Holocaust Memorial - The Miraculous Story of my Grandparents

this Tower class is brought to you by torahanytime.com [Music] it is a great honor to be invited here this evening to speak in memory of the Six Million Kardashian who are murdered although this is actually my very first opportunity to speak here in the main sanctuary of the Young Israel many may not be aware that I've been giving sheer here in the Young Israel for the last six years six years ago Rabbi Fabian schoenfeld hired me as one of the image for the senior morning kylo and I would like to utilize this opportunity to extend my deep personal thanks to Rabbi Fabian schoenfeld for giving me the great opportunity to teach here over the last six years an opportunity which has served as my very first experience in rapanus I'd also like to express my deep gratitude schoenfeld who for the last many years has been navigating upholding and assuring not only this but the morning parallel which has served as a center of learning for the entire community great efforts and energies have been invested in creating tonight's events by the Russo family by Sam and Irene Russo and we thank all of the sponsors of tonight's event Margaret hits amidad that we offer tonight to the relatives of the organizers and to the relatives of all of our saverim and all of the Kardashian okay for a young person to be selected to speak about the Holocaust it may not be the Natural Choice I am not a survivor nor are my parents but nevertheless I must say that the topic of Holocaust Memorial is a topic that is very close and dear to my heart and that is because this evening with the greatest of Pride and admiration I would like to tell you about an individual of majestic personality soaring spirits a great static an individual that is very close to me I'd like to tell you about my grandfather gladstein Hashem my grandfather is the Survivor of all the infamous camps SRI blinka Auschwitz and two summers ago together with my father who's in the audience tonight together with my brother Ari and his family from Arts Israel we all made a trip to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania where my grandfather has been a rough since Sunday evening December 9th 1951. that's a long time and for the first time my grandfather sees so many children grandchildren great-grandchildren at once he was overcome with emotion and he had the following flashback he remembered being in the death camps and the first thing the Nazis did in maximum was they rounded up the old men and they brought them to be gassed to death and the old men were crying who's gonna say kadish for us who's gonna say katherish for us who's gonna say catfish for us and my grandfather remembers who's gonna say cottage for you who's gonna say college for me my grandfather wasn't married at the time he didn't have children at the time who's going to say cottage for me and now 75 years later children grandchildren great-grandchildren who could have ever imagined such a possibility and then my grandfather revealed to us and when he heard those old men crying who's gonna say college for us he accepted upon himself to say cottage for these conditions every single day of his life since the year 1940 so for me to have the opportunity to speak here tonight at what is Chloe this is a legacy that my grandfather has been carrying out every day of his life for the last 75 years I recently came across the book entitled theological and holophic Reflections on the Holocaust and I discovered an article in it that was written by my grandfather and I'd like to share with you a few short parts of this article that gives a vivid first-hand account of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising my grandfather writes the following he writes aniage I am the man who saw the afflictions of my people I am the victim and I am the witness I saw the war so ghetto with thousands of skeletons extending their bony arms as if begging for mercy and life I saw the Warsaw Ghetto littered with Corpses their faces distorted and swollen Their Eyes Wide Open skulls crushed I saw blood everywhere the blood of our children our brothers and sisters our fathers and mothers no imagination no matter how daring could conceive of anything we have seen and lived through no language has been created to describe the enormity of the Holocaust my grandfather continues the aftermath of the uprising the gehenna of gehennas on that day we first saw the men the women the children being led into the house of death I shed better bitter tears of despair we suffered most when we looked at the children accompanied by their mothers or walking alone and within moments their lives were snuffed out the yells of the women the Weeping of the children the cries of the spirit and misery begging for mercy for God's Vengeance ring in my ears until this very day Hashem foreign can we dare ask the question can we dare ask why why did this happen why was a third of European jury decimated not only by the Nazis but by civilians German civilians polish civilians Ukrainian civilians while the entire Democratic World stood by mutely including our very only our very own Medina can we ask that question