COVER STORY

SAVING LIVES THROUGH EARLY DETECTION

SUSAN G. KOMEN SAN DIEGO

Ithink it’s pretty safe to say that most women don’t look forward to their annual mammogram. But if we truly understood how early detection saves lives, we may rethink the experience and be grateful for the technology and opportunity. In a recent phone call with Meredith Hall-Chand, the Interim President & CEO of Susan G. Komen San Diego, I learned of the amazing things Susan G. Komen San Diego offers to thousands of San Diegans of all genders, ages and ethnicities every year.

Prior to becoming Interim President and CEO, Hall-Chand had been the Director of Development for the organization. Her own connection to the organization echoes that of many others who’ve had a family member suffer from, or succumb to, breast cancer.

I learned that Susan G. Komen was a real person who died from breast cancer while in her 30s. The organization, which is headquartered in Texas, was born out of a promise between sisters, to find a cure for breast cancer. Our San Diego Susan G. Komen Chapter is a grassroots organization with only nine employees and a relatively small operating budget. The goals of this group are anything but modest!

Hall-Chand helped me understand the broadly inclusive scope that San Diego’s Susan G. Komen offers our community. Firstly, I was unaware that six area women are diagnosed with breast cancer each day, and each day, one woman dies of the disease. Reducing these numbers is paramount, and the first step is to make screenings available to all women and dissolve the barriers that exist. While men can also be victims of breast cancer, statistics put them at less than 1 percent of all cases.

Of special concern to those of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, mutations in the BRCA genes significantly increase the risk of breast and ovarian cancers. Those with either parent positive for the mutation face a 50 percent chance of inheriting that mutation. In this case, genetic counseling may be recommended.

“Whether or not you have a genetic disposition, please get yourself checked regularly. Early detection can mean the difference between a full life versus a compromised one. Please help support Susan G. Komen to continue their constant work and research into eliminating this killer. Without your help, we can’t win this battle,” exhorts Sherry Berman Ahern, a committed donor and volunteer to Susan G. Komen San Diego.

Hall-Chand shared that women often don’t have annual exams because they lack transportation, can’t leave young children, don’t get leave time from jobs or lack insurance. To this end, Komen partners with corporations, and nonprofit organizations such as Jewish Family Services and enjoys fabulous voluntary support. Additionally, HallChand described the newly created Financial Assistance Fund that provides groceries, gasoline, car payments, rent or mortgages so that those dealing with the disease don’t become bankrupt or experience despair in addition to coping with cancer. I was told that when individuals need to make choices about these items, they tend to stop taking their medication, cut it in half or take it every other day, so as to save money. This fund enables individuals to care for themselves and their families with support and compassion.

People need to speak candidly with their doctors, sharing their own “normal” and any family history or current physical symptoms that are new or distressing. Self-breast exams are good, but do not stand in for annual (or more frequent) exams with a professional. Doctors know which tests are indicated only if a patient reports her issues.

Education is essential and the organization is all about teaching the public what services are available through handing out literature at community events, doing outreach at colleges, churches, universities, health fairs etc. The education offered isn’t only theoretical. One amazing event is a partnership with Hologic, a company that makes mammography machines and provides mobile coaches to bring screenings to the public at a local spot. The results can then be sent directly to health care providers or clinics. Petco Park was the site of one such event, and women are encouraged to call Komen ahead and make an appointment for their mobile mammogram.

Obviously, this has been hampered by COVID-19, but fortunately, another organization, Los Angeles-based, Sharsheret, offers webinars and virtual presentations to keep patients informed and supported. Sharsheret has a Peer Support Network of over 16,000 women who can empathize with the challenges and fears which accompany breast cancer.

One thing I found exciting and surprising is that all of the money raised in San Diego stays in San Diego. This means that not only can Komen San Diego provide screenings, financial aid to patients, but can also do research and advocacy work. Currently, effective medications are being researched at Salk and UCSD.

