I was so drawn into the story, much like the first time I saw numbers tattooed on the arms of some of my grandparents and parent friend arms while at the old Brighton Beach club in Brooklyn or on one of our trips to Miami as a young child. I was shushed when I asked my parents about it. My father later told me a little about it just to give me a basic understanding. Ahhh childhood. How I miss the not knowing of this evil world we live in .
I hear you Robert. While writing this, I found myself one my mother’s side. My “introduction” to Jews and the Holocaust could have waited a few years. As it turned out, a few years down the line my father did step up to bat and gave me a speach that resonates within me to this day. I’ll be writing about that too, God willing.
My Dad fought in WWII in the 11th armored brigade and was involved with the liberation of the Mauthausen and Giesn camps he never spoke of it much , and when they visited me here a couple of months before we I went into the IDF we went to Yad VaShem at his request, there inside the hall of names he started crying, a real cold sweat breakdown cry. I was at a loss for words , a few years later they came for the birth of my first daughter and during that time on a guys trip to latrun armor museum we talked about things . I guess he figured since I had just fought a war I was ready to really listen to his experiences during WWII . I found out that he'd been blown out of three Sherman's and was the only survivor of two of them and how even while fighting side by side there were guys that wanted to beat him up because he was a Jew boy. That is until their unit liberated those camps.
My childhood was chock full of Holocaust stories. Even my childrens’ childhoods were full of them. Orthodox Jewish schools focus heavily on what they refer to as the “churban”. We were also told many times that non Jews hate us, and here and there there was violence against us that confirmed it. But I grew up and it seemed all of that was only scare tactics to keep us in the fold. Somewhere in the 2010s I started to wonder if our teachers weren’t more right than wrong. Obviously 10/7 pushed the dial much closer to “right”. Almost every Bais Yaakov play is Holocaust themed. A charity that makes money putting on plays even reimagined Annie as an orphan who lost contact with her parents in the Holocaust. My daughters are a little annoyed that they had to be exposed to such horrors at such young ages, or rather, be inundated with them. When I was a kid I didn’t think anything of it. It seemed the normal thing for religious Jews to focus on.
How interesting Sharona. I am going to guess and say that you are at least twenty years younger than I, because by most accounts, very few survivors were telling their stories until the Eichman trial, and then only slowly, and then it became a flood. I’m checking with a contemporary friend who learned in Beit Yaakov way back when. I’ll get back to you.
I am 55. By the time I was age 10 in 1980 for sure we were hearing the stories. My Mom said she read a lot of Holocaust stories in the 1960s to the point where she burned out of the subject. It may also depend on what years a person attended Bais Yaakov. I was a middle and high school student in the 1980s.
"[21:48, 2/16/2026] neorehud: Did they talk much about the Holocaust when you were a student in Beit Yaakov?
[22:33, 2/16/2026] Susie Shaul: They didn't talk at all about the Holocaust in school. I knew about it for as long as I can remember. I always knew why I had no grandparents and so few close relatives. I also always knew that my father had had three daughters who had been murdered.
[22:34, 2/16/2026] neorehud: Thanks Susie
[22:35, 2/16/2026] Susie Shaul: How come your asking? By the way, the elementary school I went to, most of the Hebrew teachers and the principal were Holocaust survivors and the kids were children of Holocaust survivors. The high school had more American kids.
[22:36, 2/16/2026] neorehud: Somebody commented on my last article that they were always talking about the churban in Beit Yaakov
[22:38, 2/16/2026] Susie Shaul: The Haredim in general didn't talk about it much. It was a taboo subject to a great extent, when we were growing up. I grew up in Williamsburg, the center for Satmar chasidim."
So there is about a twenty year difference between you and Susie. What a difference two decades make.
Yeah she’s a bit older than me. Btw in my years they referred to churban bais Hamikdash separately from the churban. The churban referred to the Holocaust.
I guess it was all still too fresh when I was growing up. Since all my parent's friends were also Holocaust Survivors, it was always in the background, but not something to be discussed. As I told Ehud, I was always aware of it, but have no memory of how I first heard about what my family went through. I think there was also the issue of protecting the survivors, by not bringing up sad memories. My father told only funny and silly stories about his murdered family.
Great writing, as usual. I find that my children and grandchildren see the Holocaust as part of history. The younger ones (age 3-5+ -), unaware of timeline, will talk about the horrors of Egypt or the Inquisition in the same way they speak about the horrors of ww2.
Ehud, as usual the writing is terrific and I love your stories from your childhood, even when tragic history intrudes on your seemingly charmed childhood.
On one of my trips back to the Vineyard, I met with some veteran island Jews and asked them about the twins. I never got the story. Maybe it was decided to keep the story "in house." Someone, or some organization supported them, obviously.
I was so drawn into the story, much like the first time I saw numbers tattooed on the arms of some of my grandparents and parent friend arms while at the old Brighton Beach club in Brooklyn or on one of our trips to Miami as a young child. I was shushed when I asked my parents about it. My father later told me a little about it just to give me a basic understanding. Ahhh childhood. How I miss the not knowing of this evil world we live in .
