- by Anne Finlay-Stewart, Editor
It is an annual remembrance, Yom Hashoah, the Holocaust Day of Rembrance. This year, for the first time, the congregation of Beth Ezekial Synagogue in Owen Sound invited their neighbours to be with them and they came, filling every seat.
President of the synagogue Jeff Elie reminded us that in these dangerous days of rising hate for many groups, the Jews are in a unique position to draw us to stand together against it.
"We know how it begins. And we know how it ends ...
"This is not about us. This is about ALL of us."
Family stories of death and near death, escape, liberation, survival, hope and new life in Canada followed, punctuated with music and poetry of holocaust survivors. Jeff invited us to take what we felt this afternoon back to our familes, congregations, classrooms and workplaces.
The content of the day will soon be shared on the Beth Ezekial website, and we will give you that link so you can spend some time with the words and music.
Aly Boltman spoke to the powerful holocaust memorial on the synagogue's south wall, and we are grateful she has shared her words.
“Over time, our congregation has had children of survivors and survivors themselves, including Lazar (Leslie) Kleinman and Hershel (Harry) Kozuch. Harry was born in Poland and was 16 when he was taken to a labour camp, followed by two concentration camps. He lost 33 members of his family to Auschwitz.
"Leslie Kleinman was born in Romania. His family of 10 was deported to Auschwitz where 14 year old Leslie was forced to do hard labour with nothing but pyjamas and bare hands, even in -25 degree weather. Leslie’s entire family was lost. He survived the final death march by eating snow and grass. Harry died last year at 96. Leslie died in 2021, at the age of 92. In 2008, Harry was quick to notice Beth Ezekiel did not have a Holocaust Memorial.
"Yes, we had a plaque to honour Moses Rabovsky, Bernard Nidelman and Benjamin Sussman, young men from our congregation who died fighting for their country in the Second World War.
"We also had a yaherzeit plaque to remember the family of Saul Podchlebnik (Podnik). You’ll notice it’s different than all of the rest for a reason. Saul Podnik was a Jewish Pole, who came to Owen Sound to train with the Polish Army in exile. Here he met and fell in love with Nettie Oretsky, returning overseas to fight and to discover that his parents and four sisters had been annihilated in a single day, along with their entire village. This unique, single yaherzeit plaque remembers all six of them. Saul died here in 1988.
"Beth Ezekiel launched a fundraising auction for the cause and welcomed local schools to hear Leslie and Harry speak directly, an event we recorded. When the money was raised, Brahm Friedlander, an Owen Sound cabinet maker and Ofra Svorai, a painter raised in Israel and now from Kimberley, were hired to create a collaborative memorial. The artists had 73 years of combined experience between them.
"In 2010, our moving, meticulously hand-made memorial that says To Remember and Never Forget (in Hebrew) was unveiled, taking over one thousand hours to complete.
"In Brahm’s words: Frequently brought to tears during the carving of this memorial, I was overwhelmed by the reality of the atrocities committed during this period of our history, and our miraculous survival as a people.
"The carving [of the tree] is deep and strong, from the 12 roots representing the 12 tribes of Israel [Reuben, Simeon, Ephraim, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Manasseh, Benjamin], through the trunk surrounded by barbed wire and misery, to the menorah, Torah, dove and lights representing our persistent hope for peace and survival.
”The background, consisting of about 15,000 individual carving cuts, brought clearly to mind how much the number 6 million really represents.
"Ofra said that as she worked on the monument, she felt guided every step of the way.
"I am truly moved that you all joined us today. It can be intimidating for us to publicly open our doors.
"Despite dogged documentation and education to understand the extent of the atrocities of the Holocaust, events that educate, that venerate, that reconnect us to the deepest wellspring of our humanity, we are still fighting ignorance and hate among our friends and neighbours outside these walls.
"My oldest son has experienced more anti-Semitism in his 18 years than I have in five decades, the last incident of which was two weeks ago at his school.
"As I nervously prepare for him leave our home, my wish today is simple: take one thing you heard today, one single thing, and let it settle into the marrow of your bones for the sake of the victims of the Shoah.
"And may you be compelled to act, to speak up, to bring positive change, and ultimately, to help achieve what our people call Tikkun Olam, for the repair of the world.”
