Panel Discussion with Holocaust Survivors and Righteous Gentiles

Submitted by Judi Bohn

 Survivor panel;
Anna Bando, President of the Association of Righteous Gentiles Among Nations ,
Josef, board member of the Association of Righteous Gentiles Among Nations ,
Monika Kosczynska,
Joanna Sobolewska- Pyz, Child survivor and president of the Association of Children of the Holocaust in Poland

Helise Lieberman shared a story from the Ringelblum Archives. An artist named Gaela left her paintings with a note that said "I bequeath my art work to the Jewish Museum that will one day be built after war."

Art is a way of remembering. So too are the stories that each of these survivors shared about their life during the war. Each story raises questions about survival during the Holocaust. What makes a person decide to risk their life for a stranger?How do you embrace a religion that you never knew ? What personal characteristics make you choose  to involve your child in the rescue of Jewish children? How do you move forward when your newly discovered  family feels like strangers?

Anna, an ethnic Pole, was raised in a neighborhood outside of the ghetto. Her mother worked inside the ghetto and Anna remembers going with her mother and bringing bread for the children in her school bag. One day, her mom told her they would be taking a young girl home with her. As an only child, Anna was excited to have a playmate. She played her role perfectly, and she and her new "cousin" Lilliana successfully left the ghetto. Anna did not know then that Hitler had decreed that Poles would be killed for hiding Jews, along with their families.

Joanna, a child survivor, told us that "I am one of those people who have no memory, but I know everything about my Jewish family"  Raised as an ethnic Pole, she  learned upon her mother's passing that she had been saved by the family and was in fact a Jew . The shock of that revelation is something she still  seems haunted by, most especially the pain of finding her relatives only to lose them to  unexpected death .

Josef's story was one of amazing strength of character with a heavy dose of good humor! At 95, his memory is sharp and  he took great pride in his personal fortitude. As story after story unfolded, we all sat in awe of his willingness to continue to put himself in danger to help Jewish strangers.  I personally had hoped for a  happy ending with Josef telling us that his marriage to Irena, who he saved, ended only after many years of happiness and many children and grandchildren, but such was not the case. He was after all simply a man who had risked his life to save a young girl.