Volunteer support is critical, and this year’s Race for the Cure is slated for November 1, 2020. The route will take participants through Balboa Park. This event is the largest annual fundraiser for Susan G. Komen San Diego, and participants will celebrate the 24th consecutive year of dedication and optimism, by raising funds to further research and services. This year’s theme is ‘90s Throwback End to Breast Cancer Walk, and walkers are urged to don workout gear from yesteryear. Online registration can be found at race@sdkomen.org for walkers and virtual participants.

There is also an annual dinner, More Than Pink, that will be virtual this year. On May 29, you can join supporters for the one hour event from the comfort of your own home. Though this event is free to attend, a VIP package may be purchased online. Proceeds will benefit immunocompromised and low-income breast cancer patients with food assistance, transportation, childcare, rent, utilities and treatment assistance.

Another way to demonstrate your support is to become an ambassador. Tovolunteer please visit iamkomen.org. The website offers volunteers of every age the opportunity to play a part in educating the public about lifestyle choices for healthier living and best practices for dealing with breast cancer.

Celebrating its 25th year, Susan G. Komen San Diego is not loosening its grip on the goal. Mortality rates have decreased by 40 percent since the organization was founded. Radical mastectomy has been replaced by medication or hormone therapy. These are major strides not to be minimized however, the battle continues. When asked about her dream for Susan G. Komen San Diego, Meredith Hall-Chand wants to eradicate all barriers to screenings and provide these critical services to all of those in need.

1000 WORDS

A CONVERSATION WITH ARON BIELSKI, LAST OF THE BIELSKI BROTHERS

Aron Bielski is the youngest and last living member of the Bielski brigade, which he founded along with three of his brothers. Their activities have become widely known as one of the largest partisan groups that rescued Jews during the Holocaust.

He was born on July 21, 1927, into the family of David and Beila Bielski, who had 10 sons and two daughters, in what is today Belarus. According to Aron Bielski, they were the only known Jewish family in the Belarusian village of Stankiewicze. His parents and two of his brothers, Yankel and Avraham, were killed by the Nazis and buried in a mass grave on Dec. 5, 1941.

The story of the Bielski brigade — led by the brothers — that fought Nazis and other pro-German forces while rescuing escapees from their grips has been written about over the years in a number of books, as well as portrayed in the 2008 feature film Defiance, starring Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber (George MacKay played Aron).

After World War II and the Holocaust, during which his brothers saved more than 1,200 Jews, Aron Bielski moved to British Mandate Palestine and served in Israel’s army during the 1948 War of Independence.

He then moved to the United States, where his brothers and the rest of the family lived, changing his name to “Bell.” He and his first wife, Judith, had three children.

Today, Bielski, 92 and the grandfather of 12, lives in Florida with his wife Henryka, 80, who was born in Poland in 1939 and is also a survivor.

Aron and Henryka Bielski spoke by phone on April 12. The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Q: What was your role in the Bielski brigade? Aron Bielski: To pick up children in the ghetto. For some reason or another, I never wore a yellow Star of David. I don’t know why, maybe I was stupid. By the help of G-d, I don’t know why every Jew was wearing the star. Therefore, it gave me the opportunity to walk into places where no Jew could. I lost two brothers because they had the Star of David.

It is very hard to be a good Jew, but at the end, it is indescribable how much rewarding it is.

Don’t think for a moment that I was a hero in any way or matter. This was pure luck because there were stronger people than me, and they were butchered. But I was lucky enough to prevail.

Q: What was your relationship with your brothers before and after you went into the forest, becoming partisans and rescuers? AB: I was always lucky and privileged to have brothers. Asael was probably the most powerful individual that I ever met in my life. Smart and a very powerful, strong individual. With the help of G-d, because how smart could you be? You are nothing against the regular army that is working to destroy you. How smart can you be?

Henryka Bielski: The oldest brother, Walter, and [the second oldest] of the

"Don’t think for a moment that I was a hero in any way or matter. This was pure luck because there were stronger people than me, and they were butchered. But I was lucky enough to prevail."

brothers, Nathan, went to America before the war. Yehoshua, a rabbi, went to Siberia during the war. A sister, Tove, lived with her husband, Avraham, in another village but they joined her brothers in the forest.

