Oldest Living Holocaust Survivor Alice Herz-Sommer, Part II

On October 10, 2010, I wrote a brief blog (“Music Is God”) about Alice Herz-Sommer, who at 107 was the oldest surviving Holocaust survivor. Alice, now 108, is at last receiving the notice she deserves. The video about her I mentioned in that first post, “Alice Herz Sommer in A Century of Wisdom,” which at that time had been removed from YouTube, is now back, along with several others listed in the right-hand sidebar that are equally worthwhile. I have revised the initial post, in case you want to go back and read it again.

Recently, I finished a moving and well written book about this amazing individual called A Century of Wisdom: Lessons from the Life of Alice Herz-Sommer, the World’s Oldest Living Holocaust Survivor (New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2012). The author, Caroline Stoessinger, is also a concert pianist, interviewed Alice for many hours during a seven-year period. During Alice’s childhood in Prague, she spent weekends and holidays in the company of such luminaries as Franz Kafka, Gustav Mahler, Sigmund Freud, and Rainer Maria Rilke. After she moved to Israel, Golda Meir, Arthur Rubinstein, Leonard Bernstein, and Isaac Stern attended her house concerts. Much of the book is devoted to Alice’s experiences in Theresienstadt, where she was incarcerated with her young son. Her positive attitude  — and, of course, her music — enabled them both to survive. Her parents and her husband did not.

Fortuitously, just last night I was reading the new summer issue of Jewish Book World, in which this book was reviewed, along with another about recent book Alice about which I hadn’t yet heard. Entitled Alice’s Piano: The Life of Alice Herz-Sommer (St. Martin’s Press, 2012). this one was authored by Melissa Müller and longtime friend of Alice’s, Reinhard Piechocki. In the Foreword, written by Alice herself, she states her view that music “takes us to paradise.”

However difficult our lives may seem at times, few of us have been through struggles and traumas as severe as those that marked Alice Herz-Sommer’s long and interesting sojourn on this earth. If you want to be inspired, learn more about Alice. Absorb her lessons on how to face all that life offers — the beautiful and the horrific — and still move ahead excited about each day and positive about living. Hers is a powerful message for us all.

Shanghai Tour of Jewish History

Jeanne Lawrence has written a terrific blog about her recent tour in Shanghai with guide/journalist Dvir Bar-Gal. Her article features many photos of Shanghai yesterday and today, including the Peace Hotel (formerly the Cathay Hotel, one of the E.D. Sassoon hotels where, incidentally, my late husband Fred Marcus was a receptionist after WWII); the  old ghetto area;  Ohel Moshe Synagogue, now a refugee museum; as well as life in the lanes where many Jews lived in Hongkew.

Lawrence’s brief history describes the three waves of Jewish immigration to Shanghai — the Baghdadi Jews (seeking business opportunities, 1840s), the Russian Jews (fleelng from Tsarist Russia,1920s), and the refugees (escaping from the Nazis, 1930s). She also commends Chiune Sugihara, Japanese consul in Kovno, who — against the orders of his government — wrote visas for Japan for over 2,000 Jews (see my post on 11/1/11,”The Mystery of Chiune Sugihara), and Chinese diplomat Dr. Ho Feng-Shan, who saved the lives of many Austrian Jews by issuing them visas for China. Among those who received one of these visas was Dr. Lotte Marcus, guest blogger on this site (see “Shanghai Refugee Life: A Teen’s Perspective,” posted on 11/20/10).

Don’t miss this interesting blog by Jeanne Lawrence. To access it, go to http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/node/1907832. If you have problems with the link — just copy it and paste it into your navigation bar. Or you can Google Shanghai Social Diary and the post will come up. Thanks to Shanghailanders Gary Matzdorff of L.A. and Peter Witting of Australia for sharing this.

The Jewish Community of Harbin, China

I’ve written previously about Jewish Refugees escaping Hitler who ended up in Shanghai, as well about as the Jews of Kaifeng, Persian merchants who traveled over the Silk Road to settle there, perhaps as early as the 8th century. But there is still another story to be told: that of the Jews of Harbin, Manchuria.

