VOLUME 10 NO 4
Dear Child Survivors of the Holocaust, We trust you and your families have all been keeping well. Lena and I wanted to prepare a special edition of Connections; one that would help us prepare for life after “Lockdown”. CSH Past-President, Dr Paul Valent has written to us on this very important subject, sharing his understanding and supportive advice. We also wanted to know about the memories that come to mind when our child survivors and close others reflect upon life’s significant moments. We thank all our contributors for sharing their heartfelt words. We welcome back Jayne Josem, Museum Director & CEO of the Jewish Holocaust Centre, to this edition to write a few words to our child survivors. Jayne will be a
NOVEMBER 2021
regular contributor to Connections; it will be wonderful to learn of the progress of the new museum the CSH section and other important news. Being in contact over the years with our Sydney CSH sisters and brothers, we asked Litzi Lemberg (Sydney CSH President) to share with us photos and memories about the Sydney group. You may recognise some familiar faces. To child survivors who are unwell or finding the going very difficult at this time, please know your fellow child survivors truly care about you and wish you well in every possible way. Warmest regards, Viv and Lena.
Covid (Dis)Connections So, we are coming out of the world’s longest COVID lockdown. We are vaccinated and we should feel safe as we resume our lives. But that hope is not quite warranted. According to The New Statesman, the COVID crisis is the biggest hit to mental health since the Second World War, and that hit can last longer and go deeper than the original distress. As child survivors of the Holocaust we also cannot but compare the pandemic to the Second World War. In some ways there is no comparison. We tell our complaining offspring that this is a picnic compared to the Holocaust. But we compare anyway, and our comparisons may provide useful lessons for how to behave today. Yes, there was Victory Day, like currently Freedom Day. That is very important, of course. We could then and can now come out of our shelters and shadows and be joyous and celebrate. But not totally. Just like the virus of anti-Semitism was not eradicated, so the current virus has not capitulated.
The enemy is still around, and it may attack us wearing a different uniform. And then comes the sting in the tail. As we release suppressed feelings, we face, in this case, the hole of two stolen years. Just like we have sunk into national deficit reminiscent of World War Two, so we have to account for the losses we incurred in our two years of hiding. It is a debt that cannot be repaid easily. As we now embrace family and friends whom we could not hug, we may wish to forget the separations, the loneliness, the absent family dinners, our inability to monitor important steps of our grandchildren, the unfulfilled cravings of old age. After the war, we were told to forget our experiences. Then, decades later we had to dig them up in order to find peace. This time let us acknowledge our two lost years and what they have meant. Let us cry with both tears of joy and sadness. That way we can truly reconnect with the humanity that has been in hibernation for the last two years. Dr Paul Valent Past-President CSH