I hear you Robert. While writing this, I found myself one my mother’s side. My “introduction” to Jews and the Holocaust could have waited a few years. As it turned out, a few years down the line my father did step up to bat and gave me a speach that resonates within me to this day. I’ll be writing about that too, God willing.
My Dad fought in WWII in the 11th armored brigade and was involved with the liberation of the Mauthausen and Giesn camps he never spoke of it much , and when they visited me here a couple of months before we I went into the IDF we went to Yad VaShem at his request, there inside the hall of names he started crying, a real cold sweat breakdown cry. I was at a loss for words , a few years later they came for the birth of my first daughter and during that time on a guys trip to latrun armor museum we talked about things . I guess he figured since I had just fought a war I was ready to really listen to his experiences during WWII . I found out that he'd been blown out of three Sherman's and was the only survivor of two of them and how even while fighting side by side there were guys that wanted to beat him up because he was a Jew boy. That is until their unit liberated those camps.
You should check out this week’s 60 Minutes about the three youngest survivors. Mauthausen is mentioned.
My childhood was chock full of Holocaust stories. Even my childrens’ childhoods were full of them. Orthodox Jewish schools focus heavily on what they refer to as the “churban”. We were also told many times that non Jews hate us, and here and there there was violence against us that confirmed it. But I grew up and it seemed all of that was only scare tactics to keep us in the fold. Somewhere in the 2010s I started to wonder if our teachers weren’t more right than wrong. Obviously 10/7 pushed the dial much closer to “right”. Almost every Bais Yaakov play is Holocaust themed. A charity that makes money putting on plays even reimagined Annie as an orphan who lost contact with her parents in the Holocaust. My daughters are a little annoyed that they had to be exposed to such horrors at such young ages, or rather, be inundated with them. When I was a kid I didn’t think anything of it. It seemed the normal thing for religious Jews to focus on.
How interesting Sharona. I am going to guess and say that you are at least twenty years younger than I, because by most accounts, very few survivors were telling their stories until the Eichman trial, and then only slowly, and then it became a flood. I’m checking with a contemporary friend who learned in Beit Yaakov way back when. I’ll get back to you.
I am 55. By the time I was age 10 in 1980 for sure we were hearing the stories. My Mom said she read a lot of Holocaust stories in the 1960s to the point where she burned out of the subject. It may also depend on what years a person attended Bais Yaakov. I was a middle and high school student in the 1980s.
My friend's reply:
"[21:48, 2/16/2026] neorehud: Did they talk much about the Holocaust when you were a student in Beit Yaakov?
[22:33, 2/16/2026] Susie Shaul: They didn't talk at all about the Holocaust in school. I knew about it for as long as I can remember. I always knew why I had no grandparents and so few close relatives. I also always knew that my father had had three daughters who had been murdered.
[22:34, 2/16/2026] neorehud: Thanks Susie
[22:35, 2/16/2026] Susie Shaul: How come your asking? By the way, the elementary school I went to, most of the Hebrew teachers and the principal were Holocaust survivors and the kids were children of Holocaust survivors. The high school had more American kids.
[22:36, 2/16/2026] neorehud: Somebody commented on my last article that they were always talking about the churban in Beit Yaakov
[22:36, 2/16/2026] Susie Shaul: Yeah, churban beit hamikdash.
[22:38, 2/16/2026] Susie Shaul: The Haredim in general didn't talk about it much. It was a taboo subject to a great extent, when we were growing up. I grew up in Williamsburg, the center for Satmar chasidim."
So there is about a twenty year difference between you and Susie. What a difference two decades make.
Yeah she’s a bit older than me. Btw in my years they referred to churban bais Hamikdash separately from the churban. The churban referred to the Holocaust.
I guess it was all still too fresh when I was growing up. Since all my parent's friends were also Holocaust Survivors, it was always in the background, but not something to be discussed. As I told Ehud, I was always aware of it, but have no memory of how I first heard about what my family went through. I think there was also the issue of protecting the survivors, by not bringing up sad memories. My father told only funny and silly stories about his murdered family.
Wonderful storytelling. I was "right there".
Music to my ears, Rebekah. Thank you.
And excellent truths and insights in between the lines 👍 😊
I enjoy your words so much, thank you!
Thank you Vicki.
Great writing, as usual. I find that my children and grandchildren see the Holocaust as part of history. The younger ones (age 3-5+ -), unaware of timeline, will talk about the horrors of Egypt or the Inquisition in the same way they speak about the horrors of ww2.
I get the feeling that the little ones have it right. It's almost a hundred years now.
Ehud, as usual the writing is terrific and I love your stories from your childhood, even when tragic history intrudes on your seemingly charmed childhood.
Thanks Susie.
On one of my trips back to the Vineyard, I met with some veteran island Jews and asked them about the twins. I never got the story. Maybe it was decided to keep the story "in house." Someone, or some organization supported them, obviously.