At the end of the nineteenth century, many Jews were eager to leave Russia because of rampant anti-semitism, frequent pogroms, and grinding poverty. Oddly, it was the Tsar himself who made it possible for Jews to live in Manchuria without restrictions. In 1895, the Russians leased land from China in order to extend the Trans-Siberian line across Manchuria. After this rail line was completed, the Tsar needed to establish Russia’s economic hold in the area, and that’s why the Jews were allowed to settle there. Most chose to live in Harbin, the administrative hub of the railroad and a soon to become a thriving city. More pogroms in Russia resulted in more Jews settling there. Later, others also came, including demobilized Jewish soldiers after the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. World War I and the aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 brought still more. Some say that at its peak in 1920 there were over 20,000 Jews in Harbin, making it one of the largest Jewish communities in that part of the world.

The Main Synagogue after Restoration

The New Synagogue

Hunagshan Royal Hill Jewish Cemetery

As in other locales where Jews settled, a noteworthy infrastructure was created that included two synagogues, a library, schools, women’s organizations, a soup kitchen, a home for the aged, a Jewish hospital, and a cemetery. (Although the latter was moved, 583 of the original 3,000 gravestones remain.)  Some of these architectural treasures still remain and can be seen by clicking here. (After the power point is downloaded, click on the icon at the bottom left of your screen. Then, to advance the photos, click on each image on your screen.) The New Synagogue now houses a Museum of Jewish History and Culture, while the Main Synagogue is a hotel and guest house of the Harbin Railway Department.

Jews were business people, bankers, teachers, and artists, as well as owners of cafes, shops, hotels, and factories. There were as many as 20 Jewish newspapers and periodicals, nearly all written in Russian. Several Zionist organizations existed, the largest of which was Betar.

Harbin has been called “heaven” and “paradise” in both memoirs and scholarly works. However, according to Prof. Dan Ben-Canaan of Heilongjiang University School of Western Studies in Harbin, nostalgic accounts have taken over what he calls “historical reality.” Such accounts, according to Ben-Canaan, obscure the anti-Semitism and fascist conflicts that existed under Russian rule, as well as the terror caused by frequent kidnappings and murders under the Japanese occupation. The author asserts that these factors caused the community to dwindle significantly in the 1930s and 40s. (BTW, many who left Harbin in those years ended up in Shanghai, becoming part of the large Jewish community that was there when the Central European refugees arrived in the late 30s.) To read the full text of Prof. Ben-Canaan’s article, click here.

Today Harbin is a modern metropolis of 9.4 million people. Whichever it was for the Jews who made it their home — heaven or hell — the city remains a significant part of the history of Jews in the Far East.

Youth by Samuel Ullman

Samuel Ullman

Five years ago, I enjoyed a fascinating documentary at a film festival about Samuel Ullman (1840-1924), a little known German-Jewish immigrant to the U.S., who became a businessman, philanthropist, and poet. The film, “So Long You Are Young: Samuel Ullman’s Poem and Passion,” reviews Ullman’s life through interviews, historical footage, and photographs, starting with Ullman’s arrival at the age of 11 in Port Gibson, Mississippi, and his subsequent move to Natchez, where he married, fathered six children, started a drygoods business, was a city alderman, and a member of the board of education. He later moved to Birmingham, Alabama, serving for 18 years on the city’s first board of education, progressively advocating for equal educational benefits for black children and helping to establish a high school for blacks, a rarity in his time. He also served as president and then lay rabbi of the city’s reform congregation Temple Emanu-El.

