5 minute read
When more is less
By Ida Margolis and Shelley Lieb
Aristotle wisely wrote, "The more you know, the more you realize you don't know.” This certainly is true about historical events which have so many different perspectives and participants to consider. How much has been written, discussed and analyzed about the Holocaust?
Each Holocaust book read, whether fiction or nonfiction, teaches the reader something they didn’t know, didn’t realize or didn’t consider before.
Rosie Whitehouse is a journalist who writes about Holocaust survivors. Her book, “The People on the Beach: Journeys to Freedom After the Holocaust” (2020), explores the world as it appeared to the newly liberated Jews (mostly young men and women) who had few options. Many were being held in Displaced Persons camps while others were remaining with, or connecting to, partisan groups. Those hidden by righteous families came out of darkness. All of them were searching for their pre-war family in one way or another. When no family was found, they began searching for reasons to live.
Whitehouse begins her account with the manifest from one of the ships that ran the blockade to Israel in 1946 from Italy - the Wedgewood. Even the history of this particular ship is a saga of its own. Whitehouse goes to great lengths to interview those survivors who are still alive, no matter where they live. If that’s not possible, she locates family members, letters and articles in various languages, and retraces their lives to pre-war days and places. The result of all this attention to details is eye-opening, even for those of us who have been exposed to a large amount of Holocaust literature and research.
Then there is the reality in Palestine (not yet Israel) at the end of WWII. The refugees were expecting the “land of milk and honey,” and they had been prepared to be welcomed as contributing members of a vibrant community. The Jews were fighting the British colonialists and the Arab residents. Everything was scarce, and there was little attention paid to the physical and mental status of the refugees from Europe. Each detail that she uncovers leaves a trail of more questions and possible lines of inquiry. What was/is the suicide rate for survivors? In Israel? In America? In Europe? What about the Jews who fled Europe to Palestine in the ‘30s as Germany began to enforce antisemitic laws and prohibitions?
Keeping up the spirits and the determination of the survivors to get to Palestine was a difficult task that fell into the hands of the natural leaders that arose to meet the challenge - many of whom were the Partisans who fought their way through the war outside the camps. The first Passover Seder for these survivors waiting for the journey to Palestine became a uniting event; an act to address their loneliness and give them the emotional strength to reclaim their Jewish history. A “Survivor’s Haggadah” was written especially for this occasion. If the traditional Passover Haggadah tells the story of how the Jews escaped their life of slavery under an Egyptian Pharaoh, imagine a contemporary retelling of that story of escape involving a German Chancellor. The traditional Passover Haggadah was written centuries ago. Was it written to re-ignite a connection to Judaism that was crucial at that time?
Whitehouse is blunt in her references to antisemitism in many of the allies’ military and political leaders before, during and after the war, including General Patton who openly shared his dislike of the Displaced Persons. He referred to the Jewish DP’s as "lower than animals" and determined that they should remain under lock and key, because he was afraid that Germans would be murdered.
As the survivors began to awaken from their stupor of despair, many came to the stark realization that nobody wanted them. Those who were already in Palestine (the Yeshuv), and the Jews who made the trek to illegally enter Palestine (the Bricha), became uneasy comrades as Palestine fought its way to become Israel. For many of the Bricha, this unease was to last a lifetime.
About GenShoah SWFL
GenShoah SWFL is a group for children and descendants of Holocaust survivors and anyone interested in the mission of GenShoah of SWFL:
• Promotion of Holocaust education and human rights
• Preservation of history and memories of the Holocaust
• Connecting the second generation with one another
• Support of the Holocaust Museum & Janet G. and Harvey D. Cohen Education Center
There aren’t any dues or forms to fill out. If you would like to receive our newsletter and program announcements, just send us an email genshoahswfl@hmcec.org or liebro@gmail.com. If you would like to volunteer to help with future programs, please let us know that too!
Thank you to those who support our mission, read the newsletter, attend GenShoah programs and are members of the Holocaust Museum & Janet G. and Harvey G. Cohen Education Center in Naples. We do encourage membership at the museum, as we are an affinity organization with them. If you are not already a member of the museum, please consider joining or making a donation.