we can't it's impossible to fathom it's impossible for the human mind to comprehend any attempted inside Falls so short of what satisfies the mind of a basavadam but please allow me to provide the following perspective no dad was a very bitter sweet moment in the life of Jaco govino on the one hand it was certainly the most exhilarating moment in Yakov avinu's life reuniting with Joseph after 22 years 22 years of thinking his beloved Son had been torn apart by a wild animal it was so joyous it literally revived it revived him physically it revived him spiritually but on the other hand yakovina was going down with the realization that this was beginning the tragic era of the innovation they were going down for the Long Haul Abdus physical torture spiritual dissent it was the most depraved and degenerate Society in the world had we remained there a moment longer we would have fallen to the spiritual point of no return You Could Only Imagine the spiritual turmoil the physical turmoil the emotional turmoil of Jaco devino on the one hand the unification with your safe and on the other hand the Jewish people are going down for enduring bondage and God tells God tells yakovino yeah don't be afraid will place his hand on your eyes and it's quite mysterious what is revolution I'm telling yakovino that Joseph will place his hands on his eyes what is that supposed to mean what kind of clarity would that offer why would yaakov even want Joseph to put his hands on his eyes and even more mysterious says three words this is the secret of Shema what is that supposed to mean how is Jose putting his hands on the eyes of yaakovino how is that the secret of Shema and if you look in the safer coil rea which is a rare safer it was written by rabba from Yehuda Khan the Rob of the city of mad in Poland He suggests the following he says that in life we have moments of Happiness moments of Joy moments of exhilaration when we see the rathame the Midas and unfortunately know there are moments in life we're what we see to our eyes the basivadam seems to be nothing other than tragedy nothing other than Midas Haddon and yet accept the principle of commander of it that it's even though we may not look that way and even though it doesn't seem that way to our eyes and as difficult as it is to accept says it's safe for call Aria this is what we declare when we say Shama Israel Israel hero Israel Hashem you'd Cave of cave even if you exercise La Cano or if what you exercise seems to be me that's Haden we accept Hashem there's only one purpose There's One Republic and everything he does is LA fessa and how do we Proclaim this ideal with conviction it sure doesn't always look that way it says the safer calaria that is why when we say Shema we close our eyes and we say everybody in not everything in this world is the way it looks to our eyes of us over them we say ribana we accept Hashem that even if it looks like a volcano and it looks like Midas haddin everything is the time up yaakovino is going down to the Triumph he's frightened he's scared the reban Islam says al-tirah don't be afraid I'm doing this for a good purpose I'm gonna make you a great nation says that I'm afraid says reborn cover your eyes realize that your vision is limited division the perception the understanding of a boss of Adam is limited and you know who's going to teach you how to close your eyes the eyesafe yes therefore teach you to close your eyes the events of the life of Yosef will teach you you thought your saves episode was tragic yes they thought it was tragic 22 years of separation but look at him now he's the second most powerful man in the world he controls the world economy foreign we are safe the events of the life of Josef al-sadiq yashish teach you that not everything is the way it looks says this is the secret of kabbalah's oil mouthwash that sometimes in life we have to close our eyes and even though we witness and we see but this is what a chilling thought then what a haunting insight until the last words of these six million who died saying Hashem I heard from reviews in this neighborhood that he actually visited the city of mud in Poland and he went there he walked into a palatial shawl a majestic shawl and in that show there was a big bookcase and in the bookcase there was one safe air enclosed in glass the safer call Arya and Rabbi sax asked what's the safer colorier doing in the bookcase why is it the only safer on the show and they said to call Aria he was the Moira dasra of this kahila and this was the drasha that he gave in those dark days foreign that in life we don't have to have all the answers but our faith remains strong nevertheless in fact after the war I have a book over here my grandfather was interviewed by the secular media and they asked him rabbi you were an eyewitness to the brutality of the Germans you saw with your own eyes the devastation of your people the murder of your brothers and sisters the Jewish Nation rabbi did you at any point lose faith in your God did you at any point lose faith in the promises of the Torah and my grandfather responded did I lose Faith yes I lost faith I lost faith in mankind I lost faith in humanity how could human beings