When he retired, Ullman wrote letters, essays, and poetry on such subjects as love, nature, religion, and family. His most famous poem, “Youth,” was written in 1917 at the age of 77, and has been called a directive on how to live one’s life. Twenty years after Ullman died, General Douglas MacArthur came across the poem, which he framed and displayed in his Tokyo office at the end of World War II and also mentioned frequently in his speeches. Because of this, the poem became an inspiration to many in war-torn Japan who were seeking hope after the capitulation. Surprisingly, Many Japanese can still recite lines from the poem, which they committed to memory as school children.  Prominent businessmen in Japan, including Kounosuke Matsushita, founder of Panasonic Electronics, still refer to its influence, and it is quoted by both politicians and advice columnists. The Foreword to the book Samuel Ullman and “Youth” by Margaret E. Armbrester was written by Japanese author Jiro M. Miyazawa. Japanese are frequent visitors to the Samuel Ullman Museum, a facility of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, housed in the home where Ullman resided during the last years of his life. In fact, the museum’s website has a page written in Japanese!

As I grow older, Ullman’s words are ever more meaningful to me as well. I especially like the line “Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.” To read Ullman’s remarkable and moving poem, click here. I’d be interested in your reaction to the poem.

Good-bye 2011

Although I’ve not been blogging as regularly these last six months as in the previous year, I have nonetheless posted 62 times during 2011. Here are some other interesting statistics about my blog, Audrey Friedman Matters, that I thought might interest you.

In 2011, 4200 people visited the site. Well, it’s not The Huffington Post, but I think that’s pretty good. Visitors are mostly from the U.S., with Canada and the United Kingdom not far behind. I was pleased to see that there were also hits from people in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, South Africa, Egypt, Israel, India, China, Hong Kong, and Thailand.

There have been 226 comments posted on the blog, and the person with the most comments is Lucy Delman.

More visitors read “Chinese Jews — Yes, Really!” than any other post, with “France and the Jews in World War II” a close second.

I’m extremely grateful for the support of and comments from so many readers, and I wish you a joyous 2011, filled with health, fulfillment, and many blessings.

At Home Spa

RD, BG, RL, and yours truly at the first at home spa

There’s no way my friend BG could have known that her casual suggestion to hold a spa at her house would end up changing our lives. Here’s how it all began.

In 1998, there we were, four women pals from Denver, relaxing and rejuvenating for a week at a Mexican spa. Upon our return, we debriefed the experience and talked about repeating it in the future.

“I’d love to go back to the spa again,” I commented, “but it’s so expensive.”

RD chimed in, “I agree. When all is said and done, it’s a $5,000 bite for just a week.”

Tongue in cheek, BG offered, “Well, why don’t you all just come to my house, and we can have our own spa!”

“Hey,” responded RL, “that’s not a bad idea!”

And tha’ts how our “at home spa” became a reality. We immediately began brainstorming as to how we might fill our week. We’d exercise in the mornings at a nearby athletic club. A manicurist would come one day, a masseuse another. We had no doubt that our friend the yoga instructor would be happy to host a session in her home studio. We invited a nutritionist, and decided to engage in a Lakota healing circle. Why not conclude with a brunch and a symphony concert? Grea ideas came rushing in. A few phone calls later and the week was all set up.

The initial gathering was a huge success. BG’s large, comfortable house was an ideal location. A room was set aside for meditation. The modern kitchen was open 24 hours a day. A washer and dryer were at our disposal, as well as a piano. Healthy meals were prepared by the daughter of a friend. Music, reading, games, and stimulating conversation filled every unscheduled moment. At the end of the week, we each made a commitment toward a healthier lifestyle.

The cost? A mere $332 each — for everything!

Over a period of ten years — until we moved on together to form a different sort of group — the at home spa morphed into an annual four-day retreat in January. We did without the caterer and took turns preparing our own elegant dinners. While the basic outline of the schedule remained the same — exercise, beauty treatments, speakers, closing brunch and symphony — the program took a more sophisticated turn each year. Stimulating speakers lectured on such topics as self-responsibility, the mind-body connection, spiritual wisdom, dreams, adventures in intuition, and finances for women. We enjoyed sessions with a graphologist, a trainer, and a psychic. We read plays, discussed books, and shared our favorite poems.

l-r, RD, Me, MT, RL

A few years later, MT, whom we had met at the Mexican spa, joined our group, adding her fun-loving personality, astute intellect, and search for wholeness. To her (and to all of us) the spa came to represent “the most all-encompassing mind-body experience, a fusion of heart, soul, and intellect in the safest, most supportive environment. The memory of the days spent together offers the strength to be in the world more fully, more joyfully, more peacefully.”

