Names, Not Numbers

My brother Jack and my grandson Mordechai

It was in the middle of winter in the Ukraine. The Holocaust was in full bloom. My father, uncle and 3 brothers were living in a hole in the ground. Literally. It was dug out by my uncle Aaron and my father after escaping their first bunker, which was discovered through the efforts of some people that found out about it and informed the Nazi occupiers of that town.

The first bunker was a magnificent structure built by my uncle Aaron right under the nose of the Nazis. It was located beneath the cellar of a building and not visible to the naked eye. It was built to accommodate 80 people. It had heat, electricity, running water, a sewer system, a radio, enough food stocked away for a year and plenty of toys and games for the children. It also had a plan for escape should they be discovered. Which my family did when they were.

Which brings me back to the 2^nd bunker which was also made by my Uncle Aaron with the help of my father  in the most rudimentary way - while on the run. A large hole in the ground - camouflaged with twigs that covered it. Next to that they dug another hole to be used as a sort of outhouse. Or better put – a huge toilet.

This is but a small part of my father and brothers’ experiences surviving the Holocaust. My uncle Aaron did not survive. Neither did my oldest brother, Yehudah. Whom I never met since I was born after the Holocaust. The rest of the story can be found in a previous post located here.

Today, only one of my brothers is still alive. His Holocaust experiences were so painful that he has never talked about it. It brought him too much pain.

Until now. He has decided to share this painful experience with the world as testimony that it really happened. And that the tortures of the Holocaust were not limited to the camps. As my family’s story well illustrates.

Last night I was witness to my brother Jack’s testimony along with his the testimony of his wife Anne, and that of 4 other survivors. It was produced, filmed, and edited earlier this year by a group high school seniors and juniors at my alma mater, HTC. (Today known as Fasman Yeshiva High School.)  One of the interviewers is my grandson, Mordechai Greenland who just graduated.

It is part of a national Holocaust remembrance project called ‘Names, Not Numbers’. It is a documentary about survivors. What better day than Tisha B’Av is there than to remember what happened to us just over 7 decades ago? As retold by those that lived through it. And to have the resolve to never let this happen to us again. Because, you see, Jewish lives matter, too.

I therefore am proud to feature this documentary. Right here. Right now.