Here are her memories of the Königsberg Synagogue, Kristallnacht and a book presented to her mother after the synagogue was destroyed on Kristallnacht in 1938.
They took my father away to Buchenwald. My mother, sister, and I didn’t know if we would ever see him again. Our front door was smashed, our books torn apart, our dishes shattered. And with my father gone, we were left to pick up the pieces.
This week marks the 78th anniversary of that terrible night—and though decades have gone by, my memories of it have not faded.
Kristallnacht marked an ominous turning point in the Nazi persecution of Jews, and the Museum preserves artifacts and testimonies of the event so that its story can always be told.
We must remember—both to honor the innocent people who suffered that night, and to recognize our responsibility to help those facing hatred and violence today.
Susan Taube
Holocaust survivor and Museum volunteer
Photo: Shattered storefront of a Jewish-owned shop destroyed during Kristallnacht. Berlin, Germany, November 10, 1938. National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD
As part of their Holocaust Studies program the Year 10 students, in small groups, have interviewed Perth Holocaust survivors and recorded their stories. The personal experiences of the “living historian” opens up a view of history that cannot be found in books. The lessons in life and insights that the students have gained from meeting with their allocated survivors will stay with them long after the project and their years at school have ended.
We usually have an evening where we invite the survivors and parents of the students to view their projects, but we felt that with the amount of effort the students put in to their work, one night is not sufficient. We will therefore be opening our very special exhibition to the Perth Jewish Community on Thursday 27 October at 7pm in the Breckler Troy Hall in the High School.
We invite you to come and view the students’ displays and gain some insight into the lives of the Perth Holocaust survivors and their experiences.
Shirley Atlas – Jewish History teacher
Carmel School, Perth Australia
I attended this excellent event which began with an introduction by Jewish History teacher, Shirley Atlas, followed by groups of Year 10 students introducing their survivor’s story. We were then invited to view their presentations set up around the high school hall.
The survivors featured were from Poland, Hungary, German, Holland and Lithuania.
Here are a few photos taken on the evening
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Heiny Ellert’s team – video presentation:
Olivia Walters, Yannai Goldberg, Aaron Grolman, and Teagan Joffe
Heiny’s testimony which I filmed for the Holocaust Institute in 2015:
Here is my update on the TECs – Tolerance Education Centres in Lithuania and how we can help build bridges.
If you know the name of your shtetl, please contact me and I will help you to connect with those who are working with TECs and Lithuanian school students and their teachers. Travelling to the region and meeting with local students has been the most rewarding of my experiences in the past six years.
There are growing numbers of Lithuanians, Poles and those within other communities in the FSU who now learn about their history and about the rich Jewish life that once existed in these towns, which are now devoid of Jews. The internet now offers the best opportunity ever for them to engage with Jewish people from abroad.
There is a further benefit: we can educate our children and grandchildren here in the Litvak diaspora. So little seems to be availble within the school curriculum, even though private Jewish Day School fees are so high. “Too hard” or “we are covering it” is what I hear! And then there is also the no response…… and another year passes!
It is a real shame that our cultural heritage is in danger of fading away and dying!
Educating about our Jewish cultural history remains my passion and I hope and that there are enough of us out there to make a difference!
There are now 119 Tolerance Education Centres in Lithuania.
The James Madison Memorial Building is located between First and Second Streets on Independence Avenue SE. The building was constructed from 1971 to 1976, and serves as the official memorial to President James Madison.
The Madison Building is also home to the Mary Pickford Theater, the “motion picture and television reading room” of the Library of Congress. The theater hosts regular free screenings of classic and contemporary movies and television shows.
The Vault is two football fields long!
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Habte M Tecleamariam, Senior Reference Librarian at the Map Division at the Library Of Congress and Edward David Luft discussing maps
23,892,068 catalogued books in the Library of Congress Classification system; 5,711 incunabula (books printed before 1500), 14,067,260 monographs and serials, music, bound newspapers, pamphlets, technical reports, and other printed material; and 122,810,430 items in the nonclassified (special) collections:
Established by the International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania.
The Commission was established upon the Lithuanian independence, and has been under the chairmanship of Emmanuel Zingeris, the long-serving Jewish Member of the Seimas.
In 2004 the Tolerance Centre principle was approved. The Tolerance Centre in Plunge was the 8th such centre established. There are now in excess of 100. The co-ordinator of the T C in each school, or museum, has autonomy.
The emphasis on the Tolerance Centre in Plunge is on the Jewish tragedy rather than the Russian brutality. Naturally, we are more concerned with the crimes against the Jews. Programs also include a study of Jewish life before WWll.
There are a number of Jews who are against the “Commission” because they are there also to teach about the Soviet regime.