The five of us became a close and cohesive group, trusting and respecting each other, and willing to work through the deeply personal issues that we confront. Any small group of women friends would find an at home spa gathering rewarding. The character of each undertaking will no doubt be quite different from ours. But, whatever shape it may take, I guarantee the participants will learn and grow and become closer as a group. And who knows what effect this new awareness will have on each person, on those around them, and on the state of the world? It could start a global epiphany!

The Mystery of Chiune Sugihara

Chiune Sugihara, a Righteous Gentile

The heroic story of Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese Vice Consul in Kovno, Lithuania from November 1939 to early September 1940, is well known.  Working in tandem with Jan Zwartendjik, a Dutch Consul in Lithuania who provided visas to Curacao, Sugihara defied his government’s instructions and wrote thousands of visas to Japan so that those same Polish Jews could travel east across Soviet territory, presumably to  exit through Japan to get to Curacao. In reality, visas were not even necessary for Curacao, and none of the Jews had any intention of going there. But the fiction was accepted by the Lithuanian government. All told, Sugihara issued 2,139 visa. Including family members, this resulted in the escape of  around 10,000 Jews. He stopped writing the visas only when Russia annexed Lituania and closed his consulate.

Hillel Levine’s complex book In Search of Sugihara: The Elusive Japanese Diplomat Who Risked His Life to Rescue 10,000 Jews from the Holocaust  (New York: The Free Press, 1996) sheds some light on the reasons for Sugihara’s actions, yet leaves many unanswered questions. The author reveals Sugihara’s connections to Jews (including the startling revelation that his first wife was a Russian Jew); his associations with Jews in Harbin, where he received much of his education; and a close friendship with a Jewish family in Kovno). It is quite clear that Sugihara was trained as a spy and was undoubtedly sent to Kovno to get information on the planned German military campaign against Russia. In addition, he was fluent in Russian and spent some time in the Soviet Union. He therefore had access to both Russian and Japanese officials, some of whom may have looked the other way as the visas were written and later as Jews traveled east across Russia. Further, while he was no longer allowed to be a diplomat after the war, Sugihara was never disciplined by the Japanese government for his actions. Levine hints at the possibility of a secret Japanese plan to save Jews from the Nazi genocide. (This suggestion, by the way, is further borne out by the fact that the Japanese did not accept the recommendation of their German allies to murder the Jewish refugees in Shanghai, but rather interned them in a ghetto area.) All of these allegations are fascinating. Yet, Sugihara’s courageous act is all that really matters. For more on Sugihara, view the short and interesting film “Visas and Virtue.” a short and very interesting film on Sugihara. For information, click here.

In the fall of 1999, my late husband Fred and I traveled to the Baltic countries, first to Estonia, then Latvia (the homeland of my maternal grandparents), and finally to Lithuania. In Vilnius, we toured the city with a pleasant and knowledgeable guide. At our request, Ludmilla agreed to drive us to Kovno (Kaunas) the next day. We first visited the infamous Ninth Fort, where an estimated 80,000 people, including most of the Kovno Jewish community, were murdered by the Nazis. After plodding through room after room of photos and documents so grisly it made us ill, we were finally buoyed by one devoted to Chiune Sugihara. We immediately became determined to visit the consulate where Sugihara wrote so many lifesaving visas. Ludmilla drove us to a beautiful, tree-lined residential area, and there we came upon an unimposing house, no longer fenced as it was in Sugihara’s time, with a small plaque commemorating Sugihara’s actions.