All we needed was food, and we [felt that we] won. If you wanted to sleep, you slept. If there was no bed, you slept on the snow. Whatever it was, it was. It’s hard to believe, but that’s what it is. I had a rifle, but I didn’t think I should be on the first line [of defense]. They wouldn’t let me. They protected me.

Q: How did you get food while in the forest? AB: You went by people; some gave you, some didn’t want to give you, some we got by force. We got whatever food we could get. Believe it or not, there was some religious people who didn’t touch a piece of meat because it was not kosher. This I’ll never forget.

HB: They had potatoes, eggs and even killed a cow. In the summertime, the forest had fruit.

Q: Can you elaborate on those who wouldn’t eat the meat despite the dire circumstances? AB: They would rather die than eat the nonkosher meat. They would take leaves from a tree and cook them. They did not eat nonkosher food. It’s something for the books.

Q: How was survival different as a partisan than other stories of survival during World War II and the Holocaust? Was there a different mindset? AB: You’re a different person than if you were born in the city and never been to the woods. You’re afraid of animals, wild animals. We were only afraid of G-d himself.

HB: My mother survived with me, and we were not in the ghetto. The Polish army helped us. My father was in Auschwitz.

AB: And she also survived because she knew, G-d told her, that I needed a very good wife, a very good friend. She’s still here, believe it or not.

Q: How did you two meet? HB: We met in the Catskills in Upstate New York in 1992 and got married in 1995. My husband had two daughters and one son. The daughter had four children, and one son had four and the other had five. I have two biological and two adopted children.

Q: There has been a great deal written and featured about the experiences of you and your brothers, including the 2008 film Defiance. How accurate are the stories and portrayals, and can you address the accuracy of memory in general, particularly when it comes to the Holocaust? AB: What happened was much worse than what the movie portrays.

HB: The movie did not show how they fought for their freedom. How Aron was running to the ghetto and bringing people there to the forest. How they were going to fight for the food and bring the food to the forest. How there was a cow in the forest, and the milk was only for children. Aron was 13 years old and was helping younger children.

The movie didn’t show how they trekked through the snow, how they were freezing to death.

Q: What happened after the war? HB: Aron’s brother, Asael, served in the Russian army fighting Hitler and was killed in battle. His wife, Chaja, gave birth to their daughter.

Aron was sitting on the sidewalk, thinking about what to do with his life. No parents, no family, nobody. It was the hardest time in his life because he didn’t know what to do. His brothers, Zus and Tuvia, went to check on their wives.

AB: I sat down on the sidewalk and came to the conclusion: There’s no sense thinking. You get hungry. You got to go to work. I went and worked for whoever needed help.

Q: What kind of work did you do? AB: Cleaning the village oven that cooked food. Whatever I was told to do, I was happy to do it.

Q: What are your thoughts on Holocaust revisionism, such as Poland’s recent laws about terminology? On Holocaust denial? On those who say that nothing so extreme as the Shoah could have happened? AB: Some of the Poles had to [keep quiet]. If they didn’t collaborate, they would die. Some of them had to save their own lives. Of course, not all gentiles are Jew-haters; not all gentiles are bad people. There were some Jews [who acted] worse.

HB: I used to live in Canada and knew a Jew who came to North America at the same time as Aron. He was a Nazi collaborator in Auschwitz. He was taking gold from Jews. He said he was doing it because he wanted to save his life. But with that gold he brought to Canada with his cousin, he bought a twostory mansion.

Polish families saved me and my mom. There were a lot of Poles who behaved badly. But there were a lot of Poles who did what they did because they were forced to. However, Poles did attack Jewish property and got richer from Jewish houses. They were jealous.

Q: As one of the remaining survivors of the Holocaust, what is your message to the Jewish community, the United States and the world? HB: We should love each other. Doesn’t matter what is your skin color, what is your religion. You should always be nice to each other. We’re all human. We’re sharing the same Earth, same sun and moon. We’re sharing everything. Love everybody, be nice to everybody. AB: People should be nice to each other, to help each other, whoever needs help. Be good to your family and to people. If you see a person needs help, help him or her. Because the good Lord will know about it.