become animals barbarians How could a civilized society like Germany shed their conscience how could the United States of America on President Roosevelt and all the Democratic countries turned the other way and ignore the Jewish people in Europe so did I lose Faith yes I lost faith I lost faith in Adam and man but never for a moment that I lose faith in my God for a moment did I lose faith in the Torah my faith in God only became stronger because who can fathom the Deep seated emuna and soaring faith of these Giants of spirits there are no words that could even begin to describe the unvending faith of these given even in the death camps my grandfather was Mr nephesh to fulfill as many Mitzvahs as possible throughout all the years of her my grandfather was together with his brother uncle heinos and in one particular death camp which is under the direction of one of the most brutal lager fuers a Russia by the name of ficus my grandfather and his brother were successful in smuggling in a pair of filling every morning they would awaken at the crack of dawn to put that's filling on if the SS officers would have seen them if Ficus would have seen them they would have been shot instantly every morning they put on the fill in first Maize Dunn and his brother one morning to put on that's filling he then hands them to his brother heinous Uncle hanuk puts on the philan sheliad Uncle heinous puts on the fill and shall rise just then Ficus barges in he sees that filling shall rise perched I shall I say Sadiq he picks up the gun to shoot but when he walks at the shall rise he is overcome with fear and dread he puts down the gun and runs out I heard this from an eyewitness claim this is the fruition of the gemara and brothels the gemara brother says Hashem nickroll left of the arumi Mecca says the gemara elu philan my grandfather said it was a nice niggler it was an open miracle I found an article my grandfather wrote and don't see the Shabbat hello fedition on Zion that a few days after this incident with the thrilling they were forcibly marched accompanied by beatings by the watchful guard of the Ukrainian murderer Evan my grandfather writes one of the Ukrainian soldiers shot uncle hanuff the bullet merely passed through his body without inflicting any life-threatening wounds Ukrainian said to him stop halt and they instructed the rest of us to go ahead they were hoping to finish him off he ignored their orders he continued running with us a miracle occurred the bleeding stopped and the wound healed how did they survive what gave them the strength to continue how did they have the willpower to go on and I quote you again with my grandfather writes and does hear the Shabbat we were hauled to forced labor camps and labor there under the most brutal conditions in the bitter winter in the early morning Darkness with freezing temperatures we had to perform back freaking labor with constant whippings what gave us the mysterious strength and endurance to live to breathe to carry on you if it weren't for the Torah I would have been lost in my suffering my grandfather writes we would stand together with our dear uncle the great brother the nephews of the great guy in remin who my grandfather would go learn in his home daily remains were found in the Warsaw Ghetto and he was later brought to Harmony we would stand with the rapunima varsha Rev David Shapiro stockhammer with other Torah Scholars who we were able to discuss Torah insights in those dismal Knights during the dark colors it was the gemara the talmud babli that these precious Jews remembered and were able to recite by heart it served as the near tamid the Eternal Light to illuminate the moodless demoralized hearts of these identities the Nazis had to make a very important decision the American and Russian armies were approaching and the Germans could either Focus the resources at the warfront to try to win the war or can they or they could dedicate all of their efforts to exterminate whatever Jews remained in Europe they chose the latter so they rounded up whatever Jews were left in the camps my grandfather included they packed them like animals onto cattle cars without food without drink without facilities where they were headed to the Terrell mountains to be shot after they dug their own Graves with the help of the Republic under the direction of General Dwight Eisenhower the U.S Air Force bombed the railroad tracks the SS officers realized their end is near so what do they do they quickly exchange uniforms with the Jewish inmates the American Army lands but they're not fooled by the scheme of these Nazis the Nazi officers were fat they were robust they were hazarim and the Jewish inmates were skeletons they were walking cadavers an American officer came over to my grandfather rabbi take the pistol now is your opportunity to take revenge against the enemy to which my grandfather responded Revenge I leave Revenge to the kale and the commas I leave Revenge to the Revenge tonight it's been five years since I've been able to open up I am now reunited with the talmud battle this is my freedom I leave Revenge to the Revenge line I'd like to share with you something that I read very recently