Across the street, we noticed a Japanese tour group receiving apples from a local woman. I was surprised to see Fred head over to their guide. “We are from America,” he said, “and we came all this way to pay our respects to Mr. Sugihara.” The guide’s translation of Fred’s statement caused much oo-ing and ah-ing and a smattering of applause. It was obvious that the group wanted to do something for us, and they did. Solemnly, they each gave us the apple they had received from the neighbor. Much bowing and waving accompanied our departure. We ate the apples on the way back to Vilnius. The apples — and this moving experience — were delicious.

A New Home for the Journals of Fred Marcus

Fritz Marcus in Shanghai

On the occasion of his Bar Mitzvah in 1937, Fritz Marcus received a diary as a Bar Mitzvah present. Although he carefully wrote in the flyleaf the date he received the diary and the donor, he began to write in the journal only after his father passed away in Shanghai in 1944. From that time on, however, he never missed a day of writing in German in his diary.

The three diaries that survive provide an amazing record of life in Shanghai as it was experienced by Fritz and the 20,000 other Jewish refugees during and after World War II. Fritz wrote of the difficulties of being interned by the Japanese in a ghetto area; his problems earning a living; the many illnesses he and the other refugees battled; the help provided to the refugees by the Sephardic and Russian Jewish communities; the invaluable soup kitchens, bread rations, and stipends from the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, and the bombing of the ghetto area by U.S. planes on July 17, 1945. The diaries make us aware of the courage of the refugees as they made the best of a bad situation, created a lively cultural life in the ghetto, and took advantage of the many educational opportunities that were provided. For while life was difficult, Shanghai was a paradise for Jews compared to Europe.

After the war ended, Fritz (who decided to be called Fred) found a job as a receptionist at the famed Cathay Hotel (now the Peace Hotel). There he earned a good living, reveling in his newfound freedom. He made long-lasting friendships with some of the U.S. military personnel who were billeted at the hotel, and even became an avid football fan. The diaries reveal how he and the other refugees learned about the Holocaust and the tragic fate of Jews in Europe. As his friends begin to leave for the U.S., Canada, Israel, and Australia, we feel his loneliness. It was not until 1949 that Fred received the necessary affidavit to realize his dream of going to the U.S. He became a naturalized citizen as quickly as he could and thrived, first in the hotel business, and then as a full-time Jewish educator.

After Fred’s death in 2002, I decided to have his diaries translated into English, and was fortunate to find Rena Krasno (z”l), who was born in the Russian community of Shanghai, to do the translation. In the course of the year and a half it took her to complete the task, we decided to write a book together based on the diaries. Survival in Shanghai: The Journals of Fred Marcus 1939-49 was published by Pacific View Press in 2008.

The Hoover Institution, Stanford University

Before her death, Rena introduced me to the Hoover Institution and urged me to donate Fred’s original diaries to their China archives. On October just over a week ago, Fred’s son David and I drove from Los Gatos to Palo Alto where we realized Rena’s wish. We were warmly received at the Hoover by Lisa Nguyen, Archivist/Curator of the Asia Collections. Sitting with Lisa where we could see scholars at work using documents from the extensive archives, we were moved to imagine others reading and learning from Fred’s diaries. As we signed over the three journals and promised to send other supporting materials, we thought about what this occasion would have meant to Fred, who wrote his diaries solely for himself, never thinking that his writings would be available as a book or that they would have a place in
a well respected historical archive.

To readers who are Shanghailanders, I urge you to consider giving your treasured memorabilia to the Asia Collections at the Hoover Institution where they will be available to scholars and preserved for the benefit of posterity. If interested, contact lisa.nguyen@standford.edu.

Donating the Fred Marcus Diaries to the Hoover Institution; Audrey Friedman Marcus, Lisa Nguyen, David Marcus

Chinese Jews — Yes, Really!

Jews in Kaifeng

For years I ‘ve been fascinated with the Jews of Kaifeng, China, whose merchant ancestors from Persia traversed the Silk Road and arrived in that important capital city during the Song Dynasty, perhaps as early as the 8th century. Welcomed by the Emperor and invited to stay, they settled down and built a substantial community that may at one time have numbered as many as 5,000.

