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 Holocaust Survivor Rena Quint Answers Teen Questions
Not all the Germans believed the propaganda. We all have heard of those Righteous Ones who saved Jewish lives. During the Shoah, the Lithuanians and the Croats were also very evil and did horrible things; however they did not have the opportunity to carry their actions to the same scale as the Germans. It's important to look at what is happening now in Kosova--ethnic cleansing is very similar. 2. Five million Russian POW's were killed by the Germans, against the Geneva convention. This is given very little historical or media attention. Given the scale and inhumanity of this, why do you feel that the Jewish holocaust eclipses this, and the suffering of many other innocent people during the second world war, as perceived by the contemporary media? The difference is that the soldiers were in military situations. Russian babies and Russian elderly were not killed systematically. In the Shoah it was Jewish blood that was seen as having to be gotten rid of regardless of age or situation--every Jew suffered. 3. What to you see as the future of Jews in the Diaspora? Is there a place for us outside of Israel bearing in mind the pogroms and massacres of history? Some Jews in the Diaspora live very happily. I live in Israel and by doing so I believe that I make my life as a Jew fuller. The problem of intermarriage in the Diaspora does not exist in Israel. 4. Do you have any views as to the "reason" behind the holocaust - although of course we cannot KNOW, some argue things such as "We needed it to get Israel" and "the European Jews were too assimilated - it was a punishment" - can you, a survivor justify your experience in these terms? How do you feel when people try to give a "divine reasoning" to your suffering? I can't question G-d. I can't understand what happened but I don't question Hashem. Jews have been blamed for many things without justification dating back even 2000 years ago. In more recent history the Protocols of Zion blaming the Jews has been shown to be a myth. I do not accept the notion of Hashem punishing the Jews. What did young children and babies do to merit a punishment. 5. A brief description of experiences: I was born in Piotrokaw, Poland. Our area became a Ghetto in September 1939. I lived in the Ghetto with my family. We were rounded up, probably in 1941. Miraculously I escaped (which is a long story in itself). My mother, brothers, uncles, aunts, cousins, neighbors and all were sent to Treblinka where they were gassed and burned. My father hid me for some time in a cellar underground. When that was no longer possible, he disguised me as a boy and I went to work with the men. We worked in different work camps and then when they separated the men and women, the men were transported to Buchenwald and the women to Bergen Belsen. Of course, I couldn_t keep my disguise and that_s when I was separated from my father forever. I'm not sure of the date and there are no records of entry dates as the Germans burned the records at the very end of the war. The British burned more things in the camp when they came in to get rid of the infectious diseases that were rampant there. I don't even know the exact date of my birth as I have nothing left from my family--not even a photo. After arrival at the camp I was sent to a barracks. One side was for orphans and the other side was for women with children. I managed to get on the side with the women who had children and from that time on I had women who took care of me. I had a number of "mothers" in camp. We had no particular work--and no school. We had daily tasks--such as cleaning our barracks and taking the dead bodies out of the barracks to the piles of dead bodies that extended like a wall for what seemed like miles and miles. Of course we also had rolls calls. You asked about who seemed especially nice. Everyone who became a new parent or cousin to me seemed to be the kindest person in the world. Q: Do you know of any escapes? Not personally.
Q: When were you liberated? Where did you go then? The camp was liberated April 15, 1945. I was sent to Sweden with the orphans. I was later adopted, given another name and another birthday (which happened repeatedly during my camp days). We moved to the United States and shortly thereafter my new mother died. My new father was not able to keep me and I ended up being adopted again by a couple without children who lived in New York. Q: When did you make aliya? In 1984. Q Although we can never know the divine plan, what did you personally attribute your experience to - how did the holocaust alter your perception of Hashem, if at all? I don't understand how G-d could have done this. Hashem created the Jewish people. Hashem created the Germans. I don't understand how his people could be so vile and mean. I could not have survived unless G-d wanted me to. I was young, not educated, not strong--and as I survived G-d must have wanted me to. Maybe--so I could have children and grandchildren living here in Israel. --------- Q: What do you think of the movie "Life is Beautiful"? Very worthwhile. The movie showed how a father pretended to his child that what was happening was all a game. The child was spared and was able to go on with his life. If the child had known the truth from the beginning, he might not have been able to go on. There's another movie about the Shoa that I can also recommend. It is called "Jacob the Liar". Jacob too pretended and lied. He was able to keep several people from committing suicide by his lies which gave people encouragement and hope.
The book by Victor Frankel, "Man's Search for Meaning" has a similar
perspective in that Dr. Frankel states that one has to have something
to live for--a purpose and a goal. For example, prior to being
incarcerated in the camps, he wrote a manuscript which was destroyed
by the Germans. He was determined that he would rewrite the
manuscript and he finally had that opportunity.
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