in my grandfather's personal notes about one of his experiences in Auschwitz one of the most frightening moments in Collective Jewish history is when the German Army blitzed through North Africa off through Egypt they're only miles from Palestine and the Jews and Earth's Israel are fasting praying saying Sleek rice and the Arabs are broadcasting on the radio Jews we're gonna swim in your blood we're going to molest your wives we're going to murder your children you see the Arabs had a partnership with Hitler by the way at the last moment Hitler decided to call his armies back and they went to Russia to fight but what I would like to emphasize is the alliance that Hitler had with the Arabs my grandfather wrote in his notes that when he was an Auschwitz Iceman invited a special guest to join him in Auschwitz and my grandfather saw him from jerus myself the way that these Jews would never be able to procreate and he would laugh this was the entertainment and there's something to me that is about this image foreign hit me like a ton of bricks when I came across a comment of the villanue in his commentary to the kabbalistic work Safra that's neosa we are trained to thin think and right Lisa that the ghost that we are in today isab however the Ariza tells us and Passions in the end of days we will endure a duelos there will be two simultaneous exiles golos you smile and unfortunately this is a reality that we are coming to see with our very own eyes says the vulner guy these two gullusim have a special name is called hamar donkey avraham says ishmael's mother is AB on the other hand is called Shire power says the film again if these two forces ever come together they would be macribus called they would destroy the world that is the reason says the villain of God that we are prohibited you can plow with a donkey and an ox together because that represents the unified destructive forces of asab and Ishmael and I think that is why the image of Iceman and the Mufti strikes Terror in the heart of the Jew it's the image of the shore of the hamar says it on the gun we have two Machias Ben David will extricate us from golus Ishmael and Incredibly I found the rames in the safe that if you add up the numerical value of the gamatuya of the years of the life of Abraham youth avraham lives 175. Yitzhak 180 Yakov 147 that equals 502. that is the precise numerical value of edin the Ishmael um our others serve as the antidote I've shared with you some vignettes some stories some insights into the experiences of my grandfather yes Hashem working on a book about my grandfather together with my father the name of the book is called parshaft and the Seattle I hope the book sees the light of day in the near future I'd like to share with you some stories about another great historical individual a woman a woman who is a daughter of one of the great rabbonim of pre-war Europe the daughter of the coin reviews is named after he was the robe of the city of safachov and his daughter is also a woman very dear to me her name is maras Cena gladstein my grandmother now these are not only stories that I heard many times these are stories that my grandmother herself published in a book entitled flares of memory that was published by the University of Oxford press flares of memory let me share with you a few stories I quote to you from page 11. our home was open to everyone Jews did not go to secular courts in Europe they went to the rabbi so people came to our home with questions about what was kosher emotional problems economic problems and for dinner us and it didn't Tyra the Torah is used as the source to settle all disputes my father [Music] listen carefully patiently with an open and analytical mind to what was being claimed by the litigants after which he consulted talmudic law opposite us lived Mr tarnovsky a well-known and successful polish attorney as a lawyer he was very interested in my father's legal work he sometimes even attended his din Taurus he would later stay to discuss the outcome he admired the logic the humaneness of the torah's teachings my father considered him a friend when the Nazis occupied Poland in 1939 everything changed one afternoon Mr tarnowsky the attorney and an SOS officer called on my father they came barging in with a large bowl the bull had a liver in it the bull was slammed down on the table with malice blood splattering over the white tablecloth designed purposely to humiliate my father ask the attorney rabbi is the pig's liver kosher or Trace Mr tarnovsky you know very well that according to Jewish law I cannot judge a non-kosher animal Rabbi judge I can't you must otherwise you'll be hearing from us soon they stalked out of the room slammed the door behind them my father was shaken he knew he had to leave immediately fast forward 1942 the war Still Ghetto my grandmother writes page 107. when my family was in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942 the Gestapo came and took my 15 year old brother I never saw him again my father realized it was the beginning of the end he turned to us he said the Golden Chain of Judaism which has lasted for thousands of years has to be continued my two daughters with hashem's help