Accepted by their Chinese neighbors, they built a beautiful synagogue in the twelfth century, which was destroyed by natural disasters and rebuilt several times. Up until 150 years ago, the community had the services of a rabbi. Besides these difficulties, intermarriage took its toll, since without available Jewish women, the men married Chinese wives. Further, many of the men passed the difficult civil service exams to become high government officials — Mandarins — resulting in their move away from Kaifeng to other areas of  China. By the mid-1800s, without teachers, knowledge of the religion died out. The community was forced to sell the synagogue, Torah scrolls, and its other remaining assets. Nonetheless, many remained aware of and proud of their heritage and continued to pass along to their children what little they knew.

It seems something of a miracle that today some 1,000 Chinese consider themselves descendants of these original Jewish settlers. What is even more miraculous is the fact that some young members of the community now desire to learn more about their tradition. In recent years, teachers and visitors and Israeli educated Chinese have conducted classes and worship services, providing the knowledge of their faith and history that the community has been missing for centuries.

In 2009, a group of seven descendants of the Kaifeng Jewish community moved to Israel. Brought there by Shavei Israel, an organization that reaches out to “lost Jews” around the world, these young people have been studying at a yeshiva ever since with a view toward conversion. An article  entitled “From Kaifeng to the Kotel: A Chinese Rabbi in the Making” appeared today in the e-newsletter of Jewish Philanthropy and featured Yaakov Wang, a descendant, who hopes to become a rabbi so that he can help other Kaifeng Jews learn more about their heritage.

For further information on the Jews of Kaifeng, go to the website of the Sino-Judaic Institute. Consider bringing their outstanding exhibit, “The Jews of Kaifeng,” to your community. For information, contact Rabbi Arnie Belzer, 912-233-1547, rabbelzer@aol.com. A good reference on the subject of Kaifeng Jews is the book The Jews of Kaifeng, China: History, Culture, and Religion by Xu Xin (KTAV, 2003).

What Shall I Wear?

I was recently called for jury duty (though I didn’t get selected to serve). I confess I was more than a little dismayed by the outfits worn by some of the 25 jurors from which the panel of six was chosen. Three wore shorts. Quite a few others wore jeans — and not even nice ones. Most were faded and some were actually quite dirty. The only ties were on the judge, the attorney, and the defendant. I wore a  two-piece black Chico’s Traveler suit and print blouse and felt overdressed.

I feel old fashioned and uncomfortable complaining about this, recognizing that times have changed and society in general is far more informal than when I was growing up. Most of the time it doesn’t bother me and I like the informality of life today, but in the awe-inspiring courtroom with its decorum, high ceilings, and beautiful chandeliers, this somehow seemed disrespectful.

In the Fall 2011 issue of Reform Judaism, the magazine of the Reform Movement, there were two brief articles about dress codes for a Shabbat Aliyah (being called to the Torah). (The articles would easily apply to church attendance as well.) One writer, Don Levey, suggested that each congregation set a minimum standard of dress “to ensure that the Torah is treated with honor and respect.” The second writer, Rick Blumenthal, feels comfortable attending Shabbat services in slacks (occasionally jeans), a polo shirt, and sandals. He advocates for a more relaxed view, asserting that “spirituality needs to start from within and work its way out.” If he knows in advance that he will receive an aliyah, he usually wears shoes. If called upon without advance notice, he accepts, asking himself “What would Moses do?” Many congregants feel similarly that people should come as they are, and that the important thing is for people to come. Having sat at High Holy Day services a couple of years ago behind a teenager with a bare midriff — and a tattoo on her lower back that showed – I am not so sure about this.

I won’t go into my feelings about Bat Mitzvah girls in short skirts on the bimah or the currently fashionable low-cut wedding dresses with spaghetti straps!

Where do you stand on these issues? I hope you’ll weigh in.