas-chambers. As they walked to the left the little nieces and nephews of my grandfather sang the traditional Jewish song of faith ani maamin....I believe When remembering the constant fire and smoke emanating from the crematoria smokestacks, my grandfather used to say: In Auschwitz the angels had warm feet. When I think of this and other such stories, I think of the song ani maamin...I believe. Ronald- you believe. You believe not only in preserving the past for the benefit of the present, you also believe in the future. You know that Jews dont only create memory by preserving and visiting historical sites and memorials. Jewish people create memory by living as Jews. By creating new life. By continuing the legacy of their parents and great-grandparents despite the suffering they endured. Today, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the world remembers with us. Tomorrow, the world will turn its attention back to other things. But you remember every day. And through your generosity and vision you make possible continuing the memory of those who are gone, of those children who sang Ani Maamin on their way to the ovens, by giving new generations of Jewish children the privilege to learn about Judaism and their heritage. There is no greater memorial to the Holocaust than that. I am so thankful to you and your family for letting me be part of this most important and powerful task. Wishing you a meaningful day Joelle Spinner
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 07:49:31 +0000
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