maybe you can do this polish passports had been secured now the Escape through the sewers was abhorrent to me only the gates remained at the moment of The Changing of the Guard a group of us ran to the gates the alarm was sounded powerful lights made us highly visible bullets flew overhead a few of us made it we ran blindly only Hashem could guide us to the forest for three years my grandmother masqueraded as a Polish Christian peasant it's New Year's Eve Xmas 1942 and I read to you from page 109 Xmas is approaching there is festive I must not be an outsider I am not Cena the rabbi's daughter I am luchinka a Polish Girl and I must do what all other polish girls do it's not easy but Hashem will guide me like all the other girls I dress in my best we are going to Midnight Mass I must be careful any difference would Mark me immediately the mass is over I passed the hurdle satisfactorily the Ezra's Hashem Xmas day another stumbling block we form groups we go from home to home singing Xmas carols now follows the Xmas Feast we're all invited to the mayor's house the Xmas tree is Ablaze with colored lights food is plentiful liquor more so it's no surprise the party becomes uncontrolled every time my group takes a drink I do likewise pleading a headache I go out for some air I wretch when I feel myself again I return to the park to the party why was I forced to drink liquor loosens the tongue then the game begins believing me drunk they shower me with questions luchinka where were you born lucinka where was your farm what church did you attend my answer is satisfy them I am safe for the time being once more Hashem was with me the encounter page 111 the Gestapo came to the Farms of Poland and rounded up all able-bodied villagers for forced labor in Germany we were taken to Warsaw to be the last and to have our papers checked and rechecked why this checking again and again the Gestapo with the help of the Polish informers suspected they were Jewish girls in the group after the delousing we were marched to the barracks giving the Gestapo more time to check and check again in the morning we lined up for our rations stale bread a little marmalade at the table Through the Grapevine I heard the newest transport had come from my hometown of safajub my heart froze despite this terrible shock I had to act normal that night I went through hell I prayed like I never prayed before the next morning after breakfast we lined up the Gestapo marched in from his memo he read to yourself stepped forward he shot them dead on the spot their papers were forged my heart was racing the next mission of the day I will notice on the suffix of Transport was staring at me he had been my classmate three years earlier in the sixth grade now he was 13. but with the same polish up turn nose the same blue eyes I braced for the worst the worst happened aren't you the rabbi's daughter oh everyone guessed I looked him straight in the eye you are a Jew I am Polish his face was Ash and he was stunned forgive me Forgive Me Maybe I made a mistake I never saw him again Hashem was with me one evening and sheer exhaustion my grandmother collapsed in the field her Holy Father of appears to her in a dream he says to her my entire doctor the war is almost all over by the way this was right before Victory Day in Europe in 1945. my precious daughter you are not lucinka you are Cena foreign you are not able to find kosher food until now you are not able to keep childish you were forced to celebrate Xmas but now the war will be over and you my daughter will continue the shall sell us and it was this image happy father that my grandmother carried with her the rest of her life I'm not able to do that but if you are searching for me and if you're looking what do we take out of let's stop here for tonight's talk I'd like to share with you one final story about my grandfather a chilling story that my grandfather records again my grandfather from radam we were transported to Dachau the valley of weeping of the Germans killings every day total humiliation in the eyes of the Germans who derived their greatest pleasure from our suffering my dear brother heinath and I were kicked and chased to the crematoriums at the doorstep of the base hasrifa where tens of thousands of Jews were convulsing in the most abhorrent manner my brother asked me my grandfather says my entire breather I would like to ask for some water my throat is so dry I'm gonna die even before I get in and my grandfather responded better without water so death will relieve us of our pains sooner with one in the base hasrifa moments from the island highness a Heavenly Miracle occurred standing at the threshold of death an SS officer came out of nowhere grabbed us and remarked in a commanding voice you are capable of work and he dragged us out this Godly wonder will remain in our Memories Forever where was The Republic in the Holocaust where was God I'll tell you where he was he was at the threshold of the doorway of the crematoria and he miraculously pulled my grandfather out he was at the gates of Warsaw as my grandmother escaped with bullets over her head he was purged on the head of my uncle as he put on his fill and shall Rush