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Name of the exhibit: Surviving Reminders

Submitted by: Dora Goldman

Origin of the object: I, Dora Goldman (nee Neumann), was born in Mako, Hungary in 1933. In June 1944, along with most Hungarian Jews, my family (my mother, my brother, and myself) were rounded up by the fascist Hungarian government and we were deported from our home. From the town of Hódmezövásárhely, through the city of Szeged, the train’s ultimate destination was Auschwitz.

Our lives were spared when the train tracks were bombed out, and the train had to change its route. It ended up in Strasshof, Austria. We spent almost a year in a lager (work-camp) in a small village called Tribuswinkel bei Baden in Austria.

After the war, we returned to Hungary.

My father had lost his life in a forced-labour camp on the Eastern Front.

Description:

1) Yellow Star
The yellow star was made by my mother in Hódmezövásárhely, Hungary in March 1944. I had to wear this yellow star because I was born into a country and a time where anti-Semitism was not just an accepted social attitude, it was the law of the land. Every Jewish person in Hungary at that time had to wear it, as it was documented in following poem by Andras Mezei.

FROM AGE SIX ON by Andras Mezei

“Beginning on April the 5th
Every Jewish person over the age of six
—-without regard to gender—-
is obliged to wear a canary-yellow star
10x10cm in diameter, of cloth, silk or
velvet, clearly visible on the left chest.
The distinguished badge
has to be sewn on the garment
in a not easily removable way.
Non-compliance with the decree will be punished
by imprisonment of up to 6 months or internment.”

The decree marks the survivor to this day
in a not easily removable way.

Translated by: Marietta Morry

This decree followed me throughout my life.

2) Homespun bag from Hungary
Its date of origin is unknown. We carried our food in this bag throughout the Deportation. We were allowed to take three days of food supplies with us from the Ghetto.

3) Three buttons
The buttons are from Austria and were received in the winter of 1944-1945. A kind Austrian woman, named Anna, who worked with my mother in the work-camp, which was a suitcase factory, gave her a dress for me. She knew from my mother that we were in need of clothes as we had only been allowed to bring what was in our backpacks.
The dress is long gone, but I saved the buttons in memory of her kindness. The image on the buttons is the “edelweiss”, the flower of the Austrian mountains.

Voyage to Ottawa: I brought the yellow star, the homespun bag, and the buttons to Canada from Hungary in 1968.

Additional Information: András Mezei was an accomplished Jewish-Hungarian writer and poet. He survived the Holocaust as well as the three-month siege of Budapest. Throughout his long writing career, he returned repeatedly to the terrible experiences of his childhood; the voices of the Holocaust speak through Mezei’s verse.

Andras Mezei – “HATODIK ÉLETÉVTŐL” original poem in Hungarian

Andras Mezei – poetry in a newspaper

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Name of the exhibit: Jewish Refugee Life in Shanghai – Family of Rabbi S. Robert Morais

Submitted by: Rabbi Rob Morais

Date of origin: 1940’s

Description: An estimated 20-25,0000 Jews fled to Shanghai from the beginning of Nazi persecution of Jews in 1933 until late in 1941. These refugees usually immigrated to Shanghai as families. Stripped of most of their assets before fleeing, the refugees swarmed into Hongkew (a poor section of Shanghai) because they could not afford to live anywhere else in the city. Following the Japanese takeover of Shanghai, Honkew was established as a Jewish and Foreigner’s ghetto. This is where the Handke family lived from 1941-1948.
Because Armando Salinas held Italian citizenship, he was allowed to live outside the Ghetto with his new wife Eva Handke and their daughter born in Aug of 1943. In October of 1943 they were arrested by the Japanese and imprisoned in a Japanese enemy alien concentration camp in inner China. They remained there living in very poor conditions until the camp was liberated by the American Army.
The Jacket, prayer book and book of bible passages were among relief packages that the US Air Force dropped into the camp. Included in the relief packages were much need food and medicines that saved many lives until the US army arrived.

Voyage to Ottawa: The entire Salinas and Handke families immigrated to Canada in 1948 as refugees fleeing communist China.

From left: Fritz Handke, Eva Salinas, Liliana Salinas, Kate Handke and Armando Salinas Shanghai, 1946.

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Name of the exhibit: Grumach family tallits

Submitted by: Les Grumach

Date of origin: 1938

Origin of the object: My father would probably have received his tallit around March 1938 for his barmitzvah, in Berlin, Germany. I am not sure when my paternal grandfather got his tallit as the family had lived many generations in Koenigsberg prior to moving to Berlin in 1936.

The photos were taken in 2016 at the KBI Kristallnacht event.

Description: My family had owned a timber mill in Koenigsberg. With the rise of Hitler, they were forced to sell their business and they moved to Berlin in 1936 where there was a larger Jewish community. My grandfather realized that nowhere in Germany was safe for Jews so they applied to move to Australia. During the time in Berlin, my father was barmitzvahed and received his tallit. On Kristallnacht their synagogue had been burned. A few days later he went into the shul to rescue the tallits. A few years later they received a visa and left Germany. My father always wore his burned tallit with pride.

Voyage to Ottawa: From Germany, my father and family emigrated to Melbourne, Australia in 1939. I moved with my wife to Canada in 1996 and then to San Diego, California in 1997. We returned to Ottawa in 2015 with the tallit accompanying me on all my travels.