that's where he was foreign but then I began to think that to say that my that only saved my grandfather and only pulled him out of the gas chamber well had the Revenge show I'm not saved my grandfather and not saved my grandmother I certainly would not be here today I would not be the battery is blinking of the hazak broadcast I will not be do we want to show them rescued my grandfather from the gas Chambers the replenishal them rescued my father the Republic rescued me rescued my children he saved us I guess he wanted us I don't know why but he must have wanted us and you know something if you are in this room today the Rebellion wanted you to he rescued you too many times God's been looking out for you for the last 3 300 years you know people say if only I would see a miracle if I would see Chris yamsov if I would see the Nissan that would really fortify myamuna wanna see a marathon look around in this show tonight look at the face of another yid in 2014 whatever's left of it is the greatest Miracle you will ever see if only you knew how the replenishlum has been looking out for you for the last 3 300 years in mitzrayim 80 percent of our people perished but the 20 percent the Republic your direct ancestors so that you could be here today the death toll was enormous but the rebunction spared your ancestors so that you could be here Josephus writes hormon 1.1 million Jews were slaughtered the Romans tracked down every Jew they could find but the Republican wanted you tens of thousands of Jews murdered on the Crusades 1391 200 000 Jews murdered 1492 300 000 Jews that barbarinal rights were expelled from Spain tens of thousands killed for 3 300 years reborn Islam has been saving your ancestors for you to be here today it is not statistically unlikely it's not highly improbable it is down right impossible it is an open Miracle of the highest proportions in his introduction to his sither how can the heretic not be utterly ashamed um by analyzing the Jewish situation in the world we are the exiled people the scattered sheep commercial tomorrow after everything that has happened to us says [Music] I swear keeping his point and even a fly sailor when I think about these wonders Israel the Jew today is greater than all the Miracles that God performed for our ancestors in the mid bar in Israel elements Ryan then is astonished by The Wonder of a Jew in the 18th century can we even begin to imagine what will the Ark of ending would say if he looked at a Jew today maybe he would say that it is a nest Ada and think about it the greatest Mr miracle in the history of the world the Republic Made For You for you because he wanted your Torah and he wanted your Fila and he wanted your midsize there is nothing God has invested in more since the beginning of creation than a Jew today please don't for get that one last item one last story from my grandmother's book the name of the story is Under The Canopy Mali and Haya mosha are glowing are we really going to have an honest to goodness wedding here in the DP camps in Felder thing we must life must continue we are told that a rabbi will come to officiate the wedding the rabbi's name was rabbi mordify glasting day arrives the canopy is up the rabbi is waiting the ceremony is about to start suddenly the bride is crying wailing I want my mother I want my mother I want my mother we all cry we all want our mothers but the rabbi also a survivor he understands he calms us down today we make a new beginning the Rabbi says let us all in unison recite the kiamanu the higiana [Music] two months later Rabbi gladstein returned to our camp with a delegation representing the American joint distribution committee after the war my grandfather was appointed one of the heads of the American joints we're unbelievably he was able to distribute and import to the survivors talesim to fill in mezuzahist I have pictures in this book of my grandfather Distributing Matt's ice in the DP camps Distributing dalid meaning be very happy to show it to anybody he built mcvoice in the DP cams he built yeshivas my grandmother writes Rabbi gladstein said the delegation has come to re-establish Jewish life to its fullest I was appointed to greet the delegation did the rabbi take notice of me ask me my name sin of Oman well man he asked I remember a famous woman the Rob of sausage sure I said he was my beloved fat father of blessed memory I was surprised that someone in Munich had called to talk to cinavoma it was rabbi glasstein asking if he could come visit me I was excited and nervous this was Sunday he would come on Tuesday what would we be talking about did I dare think that he was serious the Talma teaches us ha flesh Where was the revenator he wasn't fell to think being mazavig these two holy survivors three butter Stone was ensuring the continuity of the of classroom my grandmother concludes she wrote this many years ago after 45 years now can I know her up 68 years the bond has continued stronger than ever the Ezra's Hashem that bonds will continue the island by may we all be slice that to see tosses the simcha foreign thank you so much for listening you've just experienced another Torah class brought to you by torahanytime